Petrovich turned to Cindy then and smiled intensely.
“I offered your wonderful partner a terrific job with me,” he said unabashedly. “He’d be a fool not to take it. Triple the income and plenty of other delightful perks.”
Cindy smiled calmly. Petrovich was trying to play her, make her squirm. She pulled herself together instantly, was way too smart to go for it.
“How generous of you,” she said lightly.
Petrovich raised his eyebrows, impressed. He seemed to like that he couldn’t bait her.
“And how about you, Cindy?” he went on, “there are all kinds of jobs in my world.” His laugh had a coarse edge to it.
Cindy disliked him intensely. She could see why the Senator would take him on. Someone had to. Petrovich was the kind of guy who felt everything and everyone was for sale. He thought there was nothing he couldn’t get his huge hands on.
“Not for me,” Cindy said, flippantly, “there are some of us who walk other pathways.”
“You don’t say?” said Petrovich, making a sour face. He wasn’t used to be spoken to that way.
“Actually, most of the people here work for me and are very grateful for it.”
They hadn’t even walked into the main room or joined the party, and Cindy felt as though she wanted to leave.
Mattheus stepped between them quickly though, interrupting the growing friction.
“Who is the person here you said you wanted me to meet?” Mattheus asked Petrovich.
“Not necessarily that I want you to meet,” Petrovich corrected him. “In fact, I think you’ve already met her here already. She’s someone the Senator insists you hook up with, feels she has something important to tell you,” and Petrovich smiled at Cindy.
Cindy was on the alert. Petrovich was trying to make her insecure, feel that he was privy to the Senator’s secret wishes. She could see that he enjoyed getting between people, seeding suspicion and fear. In order to survive in his glitzy world, people had to out maneuver one another. Cindy wondered if Petrovich could have feared or disliked the Senator so much that he’d actually kill his daughter. It was too extreme. It didn’t make sense. But, she’d have to explore the possibility anyway.
Mattheus caught Cindy’s glance.
“I’m going to go with Sasha to meet the person the Senator wants me to talk to,” Mattheus said calmly.
Cindy nodded. She understood. “Fine,” she said, “I’ll drift around.”
Petrovich laughed. “Don’t drift too much, it could be dangerous. We have fantastic guests in every corner. For all you know, someone could take a fancy to you and you’ll lose your way back to Mattheus.”
Now he was trying to unnerve Mattheus as well. Cindy saw that he was succeeding.
“Stay in this room,” Mattheus said to Cindy.
“I’ll be fine,” Cindy smiled and threw her hair back over her shoulders. “I’ll meet you at the main entrance in a couple of hours.”
“A couple of hours?” Petrovich looked amused, “the party will have barely begun. A couple of days are more like it.”
Mattheus’ jaw clenched. He gave Cindy a firm look and she nodded again. They were here to do a job and weren’t going to lose sight of their time frames, no matter what Petrovich said.
Mattheus turned and disappeared into the crowded room with Petrovich. For a second Cindy felt stranded, but then she stopped and took the place in. It was staggering. The huge room was filled with guests, wave upon wave of beautiful people. It was decorated for Christmas with mistletoe, sparkling angels hanging on the walls. A giant Christmas tree stood in the center, almost reaching to the ceiling. Holiday music was playing, waiters walked around serving hors d'oeuvres and champagne. A long table along the side was lavishly filled with anything anyone could want to eat.
Cindy turned to the table to get something to eat. Before she even walked a few steps, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” a man’s voice said.
Cindy turned. A tall, slender guy, in his late thirties, stood there looking at her with anticipation. He had tousled hair, tight slacks and a custom tailored, perfectly fitting shirt.
“Andy Granite,” he smiled.
Cindy smiled back. He was charming with soft, grey eyes.
“Cindy Blaine,” she replied.
“Attorney from Manhattan,” he offered.
Cindy’s eyebrows raised. “I’m here from Manhattan as well.”
“Lucky for me,” said Andy. “How’d you get into this party? A friend?”
Cindy paused. She wasn’t sure how much she should tell him.
“I saw you were headed to the table over there,” said Andy. “May I join you?”
“Sure,” said Cindy. “The food looks wonderful.”
“Everything here is wonderful,” he answered. “People scramble for months to get an invitation for tonight.”
“High expectations,” said Cindy as they approached the table and took a couple of plates.