Page 49 of Over Her Dead Body

When the woman leaves, Todd says, “You’re kind of scary at work.”

“Only kind of?”

“I mean it as a compliment.”

He smiles, but there is something careful in it now.

Genevieve slips beside us and looks at the coffee pot as if it has personally disappointed her.

“This is why I insisted on Emma,” she says to Todd. “She has such a gift for making flaws sound expensive.”

“She means condition issues,” I explain.

Genevieve adjusts a bracelet on her wrist. “I meant exactly what I said.”

Near the east hall, a man steps back.

A woman near the bar looks down at her phone. Another man by the garden doors touches two fingers to his earpiece like this is a museum he is guarding from thieves.

Maybe it is.

Maybe I am tired.

Maybe Lisbon is lingering under my skin.

Todd touches my elbow. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

Celeste starts toward me. She has a man beside her.

At first, I only register the suit. Dark. Expensive without begging to be noticed.

Then the shape of him.

Owen opens his mouth, then shuts it as Celeste approaches.

Around us, the noise level increases. Glasses lift. Music moves beneath it all as though nothing has changed.

Celeste reaches us with a smile arranged for public use.

“There’s someone I want you to meet,” she says.

My chest tightens. I take a breath and get only half of one.

Celeste turns slightly, making space.

“Emma Calloway,” she says. “Martin Hale.”

Reid holds out his hand.

And because the room is watching, I take it.

CHAPTER 19

EMMA

His hand closes around mine.