Chapter 20

Kat

IN THE WEE HOURS OF the morning, Trent finally shook off the effects of Kobe’s power punch.

“What happened?” he said as he rubbed his head.

“You tried to hit on the wrong girl,” Kobe said.

“Go fuck yourself, kid.” He struggled to get to his feet. “What the fuck are you doing here anyway?”

“Maybe you should sit down,” I suggested.

“I’m fine.”

“Suit yourself.”

But behind him, through the wall of windows with that impressive view of the valley, I could see my father and Mr. King walking up to the door. Behind them, two police officers.

After reviewing the footage and realizing that Trent was the culprit, I’d called my dad.

“You have to come down here right away.”

“What’s going on, honey? Are you alright?”

“Please, Dad. Just come.”

“I’m almost an hour away.”

“I’ll wait.”

“Okay.I’m coming.”

Now, seeing him enter the devastation that was his new baby, I could clearly see the concern in his eyes; not for his restaurant but for me.

“Katrina, honey, what is this all about?”

The officers from the local police department stood by.

“These kids of yours,” Trent shouted at both my father and Mr. King. “Always looking for attention.”

I hardly recognized the man I’d been working with, the man I’d become attracted to, the man I’d almost given my virginity to.

“We have something to show you,” Kobe said to the patriarchs.

“This better be good,” the younger officer said. He looked at my father. “They called the station a while back and said they had proof of a crime.”

“They have nothing,” Trent said, sweat beading on his brow.

“Well,” Kobe said. He turned to the laptop he’d brought to the dining room. “Here’s nothing.”

He pressed play.

My father, Mr. King and the two officers stared at the screen in disbelief, then all turned their gazes to Trent.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” my father said as he slowly walked up to the man he’d handpicked for the managerial job.

“Busted chairs and broken dishes,” Mr. King added. “That’s bad enough, but to put my name to it? To deliberately start a rivalry between the Lee and the Kings?”

Trent’s face contorted into a grimace. “Admit it, King. You were thrilled that someone had had the nerve to do it, to do something to stop the Lee Family. Rivalry? You two have been rivals forever.”

Mr. King nodded. “Perhaps, but it has always been a clean fight. Nothing even remotely resembling this.”

“This rivalry , as it were, is between Mr. King and myself,” Dad said. “I don’t understand your part in this. Why? What possible reason could you have for trashing my Ginger?”

Trent looked at me with a hint of shame, but not nearly enough as the circumstances warranted. Anger; that was the emotion he carried most prominently.

He licked his lips and looked back to Mr. King. “The minute I heard that this restaurant was going to take part in a program with the almighty Errol King’s academy, I knew it was my chance to avenge my father.”

“Your father?” Kobe let out. “What the hell does your father have to do with this?”

Trent kept his eyes on Mr. King. “Your sniveling and back-stabbing brother-in-law, Bobby. My father worked for him back at his New York restaurant, and he was a damned good worker.”

“And who would your father be?” Mr. King said.

“Gregory Young. Name ring a bell?” he shot back.

“As a matter of fact, no. I can’t say that it does.”

“No. Of course it doesn’t. You people are all the same. You trample on the dreams of those around you without even realizing it. You destroy so many lives that you don’t even remember.”

“Refresh my memory, please.” Mr. King eyed Trent with cunning patience.

“He was fired by your brother-in-law, Bobby... Some shitty bogus accusation.”

Mr. King’s eyes lit up and he tapped his lips with his index finger. “Ah. Yes. I think I remember now. Your father thought of himself as quite the lady’s man.”

“The bastard made all that up just so he could get rid of my dad. My dad was a threat to him because he was a better chef, he had better ideas... Fuck, he outshined Bobby.”

“I’m afraid you are mistaken,” Mr. King said. “And there are three courageous young women who might tell you a thing or two about your father. And if that isn’t enough, there are a dozen more who came forward to tell their story but didn’t file charges.”

“The charges were all dropped anyways... lack of proof. The whole thing was a load of bullshit.”

“Tell that to the young woman who was cornered by your father. He tried to shove his tongue down her throat and his hand up her skirt. As the story goes, she kneed him rather hard.” A sardonic grin came to his lips. “Perhaps you could ask your father how his family jewels are doing?”

“Fuck you!” Trent shouted, spittle flying out of his mouth. “Because of you and your fucking fancy family, my father’s reputation was ruined with these bogus accusations of sexual harassment. Shit, he couldn’t even get a job as a short order cook. He had to go to Asia to finally find the respect he deserved. Only that was short-lived and when we came back to America, those false accusations still followed him around and he was forced into early retirement.”

Mr. King took a step closer to him, then gestured to the destroyed dining room. “And this was your solution?” He pointed to my father. “You destroyed his new establishment.”

Trent shrugged. “Collateral damage. His insurance will pay for everything anyways. What difference does it make? By pinning the crime on the Kings, your reputation will be tarnished, and the rivalry with the Lees will continue.”

Mr. King took another step closer. “A man with half a brain and any sense of decency would have come straight to me.”

Trent snickered in return. “Yeah, but fanning the flames of this idiotic feud between you two added to the fun.”

“Take him away,” my father told the police officers.

They each grabbed an elbow and turned to escort him out.

“Oh,” Trent called over his shoulder. “And dear, lovely Katrina...”

The police allowed him to turn around to address me.

“You were the cherry on top, dear,” he said. “Here I was thinking I have a lovely little toy to play with... but to learn that you’re his daughter.” He pointed to my father. “Yeah... that sure was the cherry...maybe get you knocked up with my kid. Yeah, what’s the ultimate revenge in the culinary world but...”

He smirked and I wanted to throw up.

“And to think that I almost got that cherry...” He glared at Kobe, then back at me as he licked his lips. “This close. I came this close.”

My breaths came in short, hard burst and I thought my heart was going to pound its way out of my chest. I felt like such a fool.

Trent looked at my father. “Quite a girl you have there. Soft skin, warm thighs...”

“You bastard!” I shouted as I rushed to him, my outstretched hand aching to land on his arrogant cheek.

“He’s not worth it,” Kobe said as he held me back.

But no one held my father back. He marched up to Trent and slapped him.“You damage my restaurant? Okay. You fuel the feud? Okay. But you talk of my daughter...? No!”

“I want him charged with assault,” Trent spit out as the police turned him back to the door.

“That’s enough,” one of the officers said as he opened the door.

“I would have had that cherry,” Trent called over his shoulder. “If it hadn’t been for loverboy over there who can’t mind his own fucking business.”

“I could charge you, Trent, with sexual harassment. You came unto me, as my supervisor, for my school project. I have evidence to prove it too,” I finally said.

“Like father like son,” Kobe said. “I’d suggest you keep your mouth shut or we will dig deeper. Maybe your father put you up to this?”

Trent’s mouth dropped and shook his head.

The officers shoved him out and escorted him to their patrol car.

My body went numb. I was numb with shame, with embarrassment and with more shame. I could still feel the heat of his hands on my skin and the taste of his kiss on my lips.

Damn. I desperately wanted a shower to wash it all away.

I turned away, unable to face my father.

“You okay?” Kobe said, setting his comforting hand on my shoulder.

I nodded, shook my head then nodded again. I didn’t know how I felt.

“Kat?” He turned me to face him.

“I feel so stupid... so damned stupid.” I wanted to gag. “I fell for him. He’s precisely the type of man my father warmed me about, and I fell for him.”

“Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Kobe said. “The guy was really laying it thick... I don’t know many girls who could have resisted.”

My dad came up to us. “Lesson learned, Katrina. There’s no shame in that. You’ll be better and stronger for having had the experience.”

“Oh, Dad.” I threw myself into his arms and cried. “I’m so sorry. I shamed the family.”

My father shook his head. “You did not. You’re nothing but joy and pride for me and your mother. If nothing, you’ve uncovered a louse in our restaurant family. I trusted him, taught him like a son, and had faith Trent could handle being the manager and head of the new concept restaurants. That’s why I had someone so young like him running Ginger. But you weeded him out. You and Kobe.”

Dad held me for a long, soothing moment then pulled back. Still holding me, he gazed at Kobe. “You seem to have a fine young man here who is prepared to do anything to protect you.”

Kobe smiled as he nodded, a slight blush on his cheeks.

“You’ve raised a fine son,” Dad told Mr. King.

Errol King was at a loss for words for a long moment. Surely, he regretted asking Kobe to shun me. After a moment, he extended his hand to my dad.

“I think it’s time we put this feud to bed.”

My dad smiled and shook Errol’s hand. “I wholeheartedly agree.”