Roses Revenge novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Chair of Aster

Paisley came back for her phone before I had finished reading the text.

She ran in from the sidewalk, scooped it off the floor, and held it against her chest.

"I dropped it," she said.

"I saw."

"Did you look?"

"I looked at the floor," I said. "It was just lying there."

She stared at me for a long moment, white to the lips.

Then she walked out again, faster than she had come in.

Aunt Bea put down her crossword.

"Well," she said. "That was educational."

I copied the recording to three places before I left the cafe.

On Friday at seven, I stood in front of my aunt's hall mirror in a dark green dress.

Aunt Bea had taken in the waist herself, with pins in her mouth.

"You look like someone's grandmother left you something," she said.

"She did."

"Then wear it well."

Elliot was waiting at the curb in a black car.

He got out when he saw me.

He looked at the dress, and then at my face.

Then he looked away at the street for a second.

"You'll do," he said.

"That's all?"

"I'm being careful."

"Of what?"

"My terms." He opened the car door. "Nobody learns who you are until I say so."

"I remember."

"When I say it, they'll hear it from someone else. You only have to stand there."

Marlow's was a steakhouse with a private room at the back.

Through the glass door I could see a long table, white linen, and twelve people already seated.

Colton sat at the head.

He wore his best suit, and his smile was fixed on tight.

Paisley sat at his left in a red dress I had never seen. She had her hand on his sleeve.

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