The House Guest - Mark Edwards Page 0,87

her what they were preparing for. Eden had a bottle of champagne and she offered Ruth some, tried to persuade her to drink it. Ruth refused, even though her nerves were shot and she craved something to take the edge off her feelings. When Eden ordered her to do her make-up, she found her hand was shaking too much to apply it, so Eden sat her down and did it for her. Then another woman came in and styled her hair, teasing it into curls.

‘Beautiful,’ Eden said when the woman left, and she stood behind Ruth and told her to look in the mirror. ‘Don’t you think you look beautiful?’

‘I feel sick.’

Eden spun the chair around and grabbed Ruth’s chin, crouching before her.

‘You need to stay calm,’ she said.

‘I need to get out of here.’ She grabbed Eden’s wrists. ‘Please, Eden. Help me. You can’t let this happen.’

Eden broke away. ‘Shut up. Stop being so pathetic.’

Ruth couldn’t help it. She started to cry.

‘Oh, for fuck’s sake, you’re ruining your make-up. Now I’m going to have to start all over again.’

Emilio came into the room.

‘We’re ready,’ he said.

Eden snapped at him. ‘Give us five minutes.’

‘But Gabriel—’

‘I said, give us five minutes.’

Emilio looked Ruth up and down. ‘What’s the matter with her?’

‘She’s scared. Wouldn’t you be?’

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 you kill him?’

‘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.

‘Go on and check they’re ready,’ Brittany said to Nick.

‘What’s going on?’ I asked after he’d left. ‘I heard something about a ceremony. What does that mean?’

‘You’ll see.’

Nick came back. ‘They’re ready.’

Brittany led me down the corridor and opened the door.

She pushed me inside and hands grabbed at me. There were people all around me, as if I’d entered a crowded nightclub, minus the pounding music. There were a hundred people here, give or take, and I wondered if this was all of them, the whole cult, or just a portion. I looked around to see if there were any other faces I recognised and caught a glimpse of the model, Jade Thomson, whose picture I’d looked up after Callum and Wanda told me about her. Emilio was there too, plus the driver of the van who had brought me here. There was no