Fatal Alliances: Bonus Chapter 2

Blurb

Mystery. Romance. Deception. 

When Juliet Greene secures an internship position at the Empire Heights hotel, and things seem to be finally going her way, a brief encounter causes her life to turn upside down. Getting in the way of the hostile, unfeeling, yet wickedly magnetic billionaire Adrian Vandermir, Julie suddenly gets thrown into a situation that's too much for her to handle. Wanting to have little to do with this and the infuriating Vandermir, she none the less convinces herself that his decisions would be best for her family's own safety. But when things begin to get out of hand, she discovers that she has more to do with the dangerous situation Adrian is involved in than she or anyone else could ever imagine. In the hopes of ending the matter, both must endure each other's company as they take a trip together which reveals unbearable past secrets and irresistible desires. Desires that Julie fears would only deepen her wounds, but somehow heal Adrian's.

Bonus Chapter 2

Finneas stood before the long walkway towards the 17th-century manor before him. The flight to England went a lot smoother than he anticipated and Gloucestershire was lovelier than he had even imagined. Some small part of him finally felt at peace, regardless of if he hadn’t even told Adrian and the others that he would be here. Maybe he needed to detach himself, no matter how much it pains him. All his life he had his life defined with them that he had forgotten who he really was and what he really liked. He had forgotten to live for himself and the curiosity of what that life would be like was beginning to intrigue him. He missed his friends, they were his family after all, but he had to get better before returning to them. He owed it to them, and he most importantly owed it to himself.

The soft drizzle of raindrops stained against his naked skin, and he noticed to the right, in the far distance, there were a group of individuals gathered all dressed in black. Jonathan did mention to him on the way that the funeral was held today, he hadn’t given him the details of his father’s death, only the basics, not that Finny needed to know much more. His stay here was limited after all. As he made his way towards the crowd, he noticed a gently sloping hill at the side with a little dirt trail leading to a small broken stone house with vines and flowers overgrown on its walls. A little beyond was a neat little forest, one you might have read in fairytale novels.

A soft voice spoke repeatedly but he could barely understand the words as they only fell out in mumbles. Walking closer, a young woman sat in a black dress on a flat rock and scribbled on a notepad whilst reciting a few words she seemed to be writing.

With her face to him, she stopped scribbling and sighed, “As much as I love you kids, you know today is my holiday.”

“I’m sorry,” Finny said apologetically, “I shouldn’t have eavesdropped.”

“Oh,” the girl said as she turned. She looked around his age. Her soft and light brown hair matched perfectly with her honey-coloured doe eyes. She was beautiful, unearthly almost. “I thought you were the Wilby children,” she stated standing and dusting her dress with her hands. She stood politely and he could tell from her demeanor she felt a little nervous.

“I was actually just looking for Jonathan Wilby, but I guess I just followed this trail and it led me here.”

“Well, it’s no yellow brick road trail I can tell you that, it’s terrible out here when it rains.” She smiled, “Jonnie was in the manor last I saw him. I can take you to him if you’d like.”

“I don’t want to be any trouble. You seemed to be on a day off”

“Don’t be silly, I wasn’t doing anything important anyway,” she laughed, “You’re not from around here.”

“No uh, Finneas Harrison,” he returned an awkward smile and shook her hand, “Jonathan Wilby’s half-cousin.”

“Like Finny?” Her eyes brightened, “Oh I had a fish named Finny, the most delightful little fellow you could ever imagine. You should have seen him swim with that broken little fin of his,” She stopped, “I’m sorry I got a little carried away there.”

He couldn’t help but enjoy her quaint little personality, “You can call me Finny if you’d like, my friends all do anyway.”

“Oh,” the girl said a little suddenly and introduced herself, “Jane Auclair, the au pair, but you can simply call me Jane.”

Finny smiled. He hadn’t expected to feel such a sudden relief with new company, regardless if it was temporary. Since he had stepped on the plane, there had been no sign of his dead sister anywhere. It almost felt like he had finally gotten rid of her, for good.  

“Coming along?” Jane asked as she began walking ahead. Her scent lingered behind, one closest to fresh peonies, lavender, and macarons. His phone alarmed him as he felt it suddenly vibrating in his pocket. Adrian had been trying to call. Answering the call, he could have barely heard Adrian on the other end.

‘Finneas, where are you? Are you safe?’

‘Hey, yeah, sorry, I just needed a vacation.’

‘Stay- apartment- you have to- can you hear-?’

‘Adri-’

And just like that, the call ended. He tried to redial the number, but it simply went to voicemail. He’s fine. Adrian always is. He shouldn’t worry too much, but he knew that it was useless to not worry about the ones he cares about. Maybe this idea of starting over and detaching to fix himself was absurd. Maybe he didn’t deserve it. Finneas knew he had to go back no matter what.

As he caught up alongside Jane, she smiled, noticing something was wrong but didn’t want to be too forward. “I thought you were stuck in the mud back there.”

“Metaphorically, it feels like I am. What’s Jonathan like? I don’t suppose he’s the most cheerful based on his calls.

She laughed as they neared the manor’s entrance, “Jonnie can be a lot to handle sometimes, but he has a good heart.” She paused with a cheeky little smile, “Somewhere.”

“You know him well?”

 “We were childhood friends. He’s not terrible I promise.”

The large oak door of the manor groaned open as they entered. A young man, with deep brown hair and silver eyes, stood chatting with another who was serving refreshments, a butler it seemed.

“Harrison?” the silver eyes man turned with a frown, “Well you’re absurdly late.”

“Whatever he tells you, don’t take his words to heart,” Jane said quickly and quietly before leaving to meet two children in another room.

“This doesn’t have to take long,” Finny suggested, “I need to head back soon.”

Jonathan laughed softly and almost sarcastically, “Well that’s lovely but right now I’m busy so we’ll take care of this tomorrow. Someone would help take your bags up to a guest room. We’ll talk in the morning.” And with that, he walked away. He was such a little prick but Finny refrained from thinking such thoughts. The boy was family after all and he recently lost his father, perhaps he was simply acting out.

***

Night fell long, hard and endless. Finny opened the room window to try and soak in the chilly air. A part of him felt uneasy and unsettled. There was no Melissa around. He was supposed to be happy and yet, there was a terrible feeling aching in the pit of his stomach like something cold and rotten. Something wasn’t right. Heading back to the bed, he tried to close his eyes and shortly fell into a brief sleep.

There she was again.

Right where she had shot herself in the head.

Juliet and Adrian had not been too far away.

He could almost smell her scent. Woody vanilla.

Something was wrong this time.

The girl who shot herself…

That wasn’t Melissa.

Finny woke up in a gasp as if he had been drowning in that dream. Checking the time again, he frowned. He was only asleep for twenty minutes. With a groan, he sat upright. Maybe he should have some coffee to keep him up the night. He didn’t want to fall asleep again and have such dreams. Heading out the room, he made his way down the dimly lit hall and down the staircase. Just before heading into the kitchen a small voice called out to him from a small study.

“Couldn’t sleep?” Jane asked.

The young woman sat neatly on the large accent chair and gently placed the book she was reading to the side. “You can join me if you’d like.” She encouraged, “It gets a little lonely here sometimes. Besides the children, the others in the manor aren’t always the kindest with conversation.”

“Well, I did experience the rudeness a little earlier,” Finny admitted jokingly as he sat on the sofa opposite her. “I’m trying not to judge him too harshly yet.”

She gave a soft hearty laugh, “Oh he’s an arsehole, but not the worse.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“You have an accent.” She suddenly pointed out. This took Finneas by surprise because no one truly ever noticed that unless they really really listened to him. It was the faintest sound that one would never notice about him and yet this girl whom he’d only known for less than a day had realized that about him.

“My mother,” he began, “She was French, and we travelled there often during the years she was alive.”

The girl twirled the pendant around her finger as she spoke, “I guess we have something in common. I lived in France, Normandy, for quite some time with my mother and grandmother. Originally my grandmother lived here but when I was around ten and papa died, grandma, mama and I moved to France. Then when mama died, grandmother couldn’t bear the memories within that place, so we moved back here. She’s quite ill, her medications are expensive, and we’re not rich, but the Wilbys pay well. And I’m probably oversharing right now.”

“No, no-” he protested, her voice was calming, and quite honestly, he felt like he could listen to her forever, “It’s nice to listen, and be heard for a change.”

 Just as she was about to say something, his phone suddenly rang, and he excused himself politely to answer.

‘Finneas,’ Donnie stated, almost out of breath, ‘I’m outside the manor right now. We need to talk.’

‘What?’

Quickly heading to the door, Finny opened it to an exhausted-looking Donnie. He had gotten soaked in the rain from his walk here.

“Finny,” he breathed, “What the hell did you do?”

“I don’t- I don’t understand.” Finny frowned deeply, unsure of what his friend was saying.

“You don’t know?”

“I don’t-”

“Finny,” he sighed, “There was a girl in your apartment room at The Carlton, an employee… she was found there… dead… with the word Melissa engraved on her stomach.”

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