Page 55 of Kill Me Sweetly

“Facts.”

A women, likely in her forties, simpered at us. “Hello there. I’m not sure I’ve ever met you.” The way she said it meant we totally should know who she was. Thankfully, Noel’s voice came through in my ear.

“Charmaine St. Lordes.”

“It’s a first for my husband and myself.” I took her hand as she offered it. “I’m Clark and this is Lewis.” I tilted my chin to Mason. “And you’re Charmaine St. Lordes.”

She beamed even wider. “How delightful you two are, and yes I am.”

We spoke for a few minutes, and then she was off to babble at someone else. This happened a few times, and I was already exhausted.

“I don’t know what I was thinking this would be, but some loose lips would be great. We’re getting nothing out of these people.” Mason sighed.

A hush came over the crowd at that moment, and we spun to see where everyone was staring. Sure enough, Harper Reese was entering the building and all eyes were on him.

“Now, that’s someone we want to talk to,” I said to Mason, who nodded.

He was very handsome, debonair, everything you’d expect a man of his wealth and good genes would look like.

On his arm was a stunning Asian woman, easily fifteen years younger than him. He never seemed to have the same date to anything, and I supposed it was why he was one of the most eligible bachelors in the country.

As he made his way through the crowd, I kept my eyes on him. I noted each happy expression, frown, laugh, hand gesture. The woman appeared somewhat bored but faked happiness whenever someone spoke to her.

“Maybe we can talk with her.”

Mason tilted his head. “Hmm, not sure she’ll know much since she’s probably just his date for this, but it’s worth a try.”

A minute later Harper Reese was in front of us, a bewildered expression on his face. We were getting that a lot tonight. So many of the people who paid to be here were probably the same ones that went to all of these things. Mason and I were fresh meat. Hopefully, that was a good thing.

“Good evening, Mr. Reese.” I held out my hand.

He clasped it reluctantly. “Hello, I’m sorry.” He chuckled. “It’s rare I meet people I’ve never seen before at one of these things.”

Mason laughed softly. “When we saw that we could not only contribute to this charity but mingle with people in this beautiful city, we couldn’t pass it up. My husband and I are actually from the other side of the country; we’ve only just moved this way a few months ago.”

Harper nodded and smiled. “Ah, yes that might explain it. Apologies, I didn’t catch your names.”

“Lewis and Clark Columbus…I know.” I chortled when Harper held back a laugh. “You can laugh.”

So he did. “Delightful.” His attention was pulled from us when a large man with ruddy cheeks hollered his name. “Lovely.” He sighed. “It was nice meeting you gentlemen. Hopefully we can speak later.”

Once he was out of earshot I said, more for the twins than anyone else, “Who’s the obnoxious guy?”

“Rutherford Long. Big oil, old money…kind of an asshole, according to his daughter, who wrote a tell-all two years ago.”

I glanced at Mason. “How does he look this shit up so fast?”

Mason shrugged, and a cacophony of laughter came through the feed from the guys.

A short time later, we were all ushered into another gigantic room. I had to wonder: if this was an office building by day, how’d they transform it into a banquet hall so easily? I was sure if I asked one of the twins, they’d tell me using big words and over-the-top hand gestures. I decided I didn’t care that much.

A woman dressed in a light-pink dress asked us our names and told us we were at table twelve. Once there, we sat and waited for everyone to take their places. I wasn’t familiar with anyone at our table, but I was hoping we’d at least be able to glean some information while we ate our ridiculously priced meals.

Once everyone was sat, the doors closed, and the woman next to me leaned into me.

“Now the fun really begins.”

A tendril of fear crept up my spine, not only because of her words but the horrible glint in her eyes.

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