Behind Gilded Masks

Chapter 16

Ayla is not feeling well, which means Eileen is at this ball alone. She has only been here for a few minutes and already it feels like it has been far too long. If she was being entirely honest, she didn't find the scene too off-putting. In fact, the food at the party was great and she found the decorations to be tasteful as well.

It was the people she was finding to be a little annoying. And she wasn't talking about the nice ones who engaged her in conversations. No. What made this all the more excruciating and made her long to simply go home were the ones whose eyes she could feel boring into her.

Some of them had already came up to her and asked what she was doing at this function alone. By the gleam in their eyes, she could tell their curiosity was far from having innocent intentions. Especially when she could see a glimmer of disappointment enter their eyes when she told them it was because Ayla was sick.

If she thought hard enough about it or even really cared to know, she had feeling she knew exactly why that was. Even not wanting to know, she couldn't simply ignore the looks she was getting. For the strangest reason, she felt a little like prey.

The thought was easily shaken off as she took a sip of the wine to blend in with the crowd. Her main objective for being there was to see if she could find out more about either of her suspects for their former employee turned hermit.

Grandpa had agreed that it was suspicious and also hinted that he was going to investigate the titanium for her. Which was good, because that was far from her area of expertise. She knew Bea could find out a lot more from a sample than she could.

In his reply to her letter, he had also enclosed a copy of his findings on the village. From its location, Eileen suspected that their target was more likely Joseph Ellis. But the description of the man sighted in the area could fit either men. Seeing as her last outing had been fruitful, she had hoped this one would be as well.

However, so far that was not the case. Yet the night was still young and there was no knowing whether she wouldn't be able to get more information as it went on. She hadn't lost hope in doing so quite yet.

Over the course of the next few minutes, Eileen found herself surrounded by many people who hoped to engage her in their conversations. Most of which were simply guises for them to introduce her to their daughters. In an attempt to be polite and not to draw unnecessary attention to herself, she had agreed to dance with them.

It wasn't really the worst way to spend an afternoon. The girls were very nice and she did enjoy talking to them as they danced. However, her skin itched with the need to excuse herself so she could focus on her task. There was something she could find here. She just knew it.

A very irrational thought process to have when the only thing she had to base it off was her own instincts and a vague overheard conversation. A part of her felt like she was being crazy and should just go home already. But for whatever reason, she couldn't make herself do it.

Somewhere in between conversations and dancing, she found herself back at the food table with a refill of wine. She was absolutely parched. Her hand came up to lift the metal cup up to her lips, savoring the taste, when the most obnoxious voice she had ever heard made her eyes shoot open.

"Why the hell are you over here hogging the wine? Move over will you."

Something about the gleam in the man'sgreyeyes rubbed her the wrong way. And the way his black hair was parted didn't help either. Eileen couldn't put her finger on it, but it reminded her of something.

"And who would you be?"

The man's face immediately scrunched up, his head lifting snootily in the air as he huffed. "Are you telling me you don't know?" A scoff. "They really do let just about anyone in here."