“Good.” He gets up immediately and starts heading for the door. “Be ready when the driver arrives and do not be late.”
Silence falls on the house the moment the door slams behind him. It’s okay. Everything is going to be fine.
I can do this, and I can use whatever I find out at the dinner to my advantage. They want to hurt the south side of town, and I can’t let that happen.
I don’t end up eating, my stomach feels too heavy to be able to, so I just have my coffee, and I spend the day outside with my book. River doesn’t message at all, and I can hardly concentrate on the pages, my head at war within itself.
At five I head for a shower and to get ready for dinner and at seven sharp, a blacked-out SUV pulls up to the door where I’m ready and waiting. I decided on a pant suit instead of a dress which I know my brother will have something to say about, but I figured he won’t while in front of his guests. I doubt it’ll look good to them if he’s screaming at his sister.
We drive across town and stop at a small but high-class restaurant that’s usually booked out for months in advance, and inside I’m shown through to the private dining room at the back where my brother and three other men are already seated.
All but my brother stand at my entrance, and the server pulls out my chair and pours me a glass of wine before he vacates the space.
“Miss Winchester,” The youngest of them all greets me first, “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”
I give him a demure smile, “I don’t believe we have.”
“I’m Damien Kent,” He holds out his hand for me to shake. I keep my grip loose and then shake the hands of the other two at the table after they introduce themselves as Oliver and Timothy.
“How has your parent’s holiday been?” Timothy asks Liam, turning his back to me but Damien is still giving me his attention.
“So, what do you do, Marly?” He asks me, genuine interest in his expression.
“I – well, I haven’t quite decided what I want to do in the future.” I tell him honestly.
“Well, you’re young,” He smiles, “There’s plenty of time, nothing you’re leaning toward?”
I want to narrow my eyes at him and ask him what he’s trying to do. I don’t believe he actually gives a damn about what I want to do or my possible career prospects – which are zero thanks to my parents not allowing me the opportunity.
Had I been born into a different life, I think I’d like to work with children, kindergarten maybe or even go into something with literature, a librarian perhaps? Who knows!?
“A few things,” I lie, “But nothing settled yet.”
“I’m pretty sure I wanted to race cars when I was your age,” Oliver laughs at the other side of Damien. He’s early fifties at a guess, the eldest of the three if I was to just base it on looks but I also know that can be deceiving.
But his words have my spine stiffening, my mind instantly falling to River. By the time I left, I still hadn’t heard from him, but I also hadn’t reached out.
Damien laughs at Oliver and turns his attention back to my brother just as the server walks in to take our orders. I don’t even bother to look at the menu, I know how this goes in a room fullof men. If it were my father or mother, they’d order for me and wouldn’t even entertain me having anything else, it’s likely my brother will do the same.
The three men order, and the server turns to Liam, his notepad waiting, “I’ll have the salmon,” He says, “And my sister will take the Cesar salad.”
“You didn’t even look,” Damien frowns. “Is that really what you want?”
I stare at him, blinking in shock. “Well–”
“It’s her usual,” Liam butts in with a chuckle, “Marly is a creature of habit.”
My molars grind together, “Well actually, I’ve gone off the Cesar recently.”
My brother glares at me from across the table.
“I’ll take the Alfredo instead,” I tell the server who jots it down and exits.
“Well, I suppose we should get to the business side of this dinner,” Timothy leans down and pulls out a thick folder and then opens it to the first page. It’s a map of the whole town and the entire southern district is highlighted in red. Dread sinks into my stomach and try as I might, I can’t read the messy handwriting that’s been scribbled in the margins around the map.
“It is quite the wonder how Mayor Winchester ever let it get this bad,” Damien runs his finger along his bottom lip and while I watch him, I notice there’s something about the way he’s looking at my brother that appears distrustful. “Especially when no expense has been spared here.”
“The southern district can be quite hostile,” My brother lies, “Set in their ways. My father tried numerous times when he was firstvoted in years ago now, and after so many rejections, he turned his attention to the parts of town that were welcome to the changes.”
