Chapter 1
Eleanor’s first order was for every Moretti man in the ballroom to put his hands where the police could see them if the police arrived.
That confused almost everyone.
Julian was still half buried beneath the collapsed catering rack. Genevieve sat among broken floral stands, one hand against her cheek. Several capos looked as if they were waiting for permission to turn the ballroom into something much worse.
Eleanor gave none.
“No one touches either of them.”
One capo frowned.
“She hit your daughter.”
“I saw.”
Another looked toward Julian.
“He grabbed you.”
“I saw that too.”
Eleanor lifted Maya.
The child immediately buried her face against her neck.
That ended the conversation.
“Doctor first. Lawyers second. Everything else waits.”
Maya had a red mark across one cheek and a small bruise near her elbow from hitting the floor. Nothing appeared broken, but Eleanor still had her examined in a private room by the physician assigned to the charity gala.
Maya cried when the doctor touched her cheek.
Eleanor sat beside her.
“You’re staying with me.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
The word came too quickly.
Maya looked at her mother’s black service uniform.
“Are you still working?”
Eleanor’s chest tightened.
“No.”
“Okay.”
That tiny answer hurt more than Genevieve’s slap.
Maya had believed her mother was working the event.
That was exactly what Eleanor wanted everyone else to believe.
Not her daughter.
Maya had been brought to the gala later than planned by her nanny after asking to see Eleanor before bedtime. She had wandered into the entrance carrying a dessert plate she thought her mother had missed.
Eleanor had never expected her to become part of what she was investigating.
The police were called by hotel security.
Eleanor did not stop them.
Security footage clearly showed Genevieve slapping Maya.
It also showed Eleanor striking Julian after he grabbed her arm, then slapping Genevieve after she reached toward Maya again.
Her attorney, Daniel Price, arrived within forty minutes.
“You understand they may look at your conduct too.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not going to tell me you were defending your daughter and therefore everything was lawful?”
“No.”
Daniel paused.
That was not the answer he expected.
Eleanor looked through the glass doors toward Maya.
“Genevieve hit a five-year-old. Julian grabbed me. That context matters.”
“It does.”
“So does what I did.”
Daniel nodded.
“Good.”
Then he looked at the service uniform.
“You want to tell me why the woman who secretly controls half the room was serving champagne tonight?”
Eleanor’s expression changed.
“Not yet.”
May you like
Because the reason was still upstairs in the event offices.
And if Julian knew what she had been looking for, Eleanor suspected he would already be trying to make it disappear.
