Dakota moved beside Matt, his hands clenched into tight fists. “That’s enough, Matt. You need to—”
Matt swung and hit Dakota in the chin. Moving with lightning speed, Dakota grabbed his arm, spun him around, and put him in a choke hold. “Take this down a few,” Dakota rasped in Matt’s ear, the mic catching his words.
“Fuck you, Dakota. I don’t work for you anymore, and I sure as hell don’t take orders from you.”
The second Dakota released him, Matt took another swing.
This time, Dakota blocked him. “Calm the hell down.” The anger in his voice was palpable.
“Got it,” Matt said, raising his arms in surrender. He started to amble away, then turned and charged Dakota, head down like a bull.
Matt rammed into him, but Dakota body-slammed him onto the floor. Several in the audience screamed, while a collective gasp filled the room. Then, silence.
More silence.
Two men from Dakota’s dinner table rushed onto the stage. “Let’s go, Matt,” said one of them as they pulled him to his feet.
“You’re gonna regret that,” Matt slurred out. “I’m gonna press charges for assault.”
Dakota glared at him before addressing the men. “Get him the hell out of here, but don’t put him behind the wheel.”
Both men escorted Matt toward the back of the room. As he passed Providence, his face was flaming red and he was muttering obscenities.
Dakota spoke quietly with Juanita before moving back to the podium. His jaw was set in a hard line and he stared out at the group for several seconds. “That was one helluva finale, don’t you think?”
“We love you, Dakota,” one woman shouted.
“Right back atcha,” he said and flashed that killer smile. “On behalf of the managing partners of Larke and Goode-Luck, thank you for your efforts throughout the year. We might be rival companies, but we’re all—well, most of us—are trying to do right by our clients. A home should be filled with love, starting with the process of finding the right one. Make it your mission to do that for all your clients and you’ll win every single time.”
Several in the crowd started applauding. “This concludes our awards ceremony. If you aren’t staying at the hotel, take a taxi if you’ve had too much to drink.”
After flipping off the mic, Dakota hung at the podium with Juanita while people started moving through the ballroom. Providence positioned herself in the hallway waiting for him to exit, but the area soon grew crowded. Some stayed and mingled, while others made their way over to the atrium and sidled up to the bar.
She eavesdropped on a group of realtors cluttered together nearby.
“That drunken outburst was a career-killer for Matt,” one said. “Do you think he was taking kickbacks?”
“I can’t imagine Juanita or Dakota would fire him for no reason,” said another.
“I’m keeping my head down and doing my job,” said a third.
Twenty long minutes later, Dakota emerged, surrounded by a dozen people, mostly women. He was smiling, but he didn’t appear to be talking to any of them. He stood in the hallway while agent after agent came over to speak with him.
Keeping a low profile, Providence edged in his direction, but she couldn’t get close enough to hear him over the cacophony of voices surrounding her. Rather than head into the atrium, Dakota walked down the hallway. Though several stopped him, he kept the chatting to a minimum.
Providence followed. He stopped in front of an elevator in the lobby and pressed the “up” button. After standing there for several seconds, he strode toward the stairway, opened the door, and ducked inside.
Where’s he going?
She waited another fifteen minutes for him to reappear. When he didn’t, she returned to the atrium, now packed with attendees. Matt was leaning with his back against the bar while a small crowd of realtors hovered close. They might have been impressed with Matt’s antics, but she wasn’t.
Since her reason to stay had disappeared in a stairwell, she headed toward her car, parked in the nearby garage. After stopping at home to change, she drove to the club.
On the way, she replayed the evening.
Providence had gotten a glimpse into Dakota’s world and had witnessed his charm firsthand. He kept the awards ceremony moving along, had what appeared to be great camaraderie with his business partner, and handled the debacle at the end without getting sucked into Matt’s drunken drama.
She’d also seen him put Matt in a choke hold in a split-second.That’s how you break someone’s neck.
