Broken Trust: A Dark High School Romance(44)
Evan nodded. “Right. We’ve met Graeme and his wife at plenty of these functions but they pretty much keep their kids away from the business. Or the public side of business, anyway.”
“Huh,” I muttered. “I wonder why that is.”
Dylan answered my non-question in a soft, low voice, barely moving his lips as he looked around the room. “The difference between Delta and Huntley, and the reason why Delta will always be more powerful, is that we came about from a union of five influential families working toward a common goal. Huntley is just the one family, trying to keep up. Despite all the current differences between the Delta board, it wasn’t always like that. In prior generations, Delta used to actually be the united front they keep banging on about.”
“So, what? Huntley has no such obligations to hand the family business over to the younger generation?” I was just trying to process all the information, but it seemed to keep conflicting. Then again, I’d been tossed in the deep end without a life jacket and everyone else had literally been born into their roles.
Beck gave a slight shrug of his broad shoulders. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Graeme Huntley has no intention of handing his company over until he’s on his deathbed. You think our fathers are bad? Just wait.”
“Okay,” I murmured, “Sounds fun. So, uh, what do we do now? I’m assuming we can’t just march straight through here to do that thing that we need to do?”
A small, amused smile tugged at Beck’s lips, and Jasper snickered aloud.
“Now, we get drinks and pretend we’re here to party,” Jasper informed me with an eyebrow waggle. “Care to join me at the bar, beautiful?”
I grinned and accepted the hand he was holding out. It meant dislodging Beck’s grip from my other arm, but if I was being totally honest, I needed some space from him. There was only so much I could withstand and as previously noted, Sebastian Roman Beckett in a tuxedo was fast breaking down my anger and resentment.
“Champagne or martini?” Jasper asked as he escorted me through the designer clad party-goers. Most of them were our parents’ age, but there were more than a few teenagers looking bored as all shit. Of course, none of them were here with a secret mission to steal a sex tape from a senator’s office.
Biting my lip, I considered telling him to just get me a soda water. It hadn’t been all that long since I’d totally sworn off letting alcohol influence my decision making ... but I was a walking ball of anxiety. My hands were shaking, and I could feel fine beads of sweat forming on my back where my gown dipped low.
“Martini,” I ordered, impulsively. Hopefully a little vodka would take the edge off my nerves so I didn’t totally fuck it all up by blurting our plans out to the senator himself.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jasper replied with a grin and placed our orders with the bartender.
After we received our drinks, Jasper spent some time wandering around the room with me and pointing out people who I’d only ever seen in tabloids or on the internet before. Heirs to oil fortunes, actresses, artists, bored but rich housewives and their Wall Street finance husbands... everyone who was anyone in New York was in attendance it seemed.
“Who’s that?” I asked, pointing to the handsome, mid-thirty-ish man who Catherine was batting her heavily mascaraed lashes at.
“That, my dear,” Jasper said, “is Senator Green.”
Our mark.
“Huh, okay. I get it.”
I sensed his presence a second before he spoke. “What’s that supposed to mean, Butterfly?”
Turning slightly, I peered up at Beck who was both way too close and not close enough. “Just that I can see how he’s been luring all these women into his office. He’s an attractive man. Here I was picturing someone like...” I looked around the room, then pointed to a white-haired man in his seventies “...like that.”
“Gross,” Evan whispered with a shudder, and I belatedly realized they’d all rejoined Jasper and me. “You picture old dudes fucking? You’re messed up, Spare.”
“What? No, that’s not—” My protests were cut short by a middle aged man who looked vaguely familiar approaching us. In itself, it wouldn’t have been anything alarming, but the fact that all the boys around me seemed to suddenly vibrate tension told me this was no casual party guest.
“Delta heirs,” the man greeted my guys, his face carefully neutral. “You’ve all grown up so much since you last attended one of these shindigs. And this must be the missing Deboise heir.” His gaze landed on me and I shivered. His eyes were ... dead. Cold, and cruel, like he took pleasure in hurting puppies in his spare time.
“Riley,” I introduced myself, sticking my hand out for him to shake, “And you are?”
His eyes narrowed just a fraction at my clear insult, but it was quickly covered by a slick smile. “Graeme Huntley. Your uncle.”
I sort of had a feeling that was who he was, but there was a certain level of victory in making him introduce himself to me. “My uncle?” I repeated with a frown, “You’re ... Catherine’s brother?”
Suddenly the familiar features made a whole lot more sense. He had the same dark hair, blue eyes and pale skin as Catherine ... and me.
His grin spread wider, seeing he’d surprised me. “Yes, dear. I was so shocked to learn my darling sister had another child whom she’d discarded. What a horrible thing for you to learn so soon after your parents’ tragic passing.” His voice dripped with insincerity, and I ground my teeth together to stop from cursing him out. Blah blah appearances.