. . .
peony
Ispend all the next day preparing for dinner so I don’t have to think about what happened. It’s unsettling, but I believe that eventually, the media will get bored of us and move on to something else.
Though it’s not every day that a real-life monster appears in the world. People are fascinated with Rupert. Rumors have spread like wildfire since he’s failed to make any additional appearances, taking on the aura of a bigfoot. Some people wonder if it was a prank, some animatronic apparatus, or perhaps generative AI.
Until Rupert appeared to save me at the front gate, and now every major news outlet is running footage of him bellowing threats. Very good PR.
I know it rattled him. He worries about my safety, and this only cemented that fact for him. Perhaps he’s right thatwe would be better off at one of his other properties, one even more remote and anonymous than this one.
But I don’t want to retreat even further. It’s not fair to either of us, not when Rupert has only just shown himself.
I prepare the same meal I had planned last time. Rupert offers to help, but I’m on a mission and I insist on doing all of it myself. I want to prove to Stella I’m fine on my own, that I never needed her help anyway. And now, I’m happy here with Rupert.
My great-aunt arrives in a black limo thirty minutes late and strides out wearing sunglasses even though it’s nearly dark. I’m waiting for her at the front door, and she hands her jacket to Kellen without sparing him a glance. He looks down at it with an irritated huff, then hangs it up by the door.
When she sees Rupert in the dining room, Stella pauses, but then sniffs and enters as if nothing is amiss. We exchange greetings, but Stella gives Rupert’s outstretched hand a skeptical look without shaking it.
Once everyone’s seated, including Kellen, I hurry to produce my appetizer. Stella studies it critically before taking a sample bite.
Even she can’t hide that she likes it. It brings me the barest amount of pleasure to surprise her, though she would never admit openly how delicious it is.
As we eat, the first thing she brings up is how we were all over the news again.
“Perhaps,” she says over dinner, “you ought to consider showing yourself more rather than less, Mr. Edgewood. Do an interview in a controlled environment. Answer the people’s questions.”
Rupert glares at her with unabashed distaste.
“I am not some curiosity for their amusement,” he snaps. But Stella is unfazed, though he looks fierce and frightening.
She goes on to gossip about the other members of the club in town, people whose names mean nothing to either of us.
“You ought to at least show your face there,” she says as I bring out the main course. She tests it with her fork as if the food might bite her. “It would do wonders for your reputation.”
“I do not care for myreputation,” Rupert snarls in response.
“Hmm.” Stella eats with a genteel delicacy. “You ought to. Peony was only abducted because that man saw her driving a fancy car. He knew that if she was working for you, she had money. Your reputation is what landed you in this in the first place.”
Rupert’s lip curls like he’s going to say something harsh in return, but I nudge him with my foot under the table. His mouth falls closed, then he stares down at his plate, brows furrowed, and doesn’t speak for the rest of the meal.
I try to fill the empty space, asking Stella about our extended family.
“I do not communicate with them often.” She raises her narrowed eyes to mine. “Though after the event at the bank, I did hear from your father.”
Dad. I can’t imagine what he thought after seeing it. Now he knows he was right, that Andy was the real villain. So I say nothing, biting my lip as Stella continues.
“I told him how you came to be in Mr. Edgewood’s employ, all thanks to me.”
I can’t help myself, so I ask, “What did he say?”
“He was disappointed, watching you go right into another man’s tangle.” Her words are like a knife to my gut. “You never contacted him when you needed help. He was insulted.”
Shame washes over me. I didn’t reach out to him. I didn’t because I thought he wouldn’t want to help me after how we left things.
I stew on this for the rest of the meal as Stella prattles on about other subjects. Kellen, the backbone of this family that he is, keeps the conversation going while Rupert and I are quiet.
My father is disappointed in me.Another man’s tangle.
