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Just as she was about to turn around and walk over to him, a crowd of people passed by. When they moved away, the man was no longer there.
She frowned, looking up and down the nearby terraces. She didn’t understand how he had moved so fast.
Probably my imagination. It’s all for the best, anyway. I can’t walk away from Gladys Belmont and John-John Shue!
A tall, distinguished man approached them, looking down his long nose at Gladys. He introduced himself to Azura, almost completely ignoring the other two.
“Nicholas Ghetin,” he said, shaking Azura’s hand. “I am very impressed by your property and grounds. Is the inside of the house as lovely as this?”
“Yes, it is,” Azura said, struggling for breath. She hadn’t recognized this man, but everyone else knew his name.
“You can pretend to ignore me if you like, Nick,” Gladys said, sipping champagne. “But you weren’t this aloof back at my mother’s party in ’89.”
Nicholas blushed beet red. John-John had to cover his mouth to stifle his laughter. Azura focused on staying upright. She was suddenly rubbing her shoulders with the elite society, and it was making her head spin.
“Renovations aren’t complete,” Azura said apologetically, “but we are restoring everything to its original state to prepare it for heritage approval.”
“Marvelous,” Nick said, shooting a look at Gladys. “I’d like to hold a private event here. An auction, when you have the place repaired.”
“Of course,” Azura said, nodding enthusiastically. Nick Ghetin was a private collector of antiques and jewels who traveled all over the world looking for rare items. He rarely sold them, but the pieces went for billions when he did.
Before the conversation could go any further, Azura noticed Martin sulking in the shadows at the back of a nearby gazebo. He was staring into his phone, tapping at it in frustration. Azura felt a frustration of her own rising in her chest.
How dare he! We’ve worked so hard for this, and he’s sitting there, ignoring everyone!
She excused herself from her guests, even though she knew she should stay and wrap up the bookings. She would have to find them later and get all her new friends to confirm their plans with her.
The excitement she felt at having her dreams come true was completely blindsided by her anger at Martin.
It looked to her as if he were deliberately making trouble. Nobody would confirm their bookings with her if word got around that her sullen, delinquent brother was always there screwing up her parties.
“Martin!” she hissed, shaking his shoulder. “What are you doing?”
“Texting,” he said dryly, not looking up. She snatched the phone out of his hand.
“Hey!” he snapped, fury darkening his features. “How dare you …”
“No,” she muttered. “How dare you! We’ve worked so hard to get here. Everything is finally turning around, and you’re sitting here like a big, dark thundercloud about to piss all over my party!”
He stared at her, his eyes like flint and his jaw hard.
“Give me my phone.”
“No,” she said firmly. “I’ll give it back to you in an hour or so. You say you want to play pro football? Do you really want a scholarship? Then mingle. Talk to these people. Everyone here can give you an excellent recommendation and support you in the community. You need this, Martin. If you start hanging out with people like this instead of petty criminals, then you really will make it.”
Azura could tell by his face that he wasn’t convinced, but he did get out of the corner to head out into the gardens. He didn’t exactly look welcoming or cheerful, but he had his shoulders back and a shadow of a smile on his face.
Something’s going on with him, but I don’t have time for teenage drama right now.
It was time to head to the main gazebo for her speech. Nerves fluttered in her stomach as she turned toward it, and the flutters only increased as she got closer to the podium.
Guests were turning to watch her, all of them smiling and waving as if they were all good friends of hers. She recognized most of them, but only from social media or the news.
I can’t believe these people are here for me!
She reached the podium and gave the crowd a big smile. Azura swallowed her nervousness and took a deep breath.
“I’d like to thank each and every one of you for coming. The reason we have gathered here today is to ensure this historical home isn’t lost to time. To see such support from the community is very humbling.”
