Riot novel · Chapter 16 of 24
Chapter 16: The Same Word
The dining room emptied in under two minutes.
The uncles left first, and the board wives left holding their coats in front of them.
Art took the housekeeper out through the kitchen with a hand under her elbow.
Honor stayed in her chair.
She did not cry, and she did not speak.
She looked at the foil packet that Rhys had left on her plate, and she turned it over once with her fingertip.
"Mother," Rhys said. "Your signature comes off the family trust tonight. Your seat on the foundation board is gone. My lawyer has the papers, and I'm signing them in the next hour."
"You can't," she said.
"I'm the sole trustee. Father made sure of that, because he didn't trust you."
Honor looked at him a long moment.
"You'll be back, Ry," she said. "Every Ambrose man comes back to the table."
"A car will take you wherever you want to go," he said. "And you won't call Joss. Not once."
She stood and smoothed her cardigan.
She walked past me without a glance, and I smelled lavender, the same scent that had been on the hands that held mine on the sidewalk.
I had to look at the floor until it went away.
When the front door closed behind her, Bex let out a long, shaky breath.
"I'll wait in the car," she said. "Don't kill him. Or do, but call me first."
She patted my arm and left.
Then there was just the long table, and the candles, and Rhys.
He came around the head of the table slowly.
"Joss."
"Don't."
He stopped where he was.
"I need to say something, and you're going to stand there and take it," I said.
"Yes."
"You called me a trapper in your lobby."
"I did."
"You said it in front of forty people." My voice shook, and I let it. "And the person who actually did it was in the room, holding my hand."
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