Undercover with the Heiress by Alivia Fleur

Author:Alivia Fleur [Fleur, Alivia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Spencer & Co Publishing
Published: 2024-12-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Fat drops thwacked against the stretched skin of the umbrella. Phineas skirted a puddle. Ahead of him, the tall wall of his home came into view, and against the gloom, the windows which faced the park glowed warm with yellow light. He took his next few steps a little faster. He’d stayed back later than he’d intended to help Taylor with some paperwork, and rain had settled in sometime between his arrival and departure at the end of the half-workday Saturday.

Provided she hadn’t decided to decorate another room, Rosanna would likely be discussing the week’s menu with Jean or maybe visiting Elise or her family. She would be busy, and the house would be quiet, and he would be able to think through the problem of Argonauts Trading and Lord Richard and just how much Pennington had to do with it all. If he reported it to senior management, they might pull back from selling shares, but that didn’t change what Lord Richard owed, and it didn’t change life for Rosanna. He’d promised her a clean break and a future on her own terms. He couldn’t fail. Not again.

Those two wheel ruts in the snow… The memory of them was seared into his eyelids, taunting him whenever he closed his eyes to sleep. Over the years, he had returned to the bridge at random times to try to conjure up some spark that might lead to a clue, but he visited the place every day in his memory. Christmas had never been much of a happy time, but ever since that day, the richness of it was infused with his failure. The stone, normally grey blue, blackened with moisture and glistening stark against the crystals of snow. The smell of pine and woodsmoke, harmonious choruses; the cleanness of cold air… All of them screamed, Where were you. She trusted you. You failed.

Phineas paused at the bottom of his front steps. The cat sat on the landing before the door, his tail flicking lazily back and forth.

‘Evening, Spencer,’ he said, as if the cat might give him a response.

Spencer licked a paw. He sniffed the air, then leapt off the landing and scampered into the bushes.

A slight light, wider than it should have been, painted a line around the edge of the door.

His front door stood ajar.

Phineas took the steps in two swift strides. Shouts, cries, and hollering came from inside, and cold fear ran through him. Had Lord Richard come for Rosanna? He’d imagined his home, full of staff, even in their bumbling ways, a safe place for her. Had the lord been desperate enough to break in? Phineas threw a silent prayer to the god he didn’t believe in that she was giving them the better of the fighting.

He listened hard, then nudged the door open. He closed his umbrella and scanned the entrance for a more suitable weapon, but amongst all the knick-knacks and things stuffed onto the side table, there was nothing more menacing. He twisted the umbrella handle between his palms.

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