The encounter with Darya was unplanned.
It ruffled Micah, for sure, but he’d come here with a mission.
The Hagen Ball was one of the most important networking events of the year.
He wouldn’t and couldn’t let himself be sidetracked.
***
Darya stood by the pool, holding a glass of sparkling wine, looking bored.
She thought back to the confrontation earlier, took out her phone, texted her assistant.
After almost an hour of schmoozing with the guests, shaking hands, doing the obligatory small talk, she finally begged off.
Avery claimed to hate socialising as well, but he did such a good job of hiding it.
He’d shown mercy at last and allowed Darya to slink off, while he conversed with Hagen’s deputy mayor about upgrading City Hall’s IT infrastructure.
Darya had s
