Chapter 4: Sneakily Preparing for His Birthday, but Getting Spanked

After Dante slammed the door that day, Cora hardly saw him at home. They kept different hours.

She was usually asleep by the time he got back, and Mrs. Hayes would give him her usual report on how Cora had spent the day.

By the time he got up and went to the office, she was already in her lessons. They didn't even cross paths. Cora found it a relief. She got up on time, ate breakfast, went to her lessons, and reviewed her notes. Her days felt full and worthwhile.

Dante had been in a foul mood at the office for a week. The executives were all on edge, afraid that one wrong word would cost them their jobs. Even Adrian felt the strain whenever he went into Dante's office.

“Ms. Bennett, it's Mr. Valenti's birthday today. Would you consider having dinner with him tonight?” Mrs. Hayes stood beside her at lunch, picking the bones out of the steamed sea bass and putting the meat on Cora's plate. The fish was delicious, and Mrs. Hayes kept serving it to make sure Cora got enough protein.

“Hmm. He's turning twenty-nine? What did you do for his birthday before?” Cora hadn't celebrated many people's birthdays. She didn't have many friends.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” Mrs. Hayes said honestly. The two of them hadn't spoken in a week, though. Surely this was a good excuse to make peace. Mrs. Hayes kept dropping hints, but Cora offered no response and carried on enjoying her lunch.

She said nothing before she left the table, either. She went to her lesson as usual, but she spent the afternoon trying to think of a present for Dante. It was only a little distraction. She just happened to miss a point on every problem.

“Why don't we stop here for today, Coco? Get some rest and clear your head. None of these problems is beyond you. Try not to be so nervous.”

“Sorry. I'll get my head straight. See you tomorrow.” With that, she left her tutor and went to the kitchen.

She had no idea her tutor would report exactly how the lesson had gone. Sooner or later, Dante would hear about it.

The head chef saw her come in and hurried over. “Are you hungry, Ms. Bennett? What can I make you?”

“I'm not hungry. I want to make a cake. Do we have the ingredients?”

“We have the basics. What flavor would you like?” He set the ingredients out on the counter one by one.

“What flavor does Mr. Valenti like?”

“Mr. Valenti? He hardly ever eats sweets. We make the desserts for you.”

Cora thought back. She'd never seen him touch dessert, whether it was the little cakes after dinner or the mango and pomelo sago. “Then let's do a matcha cake, with less sugar. Would you mind showing me how?”

“Of course.”

It took them two hours to get the matcha cake into shape and put it in the refrigerator to chill. “Could you make some longevity noodles for tonight, too? The rest of dinner can be whatever you already planned. Thank you.”

“It's my pleasure, Ms. Bennett.”

By early evening, dinner was almost ready and Dante still wasn't home. Cora sat on the couch, getting restless. “Mrs. Hayes, could you call Dante for me?”

“Of course.” Mrs. Hayes dialed his cell from the house phone and passed Cora the receiver.

“Hello?”

His voice was low and cool. She hadn't heard it in a week, and her pulse picked up. “Are you coming home for dinner tonight?”

At the sound of her question, his brow relaxed for the first time in days, and his voice warmed a little. “Is something wrong?”

Cora missed the change in his tone. “No,” she said shortly. “Forget it if you're busy. I won't bother you.”

She was about to hang up in a huff when he said, “I'll be home for dinner.”

Her annoyance disappeared. “Okay!” she said, the smile audible in her voice.

“Mrs. Hayes! Dante's coming home for dinner. So tonight we can…” She began going over the plan with the housekeeper.

At dinner Cora looked like a child hiding a piece of candy, guilty and excited all at once. She even put a shrimp in Dante's bowl. “Have some more.”

He looked down at it. Had she put something in it so she could slip away after he passed out? Or was she actually trying to be nice? Had she really learned that much in a week? Her tutor had said she hadn't paid attention all afternoon. In the end, Dante ate the shrimp.

“Come to the study after dinner.” Dante finished eating and got up.

Cora lingered at the table. Once he was out of earshot, she drew Mrs. Hayes close and whispered a few words to her.

“What happened this afternoon?” Dante asked the instant Cora entered the study. He was in the chair where she usually worked. Her practice test lay in front of him, covered in conspicuous red corrections.

The question caught her off guard. She'd been thinking about chocolate, matcha, cheesecake, strawberry cake, and Black Forest cake. She could hardly tell him that. “I'm sorry.” She backed up against the door, her hands twisted together in front of her.

“The SAT is in a few days. What's gotten into you? Were you distracted because you were thinking about him?”

“No. Really.” She didn't know how to answer. She felt the unfairness of it well up inside her and pressed her lips together, still unwilling to tell him why.

“Come here.”

She went over to him with her head down, like a child waiting for a parent to tell her what she'd done wrong.

“Well? What was it?”

Dante felt a sudden pang of guilt about the last few days. Sulking over someone who was about to take the SAT had been childish of him.

“I… I spent the afternoon thinking about you.” She'd thought about what to say for a long time. It was true, after all. She'd been thinking about what kind of cake to make him.

Dante stared at her. She was thinner than when they'd first met, her face pale and her wide eyes full of hurt. “You didn't study? You just sat there thinking about me?”

Cora flushed. It was too late to change her answer. She simply looked at him. Dante caught her by the hand, pulled her toward him, and pressed her across his knees.

His palm came down.

“Dante, what are you doing?” She tried to get up, but he locked an arm around her waist, pinning her in place, and struck her again.

“The study plan says you pay attention in your lessons. If you don't, there's a punishment.” From the way he said it, she knew she'd be spanked whatever she told him. There wasn't going to be an excuse he'd accept.

“Then go easy… ow!” His hand cut through the air. He knew he only had to use a fraction of his strength to make her cry. He was hitting harder than that now, and her eyelids were already swollen from crying.

“I'm sorry,” she sobbed. “Please stop.” Dante stopped when she kept crying out. “Lean over the desk. Keep your eyes on the practice test.”

She took small, awkward steps, sore and swollen. Her chest heaved as she cried. She reached behind with both hands, felt how hot the sore area was, and rubbed it gently.

“Still dragging your feet?” His voice made her flinch. Her hands froze, and she hurried to lean over the desk.

“Look at it. You know how to do these. All your work is right until the last step, and then you get the calculation wrong.”

Cora gave a small, miserable sound.

“Don't explain. Count.”

The next blow felt nothing like his palm. Something cold struck her burning skin. She jerked her head around and recognized the ruler she used to draw diagrams, the twelve-inch one.

“You can't hit me with that,” she sobbed.

“Want me to switch? A belt? A cane? A feather duster?”

“You're being mean.”

The ruler came down again.

“You get the problems wrong and now you think you get to choose what I use? You're spoiled. I'm only counting once you start counting. Go on, keep arguing.”

She kept crying. The ruler left long marks across her buttocks. Several blows landed in the same spot, and she twisted from side to side trying to dodge them.

“I'll count,” she sobbed. “One.”

The ruler fell.

“Two.”

It came down again.

Only when she'd counted to thirty did Dante put the ruler back in the pen holder. “Next time you're tempted to sit through a lesson without listening, look at that ruler and think about how many you can take.”

“I was wrong. I won't do it again.” The tears kept coming. The pain and the feeling of being treated unfairly only made her angrier. She knew she'd broken their agreement by failing to pay attention, and she'd agreed to accept a punishment for it. Knowing exactly why it had happened didn't make her feel any less hurt. She lay still across the desk and sobbed louder than she had when he was hitting her.

Something about the way she was crying seemed different. Dante lifted her into his arms.

“Go away. Don't touch me!” She pushed at him, still crying.

He tightened his hold and rubbed the swollen spots, his voice halfway between a threat and an attempt to soothe her. “Talk to me. What's wrong? Are you upset because I spanked you?”

“I… call Mrs. Hayes up here.”

Dante freed a hand and called her on the house phone. “Come upstairs.” He hung up. “All right. Stop crying now.”

The lights went out all at once. Cora stiffened in his arms and fell silent. Dante scanned the room, alert, then lifted her under the desk. “Don't be afraid. Wait here.”

“Don't go. I'm scared.” Her eyes were still red as she grabbed his arm.

“I'll take a look.” Dante pulled free of her grip. As soon as he stood up, he saw the study door open and drew the gun at his waist.

Mrs. Hayes was holding a cake with one lit candle. Cora poked her head out from under the desk. “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

Dante stared at Cora. Her eyes were still wet, but she was grinning like someone whose trick had come off perfectly. He looked at Mrs. Hayes and her kindly smile. They were both waiting to see what he'd do.

“Happy birthday, Dante! Make a wish!”

A small smile tugged at his mouth. He gave Cora a long look, then leaned in to blow out the candle. She caught his sleeve.

“You haven't made a wish yet! You only get one chance a year.”

“I already did.” He rested a hand on her head, drew her in against his chest, and blew out the candle in one soft breath. The lights came back on at once.

“Let's eat downstairs.” He took Cora's hand and led her toward the dining room. Mrs. Hayes followed with the cake.

At the top of the stairs they saw a crowd around the dining room, which was filled with balloons, streamers, and other decorations. Cora drew closer to Dante, as startled as he was. He looked down at her, plainly amused.

“I… I didn't arrange this.”

Adrian was the only one there she recognized.

“Happy birthday, Boss!” the group shouted together.

It was the first time any of them had celebrated Dante's birthday. In previous years everyone had gone about their business, and no one had made a ceremony of it. But Cora had called Adrian that afternoon to invite him and asked him to bring Dante's closest friends and most trusted men. This was the result.

Dante fixed his eyes on Adrian, who began to look uneasy. “Ms. Bennett arranged it.”

“I… you! I didn't know you had so many friends.”

The sight of fifty or sixty people was overwhelming. Dante liked his quiet, and they rarely came to the estate.

Something warm bubbled up in his chest. “Thank you.”

“It's my first time throwing someone a birthday party, so go easy on me. Everyone, please make yourselves at home. There might not be enough cake to go around.”

“Don't worry, Ms. Bennett. We brought our own.” People reached under the tables and produced fried chicken, more cakes, soda, and all sorts of things Dante never ate.

Dante looked around the room and rubbed his temples.