Crystal_Elizabeth's story_Sequel to Alana by Monica Barrie

Author:Monica Barrie [Barrie, Monica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: DMW
Published: 2019-05-31T16:00:00+00:00

26

On the Saturday following the meeting in Bennet’s office, Crystal attended an elegant charity gala with the gentleman Bennet had arranged for her to meet, Michael St. Marks, a wealthy industrialist.

St. Marks believed he was doing a favor to an old friend by escorting the wealthy widow of a British mining magnate, who owned several mines in the Southwest and in California. He had picked her up at the hotel, and as they rode to the gala, he’d asked her why she had come to New York.

Smiling somewhat shyly, Crystal said, “With my hus … husband gone, I came here hoping to find an advisor to help me with my finances. As strange as it sounds, I’ve so much money, and no experience in how to invest or run the mines. My husband did everything.”

“I know several men who might be of service to you,” he told her.

Then St. Marks asked her several questions, and by the time they reached the gala, he had promised to introduce her to people who could help. As he spoke, he leaned closer to her, his hand suddenly resting on her knee, and the sound of his voice had turned huskier. She held back her smile at how simple this had been, and with a shy sideways glance, covered his hand with hers. “Thank you so very much.” Then she gently removed his hand from her knee while using her eyes to give him a slightly flirtatious look—one she would never fulfill the way he wanted.

An hour later, with a glass of punch in her hand, and the band playing a soft waltz at the far end of the huge ballroom, there was a stir as a man entered the gala.

The newcomer was of medium height, perhaps three inches taller than herself, and of good build. He was dressed elegantly and carried himself with a strong confidence. His dark hair was coiffed in the current trend, and his clothing fit perfectly.

“Who is he?” she asked her escort, as a dozen people swarmed around the man’s entrance.

“James Allison,” St. Marks answered.

She hadn’t been sure of what she’d expected, but he did not quite fit the bill; and, this first sight of him told her he would not be an easy mark. But when she saw the way the people fawned over him, and the slightly disdaining way in which he greeted them, she instinctively knew how she would act toward him.

“The people seem to be attracted to him.”

“His wealth and power are responsible, I can assure you it is not his personality.”

Crystal smiled at St. Marks. “It is family money?”

St. Marks shook his head. “No, I’ll give him that, he is a self-made man, and one of the richest in the country. I have a small investment in a shipping & mining consortium he heads.”

The man’s words turned cold in her ears. He was one of them! Crystal took a breath and forced herself to hold steady. “Is he one of the men to whom

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