Read Online Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble - Free Book Online Page A

stepped down onto the sidewalk before he or the driver could assist her. “As far as I’m concerned, you are merely a guest at the Butterfly Palace. Anything that was once between us is gone. Belle can have you.”
    Her back ramrod straight, she disappeared through the doorto the booksellers. He leaped down from the auto and spoke to the driver. “I’ll make my own way from here.”
    He glanced at his watch. His appointment was in fifteen minutes. There was no time to chase down Lily and make her listen. He turned back and climbed into the vehicle.

SEVEN
    L ily retrieved the volume of Dickens for her mistress, then tucked the leather book into her reticule. Her nerves still hummed from being in Drew’s presence. Remembering his lies, she curled her fingers into the palms of her gloves. Did the man even know how to tell the truth?
    The heat baked up from the bricks out on the sidewalk. She glanced down the street and saw the sign for the tea shop he’d mentioned. Who was he meeting? Though it was none of her business, she found herself moving in that direction. If he was up to no good, she owed it to her employers to find out. She had a bit of money in her purse, enough to purchase a cup of tea. It wasn’t like he had the right to throw her out.
    As she neared the café, she saw Drew sitting at an outside table with Mr. Vesters. Neither man had seen her yet, but she kept her head high as she quietly asked to be seated at the table next to theirs. A tall planter obscured her table from view. They were intent in conversation, but their voices carried as she settled into her chair with her back to them. The scent of cinnamon from the rolls on a tray filled the air.
    A chair scraped on the pavement, and Vesters’s voice rose. “So that’s your game? I should leave right now.”
    “Look, I know what you’re doing, and I want in on it.” Drew’s voice was hard and insistent. “You’ll find me an asset to your operation. I have better contacts than you can imagine. I can double the money you’re making now.”
    “How did you find out?” Mr. Vesters sounded a bit more relaxed but still wary.
    “Does it matter? What matters is I can help you. I can expand your operation and your profits.”
    “Maybe.”
    Lily couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. The words used made her uneasy. Operation . And in on it . Was Vesters doing something . . . criminal? And did that mean Drew was just as crooked? She didn’t want to believe it, but the man behind her wasn’t the man who’d held her hand in the moonlight and promised eternal devotion. He wasn’t the man who’d lit her skin on fire with his touch.
    She dared a glance over her shoulder, and her gaze collided with Drew’s. His eyes widened, and the color drained from his face. He quickly recovered his composure and leaned forward to speak to the other man. So quietly Lily couldn’t hear.
    She blinked at the burning in her eyes as she drew off her gloves. The smile she slanted up toward the waitress was an effort. “Just tea, please. With sugar.”
    “Lily?”
    She looked up at Drew’s voice. He was alone. She’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t seen Vesters leave. “I’ve concluded my duties and thought I’d have some tea.” Her voice sounded high and strained. He said nothing as he stared at her. She’d never been able to mask her feelings. “What are you involved in, Drew? If you don’t explain to my satisfaction, I will go to Mr. Marshall and tell him what I overheard.”
    Drew pulled out a chair beside her and sat. “What did you hear, Lily? We said nothing of consequence.”
    “It sounded as though you were forcing Mr. Vesters to allow you to join some nefarious scheme he’s involved in.”
    He looked away, out toward the lorry clattering down the street, then back at her. “I can explain.”
    “So you keep saying. Yet no explanation has been forthcoming.” Lily waited until the waitress set down her tea and left. “You can begin