Page 9 of Flowers Near Me

“Because he’s rich,” Laura answered, and Persephone shrugged with a nod.

“Aunt Sephy, aren’t you rich?”

“We all are, but it’s not polite to talk about it,” Persephone said.

Helena, seemingly satisfied with her aunt’s answer, crawled off her mom’s lap and went back to watching the TV.

“Sorry,” Persephone mouthed to her sister and brother-in-law.

“She understands more than we know,” whispered Laura.

Persephone glanced at her niece behind her and smiled. “She gets that from you.”

When Peter tookHelena up to get ready for bed a couple of hours later, Persephone followed her sister back into the kitchen to tidy up.

“Do you think it’s weird I happened to run into Hades the same night I bought the app?”

“Oh no, not at all,” Laura said as she slid onto the suede bar chair by the marble island. “It was only a matter of time before you two were in the same place.”

Persephone pushed the dishwasher closed and the buzz of the machine sounded. “There’s more. It seemed like Eurydice and Hades knew each other. I didn’t push the issue with her, but now I’m wishing I had.”

“Do you think they’retogether?”

“If they are, then he’s worse than Mom says. She looked uncomfortable around him so maybe she knows him from the technology sector? They didn’t seem like former lovers. And I think she’s too smart for him, anyway.”

They each huffed a laugh.

Persephone continued, “But I don’t like that he showed up right after I signed the agreement. I trust our lawyers and they know anything that remotely touches Underworld Unlimited is a nonstarter, but how does Hades know Eurydice? I’m concerned it may have something to do with the app.”

“Ask her Monday. If you just signed with her, then I’m sure she won’t mind telling you how she knows him.”

Persephone nodded then pulled off her hair tie and started fussing with the strands.

Laura asked, “Why would he be interested in the app?”

Persephone hummed a low note. “There’s IP he wants.”

“IP?”

“Oh, intellectual property. Like a copyright for the tech, but don’t you quote me on that because I’m certain there’s a more accurate way to phrase it. There are predictive location tracking capabilities that a company like Hades’ would love to have. It could help their e-commerce platform.”

Anyone would want that IP.

Laura’s phone lit up, snagging her attention. “Sephy, what’s the name of that app again?”

“Flowers Near Me.”Persephone watched the concentration on her sister’s face, waiting for her to look up. When she didn’t, Persephone prompted, “Why?”

Laura frowned as she held out her phone. “Look.”

The phone screen showed an article titledUnderworld Unlimited Smells the Roses and You Can Too.

The date of publication was today’s date.

The timestamp on the article mere minutes ago.

Persephone scanned the text, skipping from paragraph to paragraph hoping for a clue that would discredit her budding fear.

Rising tech star, Eurydice… hit the jackpot with her debut app,Flowers Near Me…

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