The Last Party by SB Gamble

Author:SB Gamble
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SB Gamble

39

Ava was exhausted from trying to maintain social etiquette. The wedding ceremony had ended and the guests moved in slow egress back to the clubhouse while the bridal party posed for photos.

Ava stood and smiled at her acquaintances, some she hadn’t seen in years. Tightly knit brows questioned her from afar, but up close people rushed to ask about her life and the man she’d brought along. When she looked at people directly, confused glances shifted to strained smiles of feigned warmth.

Russell, who had been trailing so close he crushed her heels a few times, offered a friendly handshake to anyone he met. As always, Ava noted, he was blissfully unaware that the second they were out of earshot, whispers would certainly follow.

Ava glared at her father, edging through the white chairs with Mrs. Von Hoffman III, for putting her in this situation, for making her part of a business deal.

Some business deals were all calculated risks made with crossed fingers, and two years ago, one of her father’s bets paid off. Over a series of months, Von Hoffman spoke in dozens of cool conference rooms atop Midwest Bank headquarters. Up in the clouds, surrounded by men in suits, like knights of the roundtable, Von Hoffman converted sellers and buyers alike into believers, performing for them in a righteous clarity. His fervent voice couldn’t be disputed. He spoke of the rise in projected profit margins and the benefits to shareholders. He underwent a brief spell of insomnia, nearly sweating through his suits, until he’d spearheaded Midwest Bank’s purchase of Floyd & Tharp Investments.

During that time, Ava watched her father become more alive than she had ever seen him. His movements were usually contained, but during those months he was stirring like a man half his age. He was thrilled and blinded with victory when the sale went through, knowing when he added the struggling investment firm’s clients to his own books, he’d be virtually untouchable. This undeniable apex was what he’d angled toward all these years, crushing friends and pillaging wives.

Blinded by his victory, he let Tharp’s sliver-tongued son take Ava on a series of dates. They came together like cars yielding to traffic, at a party celebrating the merger. In the soft light of the elegant party, the young man was respectful and confident and thoroughbred, poured into a designer tuxedo. He glowed from within, a fact Von Hoffman was convinced of after a golf game in which Tharp’s son demonstrated his superior handicap. Tharp helped Von Hoffman secure the ringing high note of this career, and the Tharp family was full of people he needed to know. If the Tharp family could do this for Von Hoffman, who knew what their son could do for Ava?

A low-risk chance with the possibility of a favorable outcome.

Ava protested her father’s suggestion that they date, but Tharp had a reckless handsomeness designed for glossy magazines. He captivated Ava on their first adventures through the city, where he strutted like a peacock as he entered exclusive clubs and chic restaurants with her on his arm.

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