Cirque de la Lune: A Paranormal Circus Romance by Emma Hamm

Author:Emma Hamm [Hamm, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-07-21T16:00:00+00:00

7

Mr. Fairwell

Frank smoothed a hand down the lapel of his shirt and told himself to relax. Nothing bad was going to happen. His own father wouldn’t hire another Pinkerton to try and murder him. That was his ex-fiancée, although she wasn’t quite an ex yet.

He stood on the front step of his old home. The cold marble underneath his feet suddenly seemed far too ostentatious for a man who had made his fortune selling weapons, but that was always his father’s prerogative. Mr. Fairwell wanted people to think that he had old money, which meant having an old house with history and stories that were entirely made up to tell to all the people who came snooping around their house, hoping for a few rumors they could tell other people.

That was always the problem with the rich societies. Everyone wanted something to lord over the others. And it was never anything like a new sofa or the newest car. It was information that someone else didn’t know, that another person could say they weren’t going to tell.

Ridiculous, really, but that was the world he came from.

Frank finally took another breath. “You’re a Fairwell,” he told himself. “And Fairwells don’t linger on doorsteps, because they’re too afraid to confront someone for poor behavior.”

That’s what his father always said anyways. He wondered if the old man would take kindly to this sort of visit.

Frank lifted his hand and knocked on the door. Almost immediately, the butler opened it with a quiet sniff. The old man rarely even opened his eyes these days to see who was calling. It was always the same people, after all.

“Mr. Fairwell is indisposed at the moment. Please, tell me your name, and I will relay your information.”

“I believe father will put aside his work to talk to his only son.”

The butler’s eyes opened in shock, staring at Frank with a fearful expression. “Good lord, boy. You’re alive?”

Frank hesitated then slowly replied, “I don’t see why I wouldn’t be.”

And then the butler did the strangest thing. The man reached forward, pulled Frank into a close hug, and squeezed until he couldn’t breathe. “We all thought you were dead. The police, they couldn’t find your body, but everyone had seen the Pinkertons. And you were in that awful part of town… How are you alive?”

The story wasn’t one that the butler would believe. So instead of explaining that he’d taken up with a magical circus who had saved his life, Frank simply patted the old man’s back and carefully replied, “Sometimes miracles happen, old chap. Now, how about we go see my father?”

That did the trick. The butler pulled back immediately, seemingly remembering his station, and coughed. “Your father is in his private study with a… guest.”

“A lady friend, I take it.”

At least the old man had the decency to look uncomfortable. “A friend you might recognize, my boy.”

Frank could make a guess at who it was. After all the things that had happened to him, he really didn’t think he could be surprised by anything anymore.

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