Chapter 2 - THE PRANKSTER'S RECKONING
The silence at our corner table grew heavy.
Daniel’s hand remained inside his charcoal suit jacket.
His fingers rested near his shoulder holster.
Across the dining room, Olivia and our two friends stopped laughing instantly.
Their wineglasses froze halfway to their mouths.
Color drained from Olivia’s face until she looked like chalk.
“Daniel,” I whispered, touching his sleeve.
“Please. Don't cause a scene.”
He turned his gray eyes back to me.
The coldness in his gaze vanished, replaced by an unsettling, gentle calm.
“I never cause scenes, Emily,” he murmured.
“I simply settle accounts.”
He didn't pull a gun.
Instead, he pulled out a sleek silver smartphone.
He tapped the screen twice.
Within three seconds, the phone of every person sitting at Olivia’s table buzzed in unison.
I watched as Olivia slowly picked up her phone.
Her eyes widened in sheer terror as she read the message.
She looked across the room directly at Daniel.
Daniel raised his wineglass toward her in a silent, mocking toast.
Then Olivia stood up so fast her chair screeched against the polished wood.
She grabbed her handbag, whispered frantically to our friends, and bolted out the side exit of the restaurant without looking back.
The other two girls followed her like frightened sheep.
I stared at Daniel, my jaw slightly slack.
“What did you send them?” I asked.
“Just a small reminder of who owns the real estate mortgages on their apartments,” Daniel replied smoothly.
He picked up his menu as if nothing had happened.
“Now, Emily. Let’s look at the appetizers.”
My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird.
I had just witnessed Boston’s most feared underworld king handle a petty prank with terrifying, bloodless efficiency.
And yet, he was sitting across from me, asking what I wanted to eat.
“You didn't have to do that,” I whispered.
“They humiliated you,” Daniel said, his gray eyes locking onto mine with absolute seriousness.
“Nobody humiliates my guest.”
“Even if she was sent as a joke?”
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“Especially if she was sent as a joke,” Daniel smiled, a warm, genuine expression that transformed his dangerous face.
“Because I have a feeling this is going to be the most interesting dinner I’ve had in a decade.”
