Page 34 of Deadly Misfortunes

Gregory took the phone from Rose and said, "You're not invited to dinner, Marvin." Then he hung up on him and handed the phone to Rose.

"I already told him that," Rose said, annoyed with Gregory.

"You weren't invited to dinner," Sascha said to Damon, following Gregory’s lead. "What will Lucy think if she learns of it?"

"I didn't know you would be here. I came to speak with Gregory."

"Oh?" Sascha wasn't sure he was telling the truth, but then again, he wouldn't have known she was going to be there, so maybe he was.

"Yeah. A guy's been coming around Lemoyne's frequently of late. He asked the staff if you, Gregory, ever come to the restaurant. They told him for sure, but that you didn't have a regular time that you visited. He asked if you had a significant other. And the staff said not that they knew of, except sometimes you're there with your sister and her boyfriend, Stephanie, or business clientele."

"What did he look like?" Gregory asked, coming up behind her.

"He was wearing a dark suit as if he were one of my customers, and he belonged at the restaurant. He was about six feet tall, had reddish-colored hair, and wore rectangular metal-rimmed glasses; they didn't notice his eye color. But he talked to the staff when they were at locations without security cameras. No one thought much of it until they heard about the accident. They knew Sascha was involved, and we had dated so they wondered if there was any connection to the unknown man."

Maria asked, “Is everyone staying for dinner?”

Gregory reluctantly nodded, and they all took their seats. Stephanie made sure to sit next to Gregory, who was sitting at the head of the table. Gregory made sure Sascha sat next to him, holding out her chair for her but not for Stephanie. And Damon didn't either, but he got Rose’s chair for her.

Wine was served, and then the salads and hot loaves of bread were set on the table.

"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Gregory sounded irritated.

Even though it didn't sound like the details were enough to catch the guy, it did give them something else to go on.

"No one told me until this evening when they realized whoever this man is, he might be the one involved in the limo accident involving Sascha," Damon said.

A few minutes later, Maria came to speak with Rose and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt your dinner, but Marvin is here. Should I set another place for him?"

"No!" Gregory threw his linen napkin on the table and stalked out of the dining room. Rose waited a moment, probably trying to decide if she wanted to get involved or let Gregory handle it, but then she hurried after Gregory.

Sascha wished she had the ability to make someone disappear, like Marvin and Stephanie.

"You're not planning on staying here at Gregory’s place, are you?" Stephanie asked Sascha.

"I am. I'm not sure for how long. We'll see." She had no intention of telling Stephanie what she was doing here or how long she was staying.

“I wish you wouldn’t, for your safety,” Damon said.

Then Gregory and Rose returned to the table together, both of them looking very unhappy about the situation.

Sascha tried to think of anything that would cheer everyone up. She finally latched onto an image of a large party that Damon was in charge of at Lemoyne's. "You've got a great event coming up in a couple of weeks."

Damon frowned at her. "Bookings have been slow. I don't have any event coming up like that."

"Right, but it's an impromptu affair," Sascha guessed.

"Who's setting it up?"

"I don't know. All I see is lots of eating, drinking, dancing, and music. Everyone is having a ball."

Damon's expression brightened.

"Gregory's going to meet a beautiful redhead and begin dating her," Sascha said. So sometimes she made things up, especially to irk someone who irked her—like Stephanie.

"Right. Like you?" Stephanie asked, snarky like.

Sascha smiled brightly. "Well, thank you for thinking I'm beautiful. But I don't know who he is dating."