Page 90 of The House Guest

He rolled his eyes. ‘It’s a great honour. To be with the most powerful man in America? If I was a woman—’

‘Oh, fuck off, Emilio,’ said Eden. She was wiping away the mascara that had run down Ruth’s cheeks. ‘Go tell Gabriel his bride needs a little while. He’s waited this long. He can wait another five minutes.’

Emilio hesitated. ‘Did you deal with your father?’

She nodded. ‘It didn’t take long.’

He gave her a searching look. ‘How did it feel?’

‘Not as good as I expected.’

‘I’m sorry. What about the body? We need to dispose of it.’

‘It’s taken care of. I took him down to the basement. I’ll get someone to bury him tomorrow. Or burn him. Whatever.’

‘Okay. Cool.’

‘Your dad was here?’ Ruth said after Emilio had gone, not quite able to believe what she had just heard. ‘What happened? Did youkillhim?’

‘I don’t want to talk about it.’

‘But Eden ...’

‘You should be more worried about yourself,’ Eden said. ‘Now, please, sit still. I don’t want them dragging you out of here before you’re ready.’

Eden finished applying the fresh make-up. Then she crouched before Ruth again.

‘Listen to me. I know this is scary. But you’re going to have to be brave.’ She stood up and took hold of Ruth’s hands. ‘It won’t be as bad as you think.’

But Ruth could tell she was lying.

‘Eden ...’

‘Don’t. No more questions. Let’s get this done.’

Chapter 40

I pressed my ear to the door and heard the sounds of industry. Footsteps going up and down the corridor. The lift pinging. Snatches of conversation as people walked past, the odd word standing out.

Gabriel.

Tonight.

Ceremony.

Ceremony? What did that mean?

And then they came.

Brittany was dressed for a party in a sleeveless black trouser suit that exposed her huge biceps. Nick, the security guy who had helped her torture me, wore a tuxedo with a rifle slung over his back like it was part of the outfit.

‘Come,’ said Brittany. She grabbed my arm and escorted me down the corridor to the lift, Nick following behind. She pressed the button and the three of us ascended one floor. From the buttons in the lift, I knew we were one floor from the top, where the penthouse presumably was.

‘Is Callum dead?’ I asked.

‘Callum? Who’s that?’ she responded with a smirk.

The lift opened to reveal an empty corridor with a door at either end.

---