“It’s not charity. He tasted your cassoulet. Said, and I quote, ‘If she can cook like that here, imagine what she’d do with a real kitchen.’”
“Paxton ate my cassoulet?”
“I may or may not have given him some to try.”
My heart soars, and I press my face into his chest and make a sound that’s somewhere between a laugh and a sob.
Head chef. My own kitchen. My own menu. In a town that tried to destroy me and failed.
“Hey.” He tips my chin up with one finger. “Because you’re the best chef I’ve ever met, and your coq au vin made a grown man cry.”
“My dad cries at his own coq au vin, so I’m not sure that counts.”
“I was talking about me.”
Laughing, I kiss him.
“Is that a yes?” he asks against my lips.
“It’s a hell yes.”
He smiles.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
Seven seconds for my seven minutes.
And I know I’ll see Lance Calloway at the end of every single one.
From Cage Fights to Court Dates: The Fall of Rosebrook’s Prince
If you’ve been living under a rock (or, say,undera certain tavern), let us catch you up.
Arthur Penngrove, beloved son of Mayor Franklin Penngrove and the so-called People’s Prince ofRosebrook, was arrested at a warehouse in Boston as part of a federal RICO operation that has left this town reeling.
The charges? Conspiracy, racketeering, and—brace yourselves—operating an underground fighting ring. Yes.Thatkind.
The Round Table Tavern, our charming HillPoint institution where we all pretended the beer was better than it was, has been shuttered indefinitely after FBI agents raided the building and discovered an elaborate subterranean facility beneath it. TheRag’s sources describe a “full-scale arena” with seating, a bar, and a cage. We wish we were making this up.
Mayor Penngrove has resigned, effective immediately, just weeks after winning reelection. His office released a statement calling the situation “a family matter” and asking for privacy. We’re giving him exactly as much privacy as he gave the WayMont Compact, which is to say: none.
An emergency session of the town council will determine interim leadership, but insiders are already whispering about a special election. And in a town where the mayor’s seat has been a Calloway funded revolving door for generations? Let’s just say the field is wide open for the first time since the WayMont Compact was signed.
But here’s where it gets interesting.
Arthur Penngrove isn’t fighting the charges. Sources close to the case say he’s cooperatingfully, providing testimony that multiple participants in the underground operation were coerced, trafficked, and held against their will. He is, by all accounts, falling on his sword.
For whom? We have our theories.
Meanwhile, Lance Calloway has been cleared of all involvement. Federal prosecutors classified Lance as a “cooperating victim” under the trafficking statutes, and his attorney (one Leo DeGrance of Boston, who also happens to be the father of a certain bartender we’ve been tracking) confirmed no charges will be filed.
Benjamin Voltaire’s case is currently ongoing, and you know that we’ll be front row at his trial. The real question is: Will his parents?
As for Brutus and Cassandra Troy, the sibling duo allegedly behind Badon Hill’s sprawling criminal network? Currently at large. The FBI has issued a federal warrant, and sources say the manhunt extends well beyond state lines.
TheRagwill be watching. We always are.
#RoundTableRaided #PenngroveDown #CallowayCrisis #WhoAreTheTroys #RosebrookRagExclusive