"Once I knew you were a designer, and that you admired Evelyn, I asked her wife to play one of your followers. So I had a clean reason to bring you. Without it feeling like a setup."
"And you asked them to compliment me." I stared. "They weren't fans of my work. You were using a designer I love to win me over."
"It was a cheap trick. I wanted that contract between you and the three of us to feel solid. I wanted you to feel chosen." His voice was low. "But that wasn't the whole story."
The fries were stone cold. I didn't care.
"Evelyn doesn't perform on command. She doesn't flatter strangers. After dinner, when I brought them back to the downtown office, she let me have it. But she didn't stop there."
He pulled his phone from his coat. Didn't hand it to me, just turned the screen.
A s
