Chapter 1 - The Woman in Pink
“GET RID OF IT!”
The woman in pink said it like she was talking about something rotten on her plate.
Then she opened her hands.
I dropped a tray of champagne and moved before I had time to think.
Glass exploded behind me.
My knees hit the marble.
And somehow, impossibly, the baby landed in my arms instead of on the floor.
For one terrible second, he made no sound.
Neither did I.
Then his face twisted, his little mouth opened, and his cry tore through the restaurant.
I had never been so grateful to hear anything.
“What is wrong with you?” I shouted. “You could’ve killed him!”
The woman stared at me. Her pale pink dress was spotless. One diamond earring swung against her neck.
“Give him back.”
I pulled the baby against my chest.
“Stay away from him.”
Chairs scraped. Somebody gasped. A man near the windows stood halfway up, then froze.
The woman leaned down.
“You have no idea who you’re talking to.”
“No,” I said. “But I know what I just saw.”
“Vanessa?”
The voice came from behind her.
A tall man in a dark suit stood at the entrance to the private dining room, a phone still in his hand.
His eyes moved from Vanessa to the shattered glasses, then to the child pressed against my black uniform.
Everything changed in his face.
“Oliver?”
Vanessa turned immediately.
“Ethan, thank God. It was an accident.”
I looked up at him.
“Sir, she tried to throw your baby onto the marble floor.”
“That is a disgusting lie.”
“She told me to get rid of him. Then she let go.”
Ethan took one step toward us.
Vanessa caught his sleeve.
“He was squirming. I lost my grip. She’s making it sound—”
“Get your hand off me.”
His voice was quiet enough to make the whole room listen.
The baby clutched my collar, crying against my neck. I could feel his heartbeat through his tiny blue shirt.
Ethan crouched beside me.
“Did he hit his head?”
“No. I don’t think so. I caught him.”
“You think?”
“My arm hit the floor. He didn’t.”
“Someone call an ambulance.”
Vanessa made a small, impatient noise.
“Oh, for God’s sake. He’s fine.”
Ethan looked at her.
That was the moment she finally seemed afraid.
“Get out of my sight.”
“Ethan, don’t believe her lies.”
“You tried to kill my son.”
“No!”
He stood between her and us.
“You’re going to answer for this.”
“You can’t lock me away because some waitress wants attention.”
Ethan glanced toward the black security dome above the service station.
“The cameras saw every single thing you did.”
Vanessa’s eyes flicked upward.
May you like
Then, just as quickly, they shifted toward the restaurant manager.
And the manager reached for his phone.
