The security guards had iron grips. My arms burned where they pinned me.
"I'd suggest you let go of me. You'll regret it if you don't."
My voice came out cold, like something dredged from the bottom of a frozen lake.
Toby, though, threw his head back and laughed as if he'd just heard the funniest joke of his life.
"Regret?"
"Who do you think you're threatening?"
"This isn't five years ago, pal. You're a broke ex-con. You're nothing to me. Less than nothing. An insect."
"Forget hitting you. I could put you in the ground and there wouldn't be a damn thing you could do about it."
I narrowed my eyes, watching him close the distance between us.
He stopped one step away and looked down at me, savoring the angle.
A long, deliberate pause.
Then he bent slowly at the waist, seized my chin between his fingers, and tilted my face up. His eyes glittered with provocation.
"Duke Gilbert, you're pathetic."
"I called you a cuckold and you still can't accept it!"
Pathetic.
Cuckold.
His words echoed over and over in my ears, and the restaurant dissolved around me. I was back. Five years ago.
That day was my engagement banquet with Fay.
The ceremony had reached the cake-cutting when Toby stepped forward, cradling an ornate gift box in both hands.
The lid came off. Nestled inside was a cake, and perched on top of it, molded in vivid fondant, sat a bright green tortoise.
The thing was emerald from head to tail, disturbingly lifelike.
Two glossy black eyes stared straight at me, mocking me without a sound.
Laughter erupted around the room.
Every guest was pointing, whispering, sneering. Nobody even tried to hide it.
They were all waiting to see what I'd do. Waiting for the show.
But Toby wasn't done.
He leaned in close, dropping his voice to a murmur only the two of us could hear.
"So what if you run a company? You're still marrying a tramp I already had my fun with!"
"You're pathetic. A cuckold. That's all you'll ever be."
Before the last syllable left his mouth, he flipped his phone around. Fay's photo filled the screen.
She was draped in sheer black lingerie, her gaze heavy-lidded and seductive.
A completely different woman from the cold, untouchable image she showed the world.
Toby's lips curled into a slow, satisfied smirk. His expression was thick with the pleasure of someone reliving a private memory.
My pupils contracted.
Every drop of blood in my body felt like it had reached a boil.
In that moment, composure was no longer an option. Rage incinerated every last shred of reason I had left.
I swung. My fist connected with his face.
That single punch cost me two years in prison.
"Ha ha ha—"
The memory shattered. I was back in the restaurant, and Toby was still laughing, still gloating.
The rest of the diners joined in, their laughter bouncing off the walls.
Every single one of them was enjoying the spectacle of my humiliation.
My gaze went ice-cold. I whipped my head sideways, wrenching free of the hand still gripping my chin.
In the split second of stunned silence that followed, I threw my weight forward and broke loose from both guards.
"You never learn, do you."
"Seems like enough time has passed that you've forgotten what it felt like when I shattered your nose. Let me refresh your memory."
My stare was razor-sharp, my voice cold enough to freeze hell over.
For one instant, the sheer force rolling off me locked every person in the room in place. The laughter died.
Toby met my eyes and the color drained from his face.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"You want to go back to prison?!"
A cold smile tugged at my lips. "Try me."
I ignored his threat. Under the horrified, disbelieving stares of everyone in the room, I drove my fist straight into Toby's face.
"AAGH—"
He staggered back two steps, both hands flying to his nose, a shrill howl tearing from his throat.
