Chapter 407: Before the First Bite

Bennett walked into the restaurant like she already knew the place.

She didn’t ask for a table. Didn’t wait for anyone to guide them. She moved through the room past white tables and low light, past the soft sound of knives on plates and quiet conversation, until she found a spot near the middle. Clean view of the entrance. Enough space. She sat down without checking if Lucas agreed.

Lucas followed and took the seat across from her.

A waiter came over fast with menus. Bennett took hers and opened it with no hurry. Lucas opened his, scanned the page once, and looked up.

"Spaghetti Carbonara with grilled chicken."

Bennett closed her menu.

"Chicken Parmigiana with spaghetti."

The waiter repeated both orders carefully, nodded, and left.

For a short moment the table was quiet.

That was when Lucas noticed the staring.

Not one person. Several. People at the nearest tables kept looking over, then pretending they hadn’t. A couple by the window leaned closer and spoke under their breath. Someone at the bar glanced, turned away, then looked again. A man two tables down turned fully in his chair before the woman with him muttered something and made him face forward.

Lucas didn’t care.

Bennett did.

She kept her eyes on the room for a second longer, then leaned in slightly.

"Why are they staring like that?"

Lucas glanced around once.

"Maybe they haven’t seen someone handsome in a while."

Bennett’s mouth moved like she wanted to stop the smile and failed.

"You’re not taking this seriously."

"There’s nothing to take."

She watched him, waiting for more. He gave her nothing else. After a moment she sat back, but her shoulders stayed tight. The attention in the room was not loud. It was steady. It stayed on them even when people tried to hide it behind glasses and menus.

Lucas rested an arm on the table and looked toward the kitchen side of the room, already bored of the eyes.

Then the manager showed up.

No food. Just him.

Lucas looked up.

"Where’s the food? Why are you here without it?"

The manager forced a polite smile. His hands were folded too neatly in front of him.

"Good evening. I’m the hotel manager. Your dishes are coming. I only wanted to introduce myself."

Lucas stared at him.

"Okay. Then why are you here?"

The smile thinned.

Up close, the man looked uneasy. His eyes flicked to Lucas’s hands, then away. He had clearly seen the video. Staff phones moved fast in places like this. A thick six-three bodyguard leaving the ground and hitting the pavement outside was not something people forgot in a few minutes. That clip had already done its work.

"Some guests have been watching your table," the manager said carefully. "Because of the misunderstanding at the entrance. I wanted to make sure you were both comfortable."

"We are."

The manager hesitated. His fingers pressed together a little tighter.

"If the attention bothers you, we have a private dining room. I can move you there right now. No trouble."

It sounded like service. It felt like caution.

Lucas shook his head once.

"No need. We’re fine here."

The manager stood there a second too long, waiting for him to change his mind. Most people in a hotel like this wanted privacy the second eyes turned on them. Most people also understood when a manager was trying to keep the room calm.

Lucas just wanted food.

The manager’s gaze dropped to Lucas’s hands again. Then he nodded once, stiff, and left the table.

Bennett watched him go.

"He looked nervous."

Lucas picked up his water glass.

"Good."

She didn’t push it.

A short while later the waiter returned.

Plates landed clean on the table. Carbonara in front of Lucas, grilled chicken over rich pasta, black pepper across the top. Steam still rose from it. Bennett’s chicken parmigiana came with cheese soft at the edges and spaghetti on the side. The smell of sauce, pepper, and warm cheese filled the space between them.

Lucas picked up his fork.

He was about to take the first bite when the room shifted.

It started near the entrance. A few heads turned. Then more. Talk dropped at the nearest tables. Even the soft background noise seemed thinner for a second.

Chiara’s assistant walked in.

Sharp coat. Controlled face. Straight posture. The kind of woman who entered a room expecting it to adjust around her. Behind her came a bodyguard, tall and thick in a black suit, eyes already moving across the floor.

People noticed them at once.

Even Lucas looked up.

The assistant didn’t search long. She found their table almost immediately and started walking straight toward them. The bodyguard stayed close, silent, clearing space by size alone. A waiter stepped out of the way without being asked. Someone near the aisle pulled their chair in.

Bennett’s hand tightened on her napkin.

Lucas set his fork down.

What he did not know was how far the entrance clip had already traveled.

Phones outside the hotel had caught everything. The grab. The pull. The way the tall bodyguard left the ground and hit the pavement. Within minutes the short videos were online. In less than an hour, several of them had crossed twenty million views each. People were not just watching. They were cutting the moment down, looping it, turning it into jokes. The bodyguard’s face on impact. The stunned pause after. Side-by-side clips with laughing audio. Comment sections full of the same mockery over and over.

For Chiara, it was humiliation with speed.

She had seen the videos. She had also seen the way Lucas looked at her outside the hotel, like her name and her crowd meant nothing. That part stayed with her. She already wanted to teach him a lesson. But first she needed the online mess controlled. Reputation moved faster than anger. So she sent her assistant.

Now that assistant stood at Lucas’s table without invitation, coat still on, expression tight. The bodyguard stayed half a step behind her, big enough to block part of the aisle, eyes fixed on Lucas like the job had already started.

Around them, the restaurant had gone quieter.

Bennett felt the shift immediately. She looked from the woman to the bodyguard, then back to Lucas.

The carbonara sat untouched in front of him, steam still rising off the plate. He had not taken a single bite.