34. Vaughn
THIRTY-FOUR
VAUGHN
As soon as Alba left my side, I felt untethered.
She’d been glittering and gorgeous at my side, sucking all the attention away from me, which was exactly how I liked it.
Now I stood on my own, surrounded by people richer and classier than I was, and I felt like my skin was suddenly on too tight.
My tongue was clumsy in my mouth, and I didn’t know what to do with my free hand.
I took a sip of champagne and tracked Alba’s progress through the ballroom, hoping she’d hurry.
“I hear there might be some legal trouble on the horizon for you,” Arlo said casually, his own gaze sweeping over the gala’s guests.
Mentally, I cursed. Outwardly, I tipped my head to the side. “We’ll see what happens. I think it’s a lot of posturing from a subcontractor who didn’t do his due diligence.”
Arlo hummed. “My lawyers are warning me about you,” he finally said, gaze flicking to meet mine. “They say I’d be taking too big a risk.”
My heart began to thump. I said nothing.
Arlo shrugged. “But I don’t make my bets on what my lawyers say,” he finished, dropping his hand onto my shoulder. “Enjoy your evening. I’ll be in touch next week.”
We shook hands again, and then the group of people lingering around him drifted away from me and over to the next guest. I swallowed and realized I was parched—and I’d finished my drink.
A waiter appeared, took my empty glass, and replaced it with a full one.
I nodded my thanks and took a gulp. Bubbles exploded on my tongue, and I swallowed them down, enjoying the warm buzz all along my throat.
As I scanned the room, I meandered toward the edge of the vast space.
Alba was nowhere in sight. I nodded at a man in a tux, and his gaze flicked over me and away as he dismissed me with a glance.
Sourness gurgled in my stomach. I didn’t belong here.
Why had I come? Even Arlo had essentially told me he knew my company was about to be in a world of trouble.
He was dangling the promise of more—but was he being honest? Was I being played?
And where was Alba?
I nodded my thanks to a waiter who gave me another fresh glass, surprised that I’d finished another one. I had to slow down, but I couldn’t quite manage to get rid of my parched throat, and I wasn’t sure how I’d make it through the evening.
Alba had slipped right in, surrounded by the people she used to know. She hadn’t even seemed that uncomfortable. People who had never contacted her once she was disowned. Had Bonnie and Nikki known? Were they just being fake?
Was Alba being fake?
I resisted the urge to tug at my necktie. I knew I was fidgeting, moving my glass from one hand to the other, fussing with my cuffs, rearranging the stiff waistcoat under my jacket. My clothes fit perfectly, but they felt like they were three sizes too small.
What was I doing here?
Delicate classical music tinkled through the air, and the sounds of conversation filled the room.
I heard snippets echoing from all around.
“ We’ll summer in Malta this year, of course…
” “ I sat down with the Governor last week… ” “Living there was a nightmare. I had to fly the help in from three hours away every time I wanted the house cleaned… ”
I tried to block them out—all those conversations that had nothing to do with me.
I was here for my business. I was showing my face, not making a fool of myself, and leaving with a handshake deal struck between me and Arlo Noble.
That was the plan—but I couldn’t help feeling like coming here had been a mistake.
I’d already spoken to Arlo Noble, and there hadn’t been any sort of confirmation. Would we get the chance to speak again before the night was over, or had that been my one chance? Anxiety twisted my guts, made my vision blur around the edges.
And where was Alba? It couldn’t take that long to go to the bathroom.
Scanning the room, I thought of the way she’d straightened before coming in. The way she’d held her hand out to shake, the way she’d laughed with those other women. There’d been a hint of the woman I knew, but she’d been trapped in the aloof ice queen of her socialite persona.
But…what if it wasn’t a persona? What if that was the real Alba?
Carried on the river of champagne I’d already ingested, old fears rushed me. Did I really know Alba? Was she just using me to gain access to this world again? Had I been played?
I’d felt like I was falling in love with her, but what if it was all a lie? What if she’d fooled me?
“You’re Vaughn Avery, right?”
I turned to see a blond man, my height, eyes sharp as they studied me. He stuck his hand out. “Leif Sorensen.”
“The developer.” Leif’s name was a big deal around the city. Many of the skyscrapers in Manhattan had been built by his company. We shook hands. My thoughts were still whirling, but I forced myself to focus.
This was why I was here, wasn’t it? To mingle with people who could advance my business in ways I hadn’t been able to do alone. But my heart still thumped unsteadily, and I found it hard to relax into conversation with someone I didn’t know.
“I’ve been watching the growth of your company with great interest,” he said. “Arlo told me you’re looking for an investor.”
My brows jumped. “He told you that?”
Leif laughed. “Not in so many words. But he started asking pointed questions about construction, and I did some digging. Excuse the pun.”
“I see.”
He grinned. “These things are awful, aren’t they?” He tipped his head toward the crowd.
I huffed, taking a sip of my drink. “Not my scene,” I agreed.
“If things fall through with Arlo, you should give me a call,” Leif said.
“You’re looking to expand? Seems to me you’ve already got an empire.”
Leif grinned. “I’m always looking for opportunities,” he said, settling in beside me as we watched the crowd go by. “I think you and I have got that in common. Excuse me.”
As Leif re-entered the fray, with other attendees parting before him like fish before a shark, I was struck by the certainty that I didn’t belong here. I didn’t want to belong here.
I never should’ve come.