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The next few hours passed quickly, and no matter where she and Andrea ended up, Arabella was on the constant lookout for Maddux, hoping to get another gliain Much to her disappointment, the host of the ball was nowhere to be seen
After her fourth glass of chane in as many hours, Arabella let Andrea know that she was headed to the ladies’ roo with a man she’d just met, stayed behind Ten e, she saw her father and Gavin walk by, being escorted toward the private stairs that led to the second-story balcony by a nize Her father looked annoyed and reluctant as he followed the gentleman, who appeared to be in his late thirties, her dad’s reddening face lined with enough anxiety to concern her
She fell into step behind the threeto the coluh to hear their conversation and keep an eye on her father, but ht at the same time
“Vincent, I don’t think this is the tiruff with growing agitation
The man named Vincent stopped at the staircase and turned to face her father, his dark gaze as shrewd as his expression as he addressed her dad “You’ve avoided me and the situation for the past month, which is far more time than I allow any of my other borrowers,” he said in a direct et your attention and discuss repay by the day with interest fees, then so be it You know exactly how this process works, so let’s avoid the inevitable, shall we?”
As Arabella listened to the man’s words, her stomach twisted into painful knots at the notion that her father was in sos, he didn’t owe money to a reputable institution, but rather so out of patience with her father’s inability to pay back the loan
“I’ve dealt with your father since you were in diapers,” her dad tried to reason, a slight desperation threading his voice “He’s never had a proble a payht”
“As you well know,the business I am, and I’ve been more than lenient with you and your many lapses in payment”
All business, Vincent unlatched the red rope securing the staircase and glanced fro by her father’s side, back to her dad “Would you like to discuss this issue with or without Gavin in the room?”
Her father exhaled a breath, his co paled considerably over the past few minutes “He’s aware of the situation and I would prefer that he be present”
A patronizing s any bones today, if that’s your concern”
“It’s not,” her father replied, but considering the nerves Arabella detected in his nor on a brave face
With her heart beating wildly in her throat, she watched the trio ascend their way to the second level Each step her father took was slow and tentative, as if he was about to face the gallows or so equally dreadful When they rounded a corner and Arabella could no longer see them, she panicked because all she could think about was her father’s weak heart and the possibility that this stressful situationattack
Without hesitating, she advanced up the stairs as well, arriving on the balcony level just as the three men headed into a nearby roo of her skirts to a minimum, she quietly made her way to where they’d disappeared and did the only thing she could do withouther presence knownshe pressed her ear to the door to hear the conversation on the other side and to find out what horrible fate awaited her father
Chapter 5