Page 43 of Petals and Fangs

“Is that a bad thing or a good thing?” I ask, laughing.

“Oh, of course, it's a good thing. You have worked hard. And I have a feeling that Mr. Rothschild will have a lot to say about it,” he smiles.

“Thank you. I am glad you like the flowers,” I smile.

He walks to the table and looks at the flowers. He picks them up and looks at me. I can tell he loves the results.

“Wolfsbane. My absolute favorite,” he says.

“Those are artificial ones. The real wolfsbane is a very poisonous flower.”

“I am aware of that, Ms. Snow.”

“It's an extremely rare plant. Extremely hard to grow and even harder to take care of. These roses right here, though, are very much real and they match your office's wallpaper.”

“They look exquisite. This is perfect, Ms. Snow. Thank you.”

“My pleasure.”

“It's not every day you meet someone as talented as you are. Mr. Rothschild was lucky to find you.”

“Thank you. You are very kind. I must get going now and plan for the next office,” I say as I gather my equipment.

“I hope you will come by again. We can continue our little chat and I can show you, my collection.”

“Of what?”

“I have a rather ravishing collection of all flowers considered forbidden.”

“Really? That's interesting. I didn't know that” I say and chuckle.

“Yes. I can show you whenever you're free.”

“I will keep that in mind, Alfred. I am looking forward to it.”

I smile at him, and as I am about to head outside the office, I am faced by Ethan again. He greets me with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Looking forward to what?” he asks, hands placed in his pockets.

“Hi, again?” I smirk at him.

“You didn’t answer my question, Ms. Snow.”

“Your advisor, Alfred, has a massive collection of flowers. He wanted to show them to me.”

“Do you now, Alfred?”

“Did you need something, Mr. Rothschild?” he asks him.

“No. Not at all. Not this time,” he smiles and gestures to Alfred to leave the room, so it is just Ethan and me.

“Good. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to get going,” I say, and attempt to walk outside the door, but he is quick to grab my arm.

“You're not going anywhere. Not now, at least.”

“Why not? I have a tight schedule and I need to plan the decoration for the next office. I need to go,” I say, trying to get my hand out of his grip. It is impossible. He is not going to let me go.

“Lily Snow. You are not getting out of here.”

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