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“Likewise.” Forcing a smile, I ignored the way his touch had made my spine tingle, and not in any sort of pleasurable way. “It’s a shame I’ve known your father so long, but we haven’t been introduced.”
Barrett laughed, a cocky, lecherous grin tilting his lips. “Well, if we had, I’m sure we wouldn’t be spending the evening hammering out pleasantries. At least, not in a room full of people.” His head tilted as he sized me up. “It is a shame though. I’ve heard so much about the van Rensselaer’s gem. I can see why people call you that with those eyes of yours. You must be popular with the other sons.”
The only indication that the comment stung was the slight clench in my jaw—but I knew better than to let it show. Instead, I did what I knew. I smiled.
“Only with the ones I choose,” I said. “Though—if you’ll excuse me. I think my father’s trying to get my attention. It was nice to meet you, Barrett.”
Before Barrett I-Don’t-Know-How-To-Act-In-Public King could say anything else in response, I gave a slight curtsey and slipped away.
I had a feeling that wouldn’t be the last I saw of him, but for now, I could at least curb some of the discomfort of being in his presence. And the easiest way to do that was by removing myself from it.
Of course, Dad hadn’t called to me. In fact, he’d be angry to know I excused myself from talking to Barrett so quickly, given the fact that he’d sought the boy and his father out specifically to make the introduction. But that was okay. Just this once, I was willing to risk Dad’s ire. I didn’t want to let him think for a second that I liked Barrett—I knew he was starting to give consideration to my future, to finding a good match for me, and I’d rather chew my own arm off than go on a date with Sebastian King’s creepy eldest son.
I intended to slip outside, just for a moment. Just enough time to allow Barrett to find someone else to speak with, and for me to scan the crowd to actually find my father and mother. I also needed to come up with a reason for walking away from Barrett like I had. I knew there was more than just an innocent reason that my father had introduced the two of us. He would have questions, and I would need to be able to answer them smoothly.
Just a moment alone, just a moment to breathe.
With the number of people in the mansion, it would be easy to disappear—
But before I could do any of that, a commotion from the front foyer made me stop. Raised voices carried even over the music, until the musicians my father had hired stopped playing entirely. A ripple of shock went through the air, palpable.
One by one, several large, uniformed men—armed men—parted the crowd of partygoers. What’s the phrase people like to use? Like the Red Sea? Only there was no Moses, and certainly nothing biblical in the sight before me. Disbelief clouded my brain, almost refusing to let me believe what I was seeing was real.
“Everybody stay back,” the officer in the front said. His voice boomed, echoing deep with authority. Everyone in the grand entrance was silent, keeping their distance from the imposing figures filing into my home. Uniformed officers gave way to a man and woman in pressed suits, badges attached to their chests.
“Gideon van Rensselaer. Can you please step forward?” that same officer in the front said.
What the hell was going on?
I scanned the room quickly, waiting to see if my father would come forward as commanded. In my entire seventeen years, I had never seen that man obey commands in his own home.
He gave them. Always.
But tonight, the world turned upside down. Dad moved forward out of the crowd as the officer had demanded, our guests parting for him as surely as they had parted for the officers in question. The room was completely silent, as if the sudden appearance of what amounted to nearly an entire SWAT team in our home had snuffed out all the sound in the house.
As my father came to a halt, my attention was pulled between him and the man who had called to him.
The man was bigger than my father. Taller. Broader. Scarier.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Dad asked. Confusion and anger filled his expression, but he still sounded calm—like he was still the head of his house and he knew it. Confidence and relief flooded me at the sound of my father’s voice. That sound had reassured me ever since I was a little girl, because when Dad spoke, the bad things went away.
For the first time since the officers had invaded the party, I was able to take a full breath.
It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.
“The meaning of this is you’re under arrest, Gideon van Rensselaer.”
My father paled.
“Arrested? Arrested for what? On what grounds?”
“Felony fraud, Mr. van Rensselaer.”
Two
The world stopped in the moments after the officer made his declaration. Felony fraud? My father? No. They had to have the wrong man. Business could be messy, I knew that much, but my father would never—
Officers began to spread out in our home as guests made prompt exits. People who had been friends with my family for years slipped off as though they would rather be anywhere else but here. Even Sebastian… I saw him as one of the first to leave, with Barrett at his side. He didn’t even look at me. For all his posturing earlier, it was a cold slap in the face.
