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Hugh was still conscious, but his face was a mask of fear as he gazed up at Kenny. Kenny bent down to jerk him back to his feet only to have his father catch one of his arms and Dex catch the other. The two men held him back.
Through the red haze of his anger, Kenny saw the camera crew and realized they were recording everything. Hugh stumbled back to his feet, gasping for air as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.
Kenny watched the red mark on Emma’s cheek grow livid, and he didn’t give a damn about the camera crew. All he cared about was destroying the man who had struck her.
“I’m okay now,” he said to his father and Dex. “You can let me go.”
They let him go.
He slammed his fist into Hugh’s jaw.
“Oh, Kenny . . .” Emma tried to hurl herself at him, but Torie, who understood justice when she saw it, grabbed her away.
“Come here, my little passionflower. I’ll comfort you.” She curled Emma to her bosom by throwing a hammerlock around her neck.
“I’m trying very hard,” Dex murmured as he watched the females embrace, “not to get turned on.”
Kenny’s chest heaved as he stared down at Hugh crumpled on the pavement.
“Kenny!” He turned toward the commanding sound of Emma’s voice. Her plump little mouth was set in a determined line and she looked every inch the schoolteacher putting an end to a playground fight—a schoolteacher with an ugly red smear on her cheek. “Don’t do it. Please.”
Torie released Emma, and he walked toward her to touch the mark on her cheek. “Are you all right?”
She gave a brisk nod, but he could feel how shaken she was, and it made him want to take Hugh Holroyd apart all over again.
In his peripheral vision, he saw the camera crew circling like vampires. They’d caught everything on tape—everything except the moment Hugh had slapped Emma. Right then, he knew exactly how it would be. The camera would show bad boy Kenny Traveler throwing himself at a defenseless man.
Never apologize. Never explain.
Sturgis Randall rushed forward and thrust a microphone in Kenny’s face. “Tell us what happened. Why did you start the fight?”
“Get out of here,” he growled.
“No!” Emma clutched his arm. “Tell him exactly what happened.”
But Kenny’d swallowed his pride once today by talking to Sturgis, and he wasn’t going to do it again. Besides, there was no point. Sturgis had film, and he wasn’t interested in the truth.
Acid boiled in his stomach. Without another word, he pulled away from Emma and walked to his car. Randall shouted out a question, but he ignored it. He’d just thrown his life away, and he had to be alone.
Dismay washed over Emma as she watched him go. What had she done? As the Cadillac sped away, she faced the terrible knowledge that the events she had set in motion could destroy what was left of Kenny’s career.
Warren shot forward. She was accustomed to seeing his neediness as he gazed at his son, but now she saw a hardheaded businessman. “Dex, get Hugh to the hotel. The more I think about it, the more I realize he’ll do just fine there. Cockroaches need to stick together.”
Dex grabbed Hugh and led him toward his Audi, but at the last minute, Hugh wrenched free and turned on Emma. “Don’t think I’ll ever let you near that school again! Or any school, for that matter. Twisted, perverted women like you shouldn’t be allowed near innocent children.”
Emma felt a cool, moist wind blow across the parking lot, and in her mind it smelled of neat English lawns, sun-splashed flower beds, and old brick buildings that sheltered lonely little girls. The only home she’d ever known.
Sturgis rushed toward Hugh. “Tell us what happened. Why did Kenny Traveler subject you to that brutal assault?”
Dex put the car into gear and raced out of the parking lot before Hugh could denounce Kenny. Furious, Sturgis turned back to his cameraman. “Let’s get this film to the airport.”
“No!” Emma rushed toward the camera. “Interview me. I’ll tell you everything. I was attacked by Hugh Holroyd. Kenny was only acting in my defense.”
Her heart sank as she saw the skeptical look on Randall’s face “Anybody else see this?” he asked the onlookers.
“We all did,” Warren said.
Shelby hurried forward, and the parking lot lights showed two damp milk-circles on the front of her sweater. “That English lizard slapped Lady Emma, and Kenny defended her.”
