The drive wasn’t long. We ended up at some Country Club called Rolling Springs. That didn’t even make sense. It was a stupid name for anything, really. I had to put more effort into not scowling than I wanted to.
At least it was pretty. The driveway was long, winding, and lined with flowering trees. When it opened up into the parking lot, there were little islands of flowers everywhere. Every color you could imagine. A pond was on one side of the building with a couple fountains of water, and groupings of lily pad in full bloom were throughout. They were so pristine, I was almost sure they had to be fake.
As the driver, whose name I still didn’t know, pulled up to the front of the building, Dunham got out and came around to open my door for me. Another thing that annoyed me. I was perfectly capable of opening a door. The first time I did it, he’d set his jaw and told me to never do it again. I just had to allow it.
We walked into the club together. The people at the desk nodded to him as we walked by. I was almost sure I saw fear in their eyes. I tried to give them a pleasant smile, but that didn’t help any.
He lead me out to a patio filled with tables and claimed an empty one. He raised his hand to one of the waitresses. She gave him a nod and a smile before stopping at another table. Dunham set his jaw. I reached out and set my hand on his.
“This place is beautiful,” I said.
He didn’t respond. He was staring at the waitress as she finished taking the order of the table she was standing in front of. I didn’t know how to distract him from it. He was hyper-focused on her.
“Good afternoon,” she said with a smile as she finally approached our table. “How are you folks today?”
“You must be new here,” Dunham said, voice hard, cruelty lingering just beneath the surface. “I take priority here. When I need something, you will come to me immediately.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, smile faltering. “They had waved to me…”
“I don’t care,” he said, cutting her off. “I don’t want to hear your excuses for failing at your job. You are here to keep the rest of us happy. Do I look happy right now? Do I need to call someone else over here to serve us today since you appear to be completely incompetent?”
She looked like she was about to cry. He hadn’t raised his voice to her, but the threat lingered. His temper was a weight in the air. I couldn’t take it. No matter what happened, I wasn’t going to let him do this to her. Even I wasn’t that much of a bitch.
“Everyone makes mistakes right?” I said, giving her a reassuring smile. Dunham’s hard stare turned to me. “No harm done. We might want some drinks before the people we’re meeting arrive.”
“Your best wine,” he said, not looking away from me. “Bring the bottle.”
The waitress nodded and rushed off. I knew she wouldn’t be back. Someone else would be assigned to us. That poor girl. I did my best to keep the smile on my face. If he wanted to yell at someone, he could yell at me. Sooner rather than later he would be dead and buried.
“Your input was not needed,” he practically growled at me. “She needs to learn.”
“She is a young woman,” I said, maintaining the smile. I couldn’t hide the venom. “She didn’t need to be scolded as if she were a child.”
(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. The content might change or be removed entirely from the final book.)
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