Page 148 of Degradation
‘He used to tell me, so I’d know in advance,’ she whispers. ‘So, I could prepare myself in case it was a nasty dish your dad had decided on to mess with me.’
That’s news to me.
‘You spoke to the staff?’
‘Sometimes.’
With my hand in the small of Daisy's back, I urge her across the parquet floor of the foyer, checking my hair in the ornate gilt mirror to the right. We go through the corridor and into the large library that my father had imported from some estate in Scotland. It's all wood paneling and Persian rugs with a large stone hearth he had dismantled and rebuilt for his house... and his ego. He loves this shit.
I hear the clink of glasses as we enter, and I’m taken aback when I realize he's not alone. There are three others present, and when I recognize them, my stomach twists.
Marcus Banderville, his father, Joseph Banderville the third, and his older brother, Joe Banderville the fourth. Only Martha Banderville and Marcus’ sister, Elizabeth, are missing. Their women aren’t allowed anywhere near the family business, I’ve heard. If that’s true, their absence is telling. This is a business discussion. But what type?
‘What the fuck are they doing here?’ I mutter, giving Marcus a narrow-eyed look I make sure he sees and wondering how much he’s told my father about what Daisy is actually doing at Richmond U.
Marcus knows she’s not an English major anymore. Is this an ambush for Daisy? My stomach feels like lead in my belly.
My father greets us, standing up from one of the high-backed chairs by the fire, and I pretend I know what’s going on. He’s all politeness and smiles, even to Daisy, asking her how she is and how her classes are going.
She answers him quietly and politely while not giving too much away, and I see the elder Bandervilles watching her with an interest I don’t like. But I have to hand it to her, the casual observer would never know she fucking hates my father as much as I do.
‘I didn't realize we’d be dining with the Bandervilleempire, Pop,’ I murmur, sneering at Marcus and not liking the shit eating grin he gives me back.
What the fuck does he know that I don't?
‘Must have slipped my mind,’ my father says almost jovially.
My father jolly? No, I don’t like this at all.
I glance at Daisy, and she must feel the same because she moves slightly closer to me.
Stevens is in the doorway before there’s time for any more questions. ‘Dinner is served, sirs, miss.’
I urge Daisy in front of me so that she's not alone with any of the others for even a second, and we make our way to the dining room. I’m glad that dinner is on time, because the sooner we eat, the sooner this is over and we can leave this trap my father has set for the Bandervilles, for Daisy, or for me.
Someone is getting the rug pulled out from under them tonight no matter what. I just hope it’s one ofthem.
John Novelle sits at the head of the wide, long table that’s capable of seating at least thirty guests. Joseph is to his left with his two sons next to him. I sit next to my father on the other side, and Daisy's next to me. Joe eyes her from across the table, his eyes dipping to her cleavage and I wish I’d bought her a nun’s habit with a stick-on unibrow instead of an outfit that’s made her look drop dead gorgeous.
The other men talk about cars and sports. Nothing important. I engage only when required and no one speaks directly to Daisy.
The first course is served quite quickly under silver domes. I put my hand on Daisy's leg under the table, and her hand covers mine. It's shaking slightly.
My father turns to me. ‘How's everything going at the lab?’
My father never asks me about school, not since I defied him and decided to go into STEM.
‘Great, thanks, Pop. It’s a cutting edge building, but of course you’d know that since you basically designed it,’ I rattle off, easily turning the conversation around to something that will assuage my father’s already inflated sense of self.
He gives a tight smile. ‘Of course I had a hand in it. Richmond U should be a beacon for the sciences. It needed a modern lab to compete with Princeton, so I made sure it had one.’
The lids are lifted off the entrees all at once by three members of staff and I look down at the shrimp cocktail. My father’s eyes are on Daisy, and he gives her a surreptitiously hate-filled smile.
‘I hope you like fish, Marguerite,’ he murmurs, though he knows the opposite is true.
She looks up at him. ‘I do. Very much, thank you.’
Jesus, those acting skills could rival her friend Lu’s. Even I half believe her. I frown a little at the thought. She’s a much better liar than she used to be.
