Page 66 of Devil's Riches

“Are the Gouldings on our list?” I asked. “I can’t remember.”

“Yup. They’re rich as fuck.”

My brows dipped in a frown as I looked over at the woman again. “If you know her, maybe you should go over and say hi. Make sure it’s actually an Aries symbol.”

“Good idea.”

Nate strode over to the table with a friendly grin plastered on his face. Hazel Goulding lit up when she saw him. She stood up to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning back to her two male companions, presumably to introduce them.

They chatted for a while, and then Nate excused himself and came back over to me. The grin on his face was real now.

“Was I right?” I asked, heart pounding.

“Sort of,” he replied, arching one brow. “It’s definitely an Aries symbol, so the Gouldings are number eight on our list. But there’s more.”

“What?”

He leaned forward, fingers entwined on the table. “Her friends had signet rings. Cancer and Libra.”

My hand flew to my mouth. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. It makes sense,” he said. “The Golden Circle members all know each other, so why not hang out with each other sometimes?”

I nodded slowly. “What are their names?”

“Samuel Chabert and Herbert Perrier. They’re nearly old enough to be founding members.”

“I can’t believe it,” I said. A giddy feeling of excitement was threatening to overwhelm me. “We’ve found ten families already!”

I glanced at the list to double-check the numbers. Lockwood, Holland, Montgomery, Van Zandt,Ellesmere, Rosewell, Redstone, Goulding, Perrier, Chabert.

Definitely ten.

Nate nodded. “It was a good idea to join this place. I’m glad you convinced me.”

“Even though we practically had to sell our souls?” I said with an arched brow.

He let out a wry laugh and stood up. “Let’s look for the last two.”

We headed out of the jazz bar and continued our search. Unfortunately, our luck had dried up. We looked through the main areas of the Mayfair for the next hour and a half to no avail. The three bars were teeming with members but devoid of anyone we actually needed to see, and the lavishly-decorated cigar lounge was the same.

We went back to the casino for a while to see if anyone else had showed up there for the evening, and for a few exciting seconds near one of the blackjack tables, we thought we’d spotted someone new to add to our list. Then we realized with crushing disappointment that it was just a guy from the Montgomery family, which we already had on the list.

“Dammit,” I muttered as we headed back into the hallway outside. “We were doing so well before.”

Nate rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Maybe no one from the other two families is here tonight,” he said. “They could have had other plans. Or they could be traveling.”

My shoulders sagged with disappointment. “Good point,” I muttered. “I was really hoping we’d find them all tonight, though.”

“Well, we can’t give up just yet. We haven’t checked out the nightclubs yet, and we still need to go and look at the rooftop restaurant,” Nate said, giving my lower back an encouraging rub. “They could’ve booked private suites or dining rooms, too, so if we get really stuck, we can go to the fourth and fifth floors and wander around there. One of them might come out eventually.”

I nodded and lifted my chin. “You’re right. Let’s go to the rooftop restaurant.”

We took the elevator to the fifth floor and followed a series of signs until we reached the restaurant. It lay on an enormous terrace on the northeastern side of the Mayfair building. The edges were lined with plants and tall outdoor lamps lit with gas-generated flames that kept the space warm and cozy despite the cold weather.

“It’s a lot bigger than I thought it would be,” I said, craning my neck to get a better look at the place. There was a long central bar splitting the space in half, and well-dressed guests were lined up on either side, waiting for cocktails or chatting to friends.

Nate nodded. “It’s more of a bar than a restaurant, isn’t it?” he said, following my gaze.

---