Sherry's scream cut off as she flung her arm out, and the force of it sent me staggering backward, straight into the tall champagne tower behind me.
Wine and broken glass tore into my back and the palm of my hand, and the blood came at once.
Eugene didn't so much as glance at my injuries. He pulled Sherry into his arms, saw the thin scratch on her finger, and held her like he was shielding her from the world.
His eyes filled with rage. "Judith! Sherry only said a couple of things to you, and you'd actually hurt her? When did you turn this vicious?"
He took my bag, slid out the card. "From now on, my paycheck card goes to Sherry. When you've thought it through, you come and apologize to her properly. The day she's satisfied is the day I give it back. Until then, don't expect to see a single cent."
With that, he carried Sherry off to tend to that scratch already half healed.
I looked down at the bleeding cut, and the ache in my chest went deeper than the wound.
This was the man she'd lost a child and half her life to save.
Three years she waited for a proposal. What came instead was an order to apologize to his mistress.
The money was gone, so I went home to bandage myself.
I forced down the pain, finally got the medicine on, and it hurt so badly I drifted into sleep.
When I woke the next day, I heard Sherry's voice at the door, all sweetness. "Judith, Eugene and I were discussing a deal all yesterday. We talked it over at the hotel last night too. Please don't get the wrong idea!"
That was what she said. But the clothes on her back were Eugene's.
Before I could get a word out, I noticed Sherry had Biscuit on a leash in her hand.
"This dead dog had to go against me too, huh? Pissing everywhere, humiliating me in front of the client! I came back today to teach it some discipline for you!"
The next second a vicious smile spread across her face, and she kicked the dog, hard, once, twice, three times.
Biscuit let out a sharp, agonized cry.
He wrenched free of the leash, but his leg was already crippled and he couldn't run.
A golden retriever that big, curled into a small shaking heap, howling.
My whole body went rigid and I threw myself at her like I'd lost my mind.
Sherry's last kick landed hard against me.
I couldn't hold back the cry that broke out of me.
She looked startled, even put out. "I was just disciplining an animal. What did you come charging over for? You've hurt my foot."
I spun around and shouted, "Eugene. You're just going to stand there and watch her kick Biscuit? He's sick, he's supposed to be in the hospital. Do you want him dead?"
Eugene's face turned to mock realization, and he sneered. "Looks like Sherry was right. You still think you can use a dog to control me? It's a dog, it's an animal. I'm its master. Wasn't saving me only natural?"
"And do you even know this animal pissed everywhere and ruined the contract? That was a thirty-million-dollar deal, gone. Sell it off and you wouldn't even cover the printing cost of the contract."
Biscuit didn't understand any of it.
He stretched out his tongue and licked me.
His eyes were full of worry, even though he was in agony himself.
He couldn't understand how the gentle, kind dad he knew had turned into this.
He had injuries all over him too. It seemed she'd done more than those few kicks, and still, even through the pain, he tried to comfort me.
I got up and swung at Sherry. "You actually hurt Biscuit."
I lunged for her like a madwoman, but I never even touched the hem of her dress.
Because Eugene reacted and kicked me without thinking.
The pain dropped me to my knees, the cut split open again, and my face nearly twisted with it.
Something dark and venomous flickered through Sherry's eyes and was gone.
"Judith! A thirty-million-dollar order. You should be down on your knees begging for forgiveness. Even sold off, you wouldn't be worth that much."
