My name is Eliot Gideon. I've just finished dinner with my childhood friend Silas Vance. But when I'm about to leave, a stranger blocks my path, insisting I pay his table's bill. I refuse. I don't know him, after all. But that refusal angers him. "Fuck you, punk! You should be grateful I even let you pay! In Valecrest, no one snubs Lund Group and walks away." Before I can answer, he escalates. "Know who I am? Asher Hale. My wife, Coral Lund, runs Lund Group. Still feeling brave?" I stare at him for a second, processing the absurdity, then dial Coral. "So... you have another husband at the office?" The moment I hang up, Asher explodes. He snatches my phone and smashes it to the ground. "Calling for help? You really think you're leaving in one piece?" "Stop!" Silas steps in front of me, shielding me. "This is Lund Group's manners? Accosting strangers for money, then laying hands on them?" Asher's face flushes crimson. "Manners? In Valecrest, the name Lund Group is manners!" "I was doing you a favor to let you pay, get it?" "You wanna talk about rules? My word is the rule!" I laugh, glancing toward Asher. "Even Lund Group doesn't teach highway robbery, does it?" Asher snorts and slams a boot on the chair, like some cheap gangster. "I'm basically offering you a chance to climb the social ladder higher, idiot. People beg to buy me drinks. I just turn most of them down." Climb the ladder, he says. Since when does the Gideon Family need to grovel to anyone in Valecrest? I glance at Silas. His face is storm-dark. The richest heir of Havenport, capital of the country, never imagined a petty Lund Group could humiliate him on Valecrest soil. Asher sneers and waves toward the door. "Let me get one thing straight: in Valecrest, I, Asher Hale, am the law. Pin these fuckers down!" The instant the words leave his mouth, seven or eight black-suited bodyguards flood in, circling us like wolves. Silas yanks me back, his fists tightening. But they're too many. Before he can swing, two guards pin his arms. "Silas!" I lunge, only to feel a blow to the back of my neck. My vision blacks out. Through the haze, I hear Silas snarl, "Bastard!" Then a fist cracks against his cheek. Blood trickles from the corner of his mouth. They force me to the ground. Helpless, I watch Asher drive his boot into Silas's stomach, cursing all the while. "Stick your nose in my business? Today you'll learn Lund Group is untouchable!" Their fists pummel him like sledgehammers. Silas came here for fun, not this senseless brawl. I rasp out. "Asher Hale, I'm Coral's lawfully wedded husband, Eliot Gideon!" I jerk my chin toward Silas. He's still pinned. "That's Silas Vance from Havenport! Let us go now, and I'll let this slide!" Asher's foot freezes mid-kick; then he bursts out laughing. "Coral's husband? A Vance? You two must've lost your minds." The table behind him roars with laughter. "Everyone knows Ms. Lund's husband is Deputy Hale." "Man, the lies people tell when they're desperate." "Vance Family? Havenport? Never heard of it, must've pulled the name out of thin air." Asher crouches, seizing my jaw, eyes vicious. "Say you're her husband one more time, and I'll break your arm. I'll teach you the difference between real and fake. Only I get to say Coral's name. Only I get to claim her." Silas, still pinned and bleeding, mocks through split lips. "Eliot, come on. So this marriage of yours is just for decoration? The guy's declaring himself her man right in front of you, and you're the cuckold?" His words startle a laugh out of me, dark, edged with fury. Asher still grips my jaw. I wrench my head and sink my teeth into his wrist. He howls, grip slackening. Taking the chance, I slam my knee into the guard behind me. Then I snatch a beer bottle and crack it across another's forehead. By the time Asher realizes what's happening, I'm on him, fist crashing into his face. He staggers back, blood gushing from his nose. "You dare hit me?" he roars, lunging. But I catch his arm instead and hurl him to the ground. I straddle him, raining punches. Lund Group thugs surge forward, reeking of alcohol. "You hit Deputy Hale? You're dead!" Silas has somehow broken free. He kicks one attacker aside and yells at me. "Damn it! Beat him senseless! I've never swallowed this kind of insult in my life!" In the chaos, someone swings a chair into my back. I grunt but don't stop. Asher shrieks, clawing at my hair. "Everyone from Lund Group, tear him apart! I'll take responsibility, triple bonuses!" They swarm like rabid dogs, pulling my arms, holding my waist, and kicking the back of my knees. Asher lands a boot in my gut while I'm held. I stumble back, ready to charge again, when a voice cuts through the brawl. "Everyone, freeze!"
Two uniformed officers shoulder their way in, take one look at the wreckage, and frown. But the moment they spot Asher, face bruised, nose bleeding, pinned to the ground, their expressions flip like a switch. "Deputy Hale? What are you doing here? What happened?" Detective Finn hurries forward, voice oozing deference, hand already out to help Asher up. Asher sees the badges and suddenly finds his backbone. He jabs a finger at Silas and me, howling. "Detective Finn! These two outsiders are insane! They refused to pay their bill, then jumped us! Look what they did to me. And my staff!" Detective Finn glances at our injuries, dismisses them with a flick of his eyes, then turns on us, face hard. "What the hell do you two think you're doing? Brawling in public, assaulting Lund Group personnel? You've got balls, I'll give you that." "He blocked us from leaving and threw the first punch." Silas growls, wiping blood from his lip. "Lies!" Asher cuts in instantly. "I was being generous, letting them bask in Lund Group's shine by picking up my tab. They flipped, then had the gall to claim one of them is my wife's husband and the other's some big shot from Havenport." Detective Finn clearly buys every word. He gestures at the shattered bottles and overturned chairs. "Doesn't matter who started it. You two did this damage, and you injured Deputy Hale. That makes it your fault. Let me spell it out: in Valecrest, nobody snubs Lund Group. Deputy Hale is Ms. Lund's man. Touch him, and you're spitting on the whole city's rules." The other officer, Declan, already has his cuffs out, twirling them. "Enough chatter. You're coming with us. Oh, and you're covering Deputy Hale's tab, the restaurant's repairs, medical bills, and emotional damages. Kneel and apologize, and maybe, just maybe, we'll keep it out of court." "On what grounds?" I laugh, furious. "He started the whole thing, and you're sentencing us without a trial?" "On the grounds that you're outsiders." Detective Finn waves a hand, bored. "You play by Valecrest rules here. Deputy Hale letting you pay his bill was a gift. Don't insult the gift." Silas's smile is ice-cold. "I'd love to see Valecrest's 'rules' try to outrank federal law." "Still got a mouth on you, huh?" Declan steps in, reaching for my wrists. "Guess you've never learned respect." I sidestep; he snarls, yanks out his stun baton, and thumbs the switch. "Fine. You want the hard way?" He lunges, jabbing the crackling tip toward my ribs. Electric fire races through my limbs; my knees buckle. Silas catches me, roaring at the cops. "You're abusing your badges!" "Abuse? I'm enforcing order." Finn sneers, drawing his own baton and leveling it at Silas. "In Valecrest, Lund Group's business is order. You punks need a real lesson in respect." The snap of electricity fills the air. Silas jerks, the smell of scorched fabric rising. "Dogs with badges... You'll regret this..." "Regret?" Detective Finn laughs, tapping Silas's chin with the baton. "Save that for when you're inside, getting nightly reminders from the other inmates." He turns to Asher, all smiles. "Deputy Hale, how's that? Hard enough? Want me to dial it up?" Asher smirks, arms folded. "Crank it. They need to learn who runs this town." Finn kicks me in the ribs, then bows to Asher. "Deputy Hale, if you don't mind me asking, when's Ms. Lund due? Declan and I want to be first in line with congratulatory gifts." Declan nods eagerly. "Absolutely. Please do grant us the honor. Maybe Ms. Lund will remember us when promotions come around." Hearing that, Asher grins. "Four, five months. Doc says it's a boy." Coral... pregnant... The words hit me like a sledgehammer. After six months abroad, I just got back to Valecrest. And now she's carrying a child. I felt a hot flush of anger spread across my face. Two years we've been married. She always said the company was too busy for kids. I struggle to my feet. Declan sees the movement and drives the baton into the back of my neck. White lightning blinds me. The ground tilts. Asher snatches up a chair, ready to bring it down on my skull. Then, quick and sharp, the click of high heels cut through the room from the doorway.
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