"I'm sorry. What exactly is wrong with it?"
"You should know."
His voice wasn't loud.
That somehow made it worse.
Nearby conversations were beginning to fade.
Elena saw Charles standing near the kitchen doors.
Watching.
Waiting.
Luca gestured toward the cup.
"Is this how you serve people here?"
Something inside Elena snapped.
Not loudly.
Not dramatically.
It was quieter than that.
It was the accumulated weight of eight months of being blamed for kitchen mistakes.
Eight months of Charles changing schedules without warning.
Eight months of customers snapping fingers at her.
Eight months of smiling while people treated her like furniture.
Elena raised one hand.
Not aggressively.
Just enough to stop Luca before he continued.
"I brought it fresh, sir."
The dining room went strangely quiet.
Luca looked at her.
Really looked.
For the first time that evening.
His eyes were dark and unreadable.
"And yet it's still wrong."
Elena noticed Serena watching her.
The bodyguards behind Luca became completely still.
She could have apologized.
Probably should have.
She could have taken the cup away and allowed Charles to lecture her later.
Instead Elena inhaled slowly.
Then she met Luca's eyes.
"I'm not afraid of you."
Someone at the neighboring table stopped moving entirely.
Charles's face drained of color.
Luca's tattooed fingers rested beside his plate.
For the first time all evening, he looked surprised.
Not angry.
Surprised.
Elena's pulse hammered.
But she continued.
"You don't get to humiliate me."
Silence.
Perfect, terrible silence.
Elena suddenly became aware of everything.
The small amber lamp glowing between them.
The wine glasses.
The white plates.
The sound of rain beyond the windows.
Her own shaking fingers against the folded napkins she was carrying.
Luca looked down.
Slowly removed his dinner napkin from his lap.
Placed it on the table.
Charles rushed forward.
"Mr. Varenzi, I sincerely apologize. Elena is exhausted. I'll deal with—"
Luca lifted one hand.
Charles stopped.
Luca's gaze remained on Elena.
"What's your name?"
She swallowed.
"Elena Marlowe."
He studied her another moment.
Then turned toward Charles.
"Is she always treated like this?"
Elena frowned.
Charles went still.
"I beg your pardon?"
"The question wasn't complicated."
Luca picked up the coffee again.
"This cup is fresh."
Elena's heartbeat seemed to skip.
Serena leaned forward.
"Luca..."
He turned the saucer slightly.
Then Elena saw it.
A tiny white residue along the rim.
Sugar.
Luca had ordered black coffee.
Someone had deliberately put sugar in it after Elena brought it from the bar.
Luca looked toward Charles.
"Interesting."
Charles laughed nervously.
"Probably a misunderstanding."
"No."
Luca's voice became quieter.
"I watched Miss Marlowe bring the first cup. Then I watched your assistant manager intercept her near the service station and touch the tray."
Elena looked across the room.
Assistant manager Daniel Price had vanished.
Luca continued.
"The second time, I watched you do it yourself."
Charles stared at him.
Elena felt suddenly cold.
"You... changed the coffee?"
Charles said nothing.
Luca's expression hardened.
"I've spent six months hearing complaints about this restaurant's staff."
Elena looked confused.
Luca leaned back.
"Servers supposedly careless. Bartenders stealing. Hosts rude to customers. Good employees resigning every month."
Serena opened a leather folder beside her.
Inside were documents.
Dozens of them.
Elena stared.
Charles stepped backward.
"What is this?"
Serena answered.
"An internal review."