C20, PT. 3

Thirty seconds later, they parted ways.

“What is it?” she murmured.

“Mikhail Belikov.”

“The self-made, private equity investor worth ten billion?” she surmised, nodding. “Colette thought you might want to touch bases with him. He’s one of the white whales.”

“White whale?”

“Reclusive. Someone that’s hard to meet since they don’t attend many functions. Everyone’s going to target him tonight, since there would be little chance of running into him in the future.”

When he didn’t speak, she glanced up. He had an odd look on his face.

“How did she say Mikhail made his fortune?”

“Digital payments and banking services,” she said slowly. “Is that not how he accumulated his wealth?”

“Who else is a white whale?” he asked abruptly.

“Christoph Braun and she thought you might want to talk to someone named Amos…?”

“Faulkner,” Roth finished thoughtfully.

When he didn’t move, she raised her brows. “Is he one of the men you’re targeting?”

“Maybe she isn’t useless after all.”

Her spine snapped as she straightened. “My sister’s anything but useless.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” he said as he moved through the crowd.

Again, he didn’t look to the left or right, but was locked on his target, who happened to be across the room. She saw men raise their hands to catch Roth’s attention, but he ignored them. She acknowledged them with a nod and chagrined smile to smooth any ruffled feathers. She wanted to coach Roth on how to conduct himself in this crowd, but knew it was no use. Seven years hadn’t changed his manners, he just dressed better.

She pressed against his back. “What happened at the board meeting today?”

“That doesn’t concern you,” he said shortly.

The brushoff stung, but she persisted. “Did you manage to convince the board to give my sisters more time?” She bumped into him when he came to an abrupt stop.

“Mikhail.”

She swallowed her irritation and came up on Roth’s side to see one of the white whales of the evening. Messy dark hair fell across Mikhail’s brow. He had moody blue gray eyes and his lips were compressed. Despite the immaculate tux, she got the distinct impression that he was uncomfortable and wished he was anywhere but here.

“Roth.” Mikhail offered his hand. “So we finally meet.”

She wasn’t sure what tact to take with the man, since he wasn’t giving any good social cues. Roth didn’t bother easing into the conversation by making comments about their environment, mutual acquaintances, or if Mikhail had flown in from somewhere else. Roth cut to the chase and asked about some recent deal Mikhail had done with a man named Ilya. Mikhail’s mouth quirked in appreciation. They were like two peas in a pod. Whoever let Roth know they should meet was right on the money.

She listened closely to their conversation. The fact that Roth questioned what she knew about how Mikhail made his fortune suggested it wasn’t true. She listened for several minutes, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of what they were talking about. On the surface, it sounded like they were discussing industry, economy, and acquaintances, but the speed with which they were speaking and the fact that they only used first names left her completely at sea.

She tuned out of their strangely intense conversation. She wanted to excuse herself to go to the bathroom for a break. Her face felt tight from the smile she’d plastered on her face, and she was hoping she would run across a notepad and pen so she could jot down notes on those she met and promised to reach out to after the holidays. She’d thoughtlessly surrendered her clutch at the door with her coat. She wished she had her cell phone. She could feel Roth’s in his jacket pocket. Would he let her borrow it? She inwardly scoffed.

She scanned the crowd. She tried not to make eye contact, since she didn’t want to inadvertently summon anyone or be forced to leave Roth’s side to greet an old friend. There were a handful of familiar faces, but the vast majority were strangers to her. Not as much as when she first arrived, though… Her eyes passed over a group of elderly men and almost immediately came back. Samuel Mortimer, a close friend of her father’s, was speaking to Warren, a crotchety old man who spread misery everywhere he went. People put up with him because he was a whiz at making money, but she would have opted for a lower tax bracket than do business with someone like him.

One of the men left the circle, revealing a face that made her feel like she was in free fall.  Ford? The shock was so great that it took her several seconds to register the lighter hair and the shorter stature of Ford’s older brother, Tucker Baldwin. She’d forgotten how much they looked alike. As their eyes connected, his hatred was so palpable, she actually took a step back.

“Jasmine?”

She looked up to find Roth and Mikhail watching her with narrow eyes.

She concealed her distress behind a brilliant smile. “I hear you know my good friend, Igor.”

Mikhail blinked. “You know him?”

“He’s married to one of my best friends, Kira. She’s planning to visit me in the next couple of months. Do you live here or…?”

“Currently, Germany, but I plan to relocate to America.”

She filed that away for future reference. “Roth does a lot of business there. I’m surprised you two haven’t had a chance to meet.”

Roth pinched her side for prying.

“I’m rarely in one place for long. Our schedules have never allowed us to talk in person until this moment.”

Roth took control of the conversation before she could squeeze more information from Mikhail. She was grateful because her stomach was in knots. She’d known there was a possibility that a Baldwin would be here, but she assumed it would be their father, Parker. What if all three of them were present, and she hadn’t come across them yet? She frantically began to search, heart thudding in her ears, even going on tiptoe to see over everyone’s head until she realized she had Roth’s undivided attention. She dropped on her heels and forced herself to stare at Mikhail, though she didn’t hear a word he said.

**This is a raw draft of Bitter Confessions. Please do not share or distribute.

Copyright © 2024 Mia Knight. All Rights Reserved.