“Where do you think you’re going?” I hauled her back.

“Let go! What are you doing?” She flailed at my arm, but I didn’t loosen my grip.

“What’s going on?” Ryan Fenty kept his focus on Naomi, but the question was aimed at me.

“She pushed me,” Naomi muttered to her husband, glaring at Serenna.

“Serenna opened her mouth, but I cut in first. “Before you spin another story, don’t forget the cameras.” I pointed to the CCTV in the corner of the ceiling, its red light blinking steadily. “Too bad for you, the party’s over and the cameras are back on.”

Serenna’s mouth opened and shut like a stranded fish. At last she folded. “I… my heel. I twisted my ankle and stumbled into Mrs. Fenty by accident. It was an accident, really. I’m sorry.” She leaned hard on the word “accident,” as if saying it enough times would make it true.

“Really? Did you also ‘accidentally’ trail us down the stairs, ‘accidentally’ aim for me, and then ‘accidentally’ knock into Mrs. Fenty when you missed?” I scoffed.

“That’s not true!” Her protest was pitiful.

“I think it is,” Naomi said firmly. She looked at me. “She tried to push you first. When she missed, she hit me.”

I gave Naomi an apologetic look. “She was aiming for me. I’m sorry you got dragged into it.”

Naomi shook her head. “You’re not the one who should apologize. You’re the victim here too.”

Ryan Fenty’s lips curved into a cold, unsettling smile, edged with menace. “You laid hands on my wife?”

He eased Naomi to a safe spot. Then, climbing two steps above Serenna, his voice turned icy. “I’m a fair man. I repay kindness with kindness, grudges with grudges.”

He ended the sentence with a sharp kick to her shin.

Serenna shrieked as she flew down the stairs.

The staircase was broad and winding, with banisters that slowed her fall, but she still took a hard tumble, her cries changing pitch with every bounce.

Ryan Fenty stayed at the top, expressionless.

At the bottom, Serenna lay curled on the landing, clutching her stomach.

“You all right?” Ashton stepped past her without a glance and came straight to me, scanning me from head to toe.

“I’m fine.” I forced a smile. “Let’s go.”

He took my hand.

“Wait.”

I turned. Naomi, steady on her feet with Ryan Fenty close behind, came down the stairs. “Thank you. If not for you, I’d be the one lying there.” She threw Serenna a pale look.

“It’s nothing,” I said, offering a reassuring smile I didn’t feel.

Ryan Fenty’s ruthless retaliation had shaken me more than I cared to admit. Instinctively, I wanted to put as much distance between myself and that dangerous man as possible.

Yes, Serenna deserved it. Probably. Still, part of me couldn’t help wondering: if Naomi had gone down with me—even if it might well have been an accident—would he have kicked me too?

Naomi and I exchanged goodbyes and promised to keep in touch. Then I left with Ashton.

“I didn’t know you knew Ryan Fenty’s wife,” he said.

.

.

.