Fatal Alliances: Chapter 21

My feet ached from running up the stairs and I felt like I was putting all my weight on Finny but he didn’t let go of me.

“Juliet what happened to you?” he asked terrified.

I couldn’t speak. Even though I wanted to, I felt it impossible to do so at the moment. From behind, I noticed Adrian with his unreadable expression. Donnie seemed a little shocked and Ricardo just stood there calmly yet I saw concern in his eyes.

“F-Finny- there- there was a man.” I said trembling, “I-In the house.”

“Kitten, your hand.” I heard Donnie say as he walked up to me and stared at it in shock.

I hadn’t realized that my left hand was dripping with blood, the fragments of glass edged deeply into my palm yet it didn’t hurt. I wasn’t feeling anything except numb. Ricardo closed the door as Finny led me to the sofa while Donnie brought a first aid kit.

“What happened, Greene?” Adrian asked standing in front of me with folded hands and his cold stare.

Taking a deep breath, I tried to explain, “There was a man inside the house, like the one who killed Mr. Dawnly. He came after me but I got away.”

“Where is he now?” Donnie questioned.

“I –I’m not sure. I –hit him.”

“Hit him? With what?” Finny quizzed.

“T-The car. But he’s not dead! I swear I didn’t kill him.” I defended.

“Would have been best if you did,” Ricardo muttered to himself.

“I drove here. No one was home anyway.”

“I think we should go check out the house, Donnie,” Finny said as he got up.

“What? No! What if that man-”

“We’ll be fine, Juliet. Trust me,” he replied with an assuring smile.

When he and Donnie left, Adrian sat next to me and took my left hand in his. I was a bit startled at that sudden action of his.

“Don’t move your hand.” He said as he took the tweezers and clipped it onto one of the pieces of glass in my palm. It hurt like hell. There was the pain. I tightened my eyes as he pulled a fragment out.

“Don’t, you’re hurting me,” I said pulling away.

He didn’t like when I said that, I noticed his gaze becoming even harsher on me.

“Well do it yourself.” He stated icily as he dropped the tweezers on the table and walked away.

Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. I mean, I know I was a bit irritated with the pain but it didn’t mean I didn’t want him to help me. He didn’t have to be so mean and walk away like that. With a sigh, I took the tweezers up and tried to get the pieces out of my hand myself. It was torture. My hand was shaking terribly and the pain was becoming immensely agonizing as each moment passed.

“You’re failing terribly at that,” Ricardo said as he sat down and took the tweezers from me,

“Let me.”

“You don’t have to,” I replied feeling like a burden to everyone.

He didn’t listen, instead, he helped me but even though it pained I tried to keep my mouth shut. I didn’t want him to walk out on me as well.

“I have medical training, don’t worry.” He smiled in that unique way of his.

When he was done he got up and went over to the sink.

“You should probably get over here, Miss Greene.” He said.

Obediently, I did as he asked. Pulling my hand over the sink, he took out a glass bottle from inside the cupboard. When he poured the liquid on my hand, I screamed and pulled away.

“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!” I cried.

It stung like nothing I’ve ever felt before. This burning sensation was intolerable. Adrian suddenly stood up from the table, took his laptop, and slammed the door as he left the room.

“Don’t mind him.” Ricardo assured me, “He just can’t stand to hear people scream like that.”

After about thirty-five minutes, after I got my hand banded, Vandermir walked in with Finny and Donnie behind him.

“What happened?” I asked as I went up to Finny.

“We couldn’t find the man,” he replied.

“We went to your house. It seemed like he was searching the Dawnly’s room for information on the partnership if the old man had any.” Donnie said.

“There wasn’t any. I think you had probably gotten in his way Julie, that’s why he tried to kill you.” Finny sighed.

That didn’t make sense because the man could have killed me. He had a gun. He could have shot me, stabbed me but he didn’t. Did he come after me only to hurt me? Why didn’t he kill me?

“You okay?” Donnie asked as he noticed me deep in thought.

“Yes I-”

At that moment, I remembered I had taken up a card from the ground in the house, in Nina’s room. Sticking my hand inside my pocket, I pulled it out.

“I found this on the ground,” I said as Adrian took it from me.

“And you’re now giving this to us?” he asked.

“I forgot.”

He looked at the card curiously and I saw the slightest smirk on his face. Finny too looked at the card and sighed.

“Adrian, I think that maybe before we do anything with Rocillie, we should find out about these third-party men.”

“I think you’re right, Finny.” Adrian frowned with a subtle smirk that followed.

I didn’t like that expression of his. It was wicked and cruel. His eyes reflected a mixture of anger, revenge and hatred. He looked like a total antagonist at that moment.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Donnie began, “I have the document that we lost when we met Juliet redrafted. The folders.”

“Keep it safe until the time being,” Adrian stated while keeping his gaze on the card.

After everyone left, I sat on the window seat and stared out the window. I could never get tired of the amazing view from here, it always made me feel a little better.

“You don’t have to sleep there tonight,” Adrian said in his velvety voice, “You can go inside.”

Compassion? Huh, it sounded strange when it came from him.

“I’m fine here,” I replied.

He didn’t object to me, instead, he just lay down on the sofa. An hour past and I couldn’t sleep even though I wanted to. It seemed to be the most arduous task yet.

“Adrian?” I spoke softly.

No answer.

I guess he fell asleep. It’s stupid of me to think he was still awake though.

“What do you want, Greene?” he replied in an annoyed tone.

Wow, he was a light sleeper.

“You’re awake.”

“Is that want you wanted to tell me?” he chuckled.

“No…it’s…well, it’s nothing,” I said feeling even more awkward now. I couldn’t sleep but how could I tell him that? What would he do about it? He won’t even care.

“You can’t sleep, can you?” he sighed.

“No,” I replied softly, gluing my gaze out the window. I couldn’t help but realize how lonely the city looked at this time. It was so quiet. Just like how I felt when no one was in the house earlier when everyone left. Vandermir’s apartment was no different, silence lingered through it. It was actually suffocating to be alone like this.

“Don’t you ever feel lonely?” I asked keeping my eyes outside.

“I’m too busy to have such feelings.” He replied yet I could hear the soft break in his tone of voice.

As I turned my head in his direction, I saw him turn back to look forward. He was looking at me before.

“Where did your sister go?” he asked.

Out of all the possible things in the world to ask, he wanted to know about my sister. I was the one who nearly died today, yet he didn’t even care to ask if I was okay. Taking a deep breath I answered him, “She went to London, to take my sister and Mrs. Dawnly to stay with a relative.”

“Oh, I’ll make sure she stays there. It’s safer for her to stay there than come back here.” He said.

“Why are you so concerned about her?” I asked a bit too harshly.

He arched an eyebrow at my sudden reaction.

“I mean,” I began trying to talk more gently, “It’s my job to worry, not yours.”

“How did your parents die?” he suddenly asked in a more serious tone.

Really? Was he seriously starting this conversation with me right now? How odd was this man?

“They died in a fire. They were taking a trip to the Andes, we had a little cabin we used to go to for vacation there sometimes. They went alone that time though, the cabin had caught on fire accidentally one day but when they got out it was too late. I remember the police bringing the bodies for us to recognize. Mrs. Dawnly was with us that time, she didn’t want us to see them so she saw them herself. I just remember looking through the crack of the door, I saw.” I stopped and closed my eyes tightly, I didn’t want to continue but I forced myself to, “They were so….burnt….they were unrecognizable. There wasn’t even a face on the bodies. But….their belongings were recognizable. It was theirs.”

I didn’t like talking about my parents’ death, the only reason I told the story was that I always thought it would make me stronger. Honestly, I think I was only fooling myself because I always felt terrible after. I waited for Adrian to say something but he didn’t, instead, he just sighed and continued looking up at the ceiling.

“Remind me never to small talk with you again.” I said trying to smile and remove that memory of my parents, “You’re awful at it.”

“Small talk,” He chuckled, “Never did that.”

“Yeah, well it wouldn’t have killed you to ask me my favourite colour.” I replied.

“Are we three-year-olds?” he laughed.

“Well, it’s a more appropriate question in my state right now. Oh, and I’m fine by the way, thanks for not asking. And my favourite colour is yellow because it’s a happy colour. What’s yours?”

“Green,” he replied with a smile.

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