"Did I say you could leave?"
Jack Brooks’s voice, low and rumbling like distant thunder, echoed through the grand ballroom.
The effect was instantaneous.
Tia Sutton felt her soul leave her body. Her face, already pale from the earlier trauma, turned the color of ash. She spun around and grabbed Jack's arm, her fingernails digging into his skin.
"Jack! What are you doing?!"
Tia screeched, her voice cracking with hysteria. "Are you insane? Are you trying to kill us all?"
She was shaking violently. The events of the last hour had shattered her nerves. She had been assaulted, humiliated, vindicated, and then saved by a miracle. Ted Wolfe deciding not to pursue the matter was a gift from the heavens. It was winning the lottery.
And now? Jack was throwing the winning ticket into the fire.
