Page 184 of Chandelier Enthralled
That made me laugh.
Greyson smiled. “You can probably get a pass on anything pretty much anywhere.”
“And what about you?” she asked him.
“I tend to move around the world unseen.”
“Such a modest man.”
“I’m not one for the spotlight,” he said thoughtfully.
Rose motioned for the waiter to bring over the check.
“Please.” Greyson reached for the check, but Aunt Rose was too fast.
“That’s very generous of you,” said Greyson.
“You work for me now,” she said, making it a joke. “Business lunch.”
“It was so good to see you, Aunt Rose,” I told her.
She leaned in and kissed my forehead tenderly. Then she pushed up and eased elegantly out of the booth.
I went to grab my Birkin.
She raised her hand to stop me. “Stay and talk about your new home.”
I looked at Greyson, hoping he would be up for that, and he gave me a warm smile.
Rose studied my face, looking serious again. “Willa, you are forbidden from ever re-entering Pendulum.”
My jaw dropped and I stared at her, aghast. I felt a sudden rush of annoyance at my brother for sharing this bit of information with our aunt—the woman who I imagined could never know about those places.
“You may, however,” she continued, glancing at Greyson, “consider somewhere like Chrysalis.”
“Chrysalis?” I recalled that was Cameron’s kinky club, and in so many ways probably still was—off the record.
She gave a nod, and a warm smile, like she hadn’t just delivered that statement without blinking.
Greyson got to his feet and stood before her in a show of respect.
Rose looked at him with affection. “What is it they say about you? You’re the man of glass.”
He arched a brow, intrigued and amused, his cute dimple appearing with his warm smile.
“No,” she corrected herself. “It’s master of glass—that’s what they call you. Because of the way you breathe life into a design using mere glass. Your work captures a connection between the natural world and what man creates.”
“Glass is an expression,” he said, almost absentmindedly, as though disappearing into his own thoughts. “A language of its own.”
That seemed to impress her.
They both took a moment to admire each other, a mutual respect that went beyond their achievements—as though having a silent conversation I wasn’t part of.
“Oh, dear,” I muttered to myself. “Everyone around here sets the bar impossibly high.”
Aunt Rose smiled at me affectionately. “You’re my beloved chandelier, Willa. Radiant, brilliant and completely untouchable.” She threw a look toward Greyson as though to watch his reaction.
He agreed with a nod. “Willa’s complexity draws people in, but she remains beyond reach.”
