It wasn’t a speech. It was his coronation.
He rose to the band’s stage and accepted the microphone from the conductor. The lights focused over him, and every eligible and not so eligible woman in the room sighed.
The shadows captured his chiseled chin and jaw line, and the tuxedo tailored the strength of his shoulders and chest. If pride were truly sin, then every moment with Nicholas had bathed me in hellfire.
“I want to thank you all for attending.” His voice needed no microphone. The party would’ve stopped breathing if it meant capturing his every word. “This is a monumental day for the Bennett Corporation, but this will be only one of many. I foresee success, prosperity, and many more celebratory moments in our future.”
The audience applauded. I recognized a lot of people—some friends of my family and others people of wealth and fortune that had pledged their loyalty to Darius Bennett. Dad would never have tolerated a moment like this.
And he would have disowned me long before Bumper was ever a concern.
“These next few months will come with many challenges and changes,” Nicholas said. “But I’m pleased to begin this new path. This company has always been forged on a legacy of family and pride. Lessons passed father to son. I am fortunate to take this opportunity and expand that vision. For the first time, the Bennett Corporation will be overseen by the entire family.” Nicholas made the decision himself, one of his first, one he had planned for so long. “I am dividing my portion of this company equally between my brothers and me, as it should have been done long ago.”
Reed hooted from the crowd. “That means the next round is on me!”
Nicholas didn’t yet regret that decision though the few chuckles and demands for the highest caliber whiskey rumbled through the people. I searched, but Max didn’t hide in the shadows.
He wasn’t here.
I hated that it no longer surprised me.
“It isn’t just the leadership of the Bennett Corporation that’s changing,” Nicholas said. “It is our future. Sarah Atwood is the fourth member of our Board of Directors, a name which—just a year ago would have crumbled the very foundation of the Bennett Headquarters to the ground…brick by brick, if memory serves.”
He was right.
And if he wasn’t careful, I’d still do it.
His words drew the attention to me, and by extension, sparked a fury of whispers primarily concerned with my visible little Bumper. His gaze fell on me too.
Oh, Christ. He was serious about revealing it.
“Sarah Atwood is not simply a member of this board. I am in love with her.”
The hormones didn’t like this. I flushed as genuine surprise raged through the audience. The astute ones in attendance quickly did the math on my condition.
“Sarah’s position on our board isn’t the first blending of Bennett and Atwood,” he said. “And I am beyond proud and excited to announce the pending arrival of the next generation of our families in just four months.”
Dad would be rolling in his grave. Probably Mike and Josiah too. Nicholas’s call for a toast silenced most of the gossip, but I was the one who needed the drink the most.
Reed edged his way to my side. He faked a pout.
“All that, and me and Max don’t even get a credit in this union?”
“Be glad it’s Nicholas announcing it and not your father.”
The toast passed with clinked glasses and general merriment, but Nicholas replaced the microphone. I caught his glance as Max stormed through the crowd.
Max took my arm. Squeezed too hard.
His eyes were rimmed red, and his hands shook. Either his patience or his liver would give out first, but the Bennetts refused to talk about it, even when Max crashed a formal party in jeans.
“Come on, baby,” he said. “We’re getting you out of here.”
He looked ragged, but his voice was cold and sober. A genuine applause rose from the crowd.
And I knew why we had to leave. I shook Max away and refused to run.
I expected it.
Why hadn’t they?
As if he planned the very moment to coincide with his son’s speech, Darius Bennett sauntered into Nicholas’s celebratory party with a grand, serpentine smile, shaking hands with friends and greeting those who hadn’t been told of his sins, lies, and perversions.
The Bennett Board of Directors, with the exception of Bryant Maddox, resigned with full honors and every respect. That included Darius, even if his sudden departure perplexed all who knew him.
I anticipated a fight, bloody and brutal and rife with more abuses than I endured before. But Darius chose another path. It wasn’t peace, it wasn’t retreat.
Now was the fruition of whatever deviancy he planned.
And the room cheered for him. Shook his hand. Spoke compliments and wished him well on his upcoming retirement.
They praised a hero.
I didn’t cower in the shadow of my rapist.
And neither did my step-brothers.
“Darius!” One of the Bennett division presidents called to him, breaking through a conversation to pat his shoulder. “Didn’t figure on you joining us! Thought you’d be pleasure cruising somewhere in the Bahamas by now.”
“Please, Kevin. I’m retired…not dead.”
And I regretted that every minute of the day.
Darius drew to his full height, an inch shorter than Nicholas. Reed and Max pulled me closer, but I didn’t need their help. I straightened if only to ensure Darius saw the visible bump and realized he could do nothing to me. A shielding as strong as Kelvar protected me, offered by the most innocent and vulnerable.
He salivated pure venom. Had anyone seen, if anyone had ever thought to listen for my silent screams, they never would have let my step-father look upon me with such pleasure.
“I wouldn’t miss this event for the world,” Darius said. “Such a lovely party, such a happy occasion. And just look at my beautiful daughter.” He drew closer, waiting for his sons to intervene and cause a scene. They didn’t, and I stilled as he laid a hand over my belly and squeezed. “Hello, my dear. You’re looking absolutely radiant.”
I’d be sick.
Vile, crawling shivers pierced my spine.
His touch was an infection, a sickness of hatred and vile intentions. He meant to watch me squirm, to claim that part of me which wasn’t his, had never been his, and would never, ever belong to him.
I swallowed the bile and accepted the brush of his lips against my cheek in greeting. As long as it wasn’t his sickening, fat tongue in my ear again, I’d endure it. Nicholas forced himself between us, crushing his father’s hand in a stiff grip.
“Glad you made it,” Nicholas said. “You should be here to share in this momentous event.”
“I wouldn’t have missed it, son. Especially the announcement about the newest addition to our family.”
“Sarah and I are very excited.”
“As am I. Proud as can be.” The words coiled over my throat. “If only her family were here as well. I’m sure Mark would be thrilled about our little Bennett. And Josiah and Michael…” He didn’t deserve to speak their names, not after the hell he put me through in watching their fatal crash over and over. “Such a shame their lives ended before they became uncles...isn’t that right, Max?”
Max?
I glanced at my step-brother, but he didn’t answer. Nicholas pulled Darius from the gathered audience. His voice lowered, a lethal growl.
“What do you want?”
“A moment with my daughter.”
“No.”
“Then we can speak here.” His gaze fixated on my belly. “Though I doubt this is a conversation which should pass beyond family.”
His tone was the striking of a match in room filled with explosives. I didn’t trust it. I was certain he aimed a gun, but I didn’t know which of my step-brothers would suffer the bullet. It wasn’t a risk I was willing to take. I nodded to Nicholas.
Five minutes in the shadow of the demon was five minutes I’d forever lose to nightmare and shame. I’d ensure it was the last time I spoke with him.