Shielded by the Ruthless Military Boss novel · Chapter 11 of 24
Chapter 11: The Gala
The Pollard & Kline charity gala filled the ballroom of a hotel on the river, with two hundred guests in black tie.
I walked in wearing a black dress Clover had picked.
A thin gold chain lay over the stitches at my neck, and the splint was off my wrist.
The colonel stopped beside the door.
He wore his dress uniform with the ribbons on his chest, and every head in the room turned toward him and then away.
"I'll be right here," he said. "You go in alone."
"You don't have to stay."
"You told me you wanted to do this yourself." His eyes held mine. "I'm not going to take it from you."
"And if it goes wrong?"
"Then I take it from him."
Clover, behind me, made a small squeaking noise.
"I'm very emotional," she whispered.
The ballroom smelled of lilies and champagne.
At the far end, on a low stage, my mother stood at the auction table in her best silk, laughing with a woman in diamonds.
When she saw me, the laugh stopped in the middle.
Keaton Pollard was at the microphone.
"We are here tonight," he said warmly, "to support the families of the men and women who serve. And I'd like to say a few words about mental health in military families."
He found me in the crowd.
His smile was perfect.
"Sometimes the people closest to us struggle in silence. Sometimes they lash out. We shouldn't judge them. We should help."
A few guests turned to look at me.
I walked down the middle of the room and up the three steps to the stage.
"Leah," my mother hissed, rushing to cut me off. "Sit down. Right now."
"No."
I held out my hand to Clover, who had followed me to the edge of the stage.
She put a small black drive in it, the one the captain had handed her that morning with the lobby camera's whole recording.
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