Fortune Favors The Bold

CHAPTER TEN: MORE SECRETS UNVEILED

“Can you tell me where this address is?” Alaya asked politely while stopping near a gas station. Driving for so many hours made her stiff, but she was finally there. It was warmer here and she regretted the decision of wearing a cashmere blouse. Underneath was a camisole which she would never have dared worn back home, but the stifling heat was more than she could bear.

Besides, nobody knew her here, so she removed the blouse to expose her flimsy camisole. It immediately felt better when the cool breeze hit her arms and neck. Except for the fact that the man was ogling at her in a leering way.

“You are not from here, are you?” he sneered down at her décolleté lecherously, making her cringe in embarrassment. One of the main reasons why she didn’t like to expose her skin was because it attracted unwanted attention. Living with five brothers had given her a good insight of how men’s brains functioned.

“Not really,” she replied evasively. “So, is this very far from here?” she tried again with a discomfited smile, masking her unease.

“Go along the streets until you reach the traffic lights. Then you turn right, drive a few kilometers and you turn left at the supermarket. Then you drive until you find the right house.”

Alaya gave a brisk nod showing her gratitude and glanced at the meter to check whether they had filled her tank. Her S.U.V, despite being old was her main means of transportation and it hadn’t let her down so far.

With the instructions in mind, she reversed her vehicle and drove in the indicated direction. All she had to look for was the residence of Victor Alexander’s mother. Who better than the old woman to give her an incentive on the suspect? Maybe since she was around, she would probe with the neighbors about his past life. Whatever she knew was that Victor had left Vancouver at the age of eighteen and settled in Seattle where he’d met Helen.

The rest, as they said was history.

When she reached the supermarket, she turned left as instructed and was stunned to find the houses with Wisteria Lane vibes. Each house looked perfectly symmetrical and similar to one another, with a perfect lawn to complement the beautiful mansion. However, considering what she’d gathered about the Alexanders, the house seemed too modest for their status.

She had expected something akin to the Fortune mansion at that Xanadu estate. Walking down the identified house, she checked the number to make sure she was in the right place first. The houses were so alike that anyone could make a mistake. Engrossed in her own thoughts, she missed the figure lurking behind her and nearly had a heart-attack when a sexy voice sounded in her ear.

“Detective, care to explain the secret getaway?”

She jumped out of her skin in fright, and with dismay she realized that she would have recognized that voice anywhere in the world. Adonis Fortune. What the hell was he doing in Vancouver? Had he followed her?

Taking a deep breath to settle her poor heart, she turned towards him, bracing herself for the way she felt whenever her eyes landed on him. It was futile. Air clogged in her throat, as she collided with the olive-green eyes and the sexy hardened jaw which hailed a one-day stubble. Her heart leapt in her throat as she inhaled his expensive perfume of fresh lime and something addictive.

She longed to slide her fingers on his chin, to feel the roughness of his beard against her soft skin. She gulped down her unease.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a firm voice. Or at least what she’d intended as a firm voice, but which came out as a sultry sigh. What was it about that man who messed up with her head in such a vital manner?

“Despite your treachery, you mean?” he retorted back in a hard voice, and Alaya blinked her stupor away to have a closer look at him. His jaw was clenched tightly, and his frown was deep in expressing his anger.

“You’re angry,” she stated the obvious, her forehead creasing in a puzzled frown to ponder over why that man would be so pissed with her.

“We had a deal,” he enunciated with harsh emphasis. “I keep you on the case despite the F.B.I, and you keep me informed about the progress.” There was no warmth in the green eyes as they stared back at her with a frost which made her shiver despite the heat.

The action seemed to draw his attention to her exposed arms, and he finally registered that she was wearing a flimsy camisole which barely covered the valley of her breasts. Alaya resisted the urge to run back to her S.U.V and put that damned cashmere blouse on even the heat would probably suffocate her to death.

Anything but those dark green eyes glaring at her exposed skin like they would set her ablaze any moment. Every trace of irritation was wiped from them to be replaced by a hungry wolfish hankering expression which made her insides quiver in response. Goosebumps formed on her arms and she wanted to hug herself to deny him the power he had over her.

Get a grip, girl, she scolded herself firmly. What kind of trollop behavior was she succumbing to? One look from the man, and she was ready to forget everything about her hard-earned life.

“I’m just following a trail,” she replied after a moment of much-needed pep-talk and was deliriously glad when her voice came out as normal. “I would have told you had something come up with the trip. I just wasn’t sure it was worth disturbing your sleep over something not important.”

He growled. “If you’re here, it must be important enough for you to pursue. I was specifically clear about the fact that anything concerning my family, I need to hear about it. Anything! Got it?”

Alaya was somewhat pissed with his imperial tone – she was not his employee or his slave. “I will let you know what I deem necessary or important. It’s not up to you to order me around like I am a brainless i***t,” she fumed furiously, and he was about to respond when the door opened right in their faces.

An old, withered woman stood on the other side, jumping in fright when she saw them on her doorstep. Skepticism filled her, and the woman took a few steps back in a defensive posture.

“Who are you?” the house owner croaked fiercely, and Alaya felt bad for scaring the poor lady. Being a police officer didn’t mean that she could bully the civilians whenever it pleased him – she was no Bosco or Jimmy.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Alexander,” she apologized quickly but not before flashing Adonis a warning look. This was her job, and she would kill him if he interfered in the interrogation. His eyes flashed back with promised retribution, but she flashed her badge in the woman’s face. “Detective Alaya Petrov. I’m here to ask a few questions about your son.”

“Hector? What had that worthless boy been up to now?” Mrs. Alexander asked, misunderstanding the object of their visit.

“Not Hector. You have a son called Victor? May we come in?” Alaya asked while one of her foot was already inside, giving the old woman no choice than to acquiesce.

“Victor?” the woman echoed with a wrinkled nose, stepping back to allow both Alaya and Adonis inside. One quick glance at the décor confirmed her suspicions – it lacked the wealth that she’d often heard the Alexanders bragged about. Maybe the mother preferred a humbler setting.

“I’m afraid that you’re mistaken, detective. I haven’t seen my son for so many years now. He rarely comes to visit. My grandson Philip comes over from time to time though, but we never talk about his father. I am not sure how I can help you with anything.”

“It’s okay,” Alaya hastened to reassure while they both took a seat on the large couch. “We’re here on a regular check. I just want to ask a few questions about your son when he was younger.”

“Why? Has he done something wrong? I am pretty sure he’s the least probable son to get into troubles. Back in the days, he was pretty hard to handle, but cleaned himself quite impressively and got his life back on track.”

“Cleaned himself? He was in therapy?”

“Yeah at fifteen, he’d fallen into wrong hands and had become an addict. Just like his brothers Hector and Jonathan. While Victor managed to turn his life around, I’m not sure I can say the same thing for his younger brothers.”

A dirty past? Now that was even more interesting. “You mentioned he and his brothers were involved together? Was there some sort of a gang?”

“Yes, real bad influence on my boys. I never knew how they entered our lives, but all I remember were men riding huge bikes circling around the house. Reaped my boys of their inheritances. It was such a waste. My husband threw them out of the house, took the rest of their money to my other two sober boys Frederic and Louis.”

“What happened to Victor?” Alaya pressed when she figured that the woman was going off-track.

“He came back one night and announced that he was moving back to Seattle. Left everything and everyone behind. Poor Heather was heart-broken – she was pregnant with his kid at that time. The poor soul.”

“Heather?” Alaya preened her ears with interest.

“Heather Goldman, his childhood sweetheart. She lives right next door and looks after me like my own daughter. My grandson comes to visit often, but Victor never comes back.”

An ex-lover? With a kid? That was fishy. A conspiratorial look towards Adonis confirmed that he was also not buying the story of him having abandoned his family completely. Alaya nodded and thanked the woman for her help.

“What do you say? We knock next door?” she asked as soon as they were out and was flustered when instead of replying Adonis marched right past her to knock on the Goldman’s doorstep.

A pretty blonde with her hair tied up in a bun opened the door with a smile which froze at the sight of them. Her expression became instantly guarded when her blue eyes roamed over Alaya. “How may I help you?” she asked in a cold and unwelcoming voice.

Alaya flashed her badge without a word, the hostile expression of the younger woman rising her hackles. “Mrs. Goldman, we’re investigating the murder of Mason Fortune, heir to the Fortune International Enterprise. I’m sure you must have heard the brutal murder of the rich man?”

Heather’s eyes narrowed dangerously, her gaze flitting from Alaya to Adonis in a unreceptive manner. Alaya didn’t even bother to ask for an invitation inside, she was just glad that the blonde hadn’t slammed the door right in her face yet.

“I watched it over the news yes. But I fail to see what it’s got to do with me,” she replied malevolently. “Do you have any official document or anything to interrogate me?”

“It’s just a friendly visit yet, Mrs. Goldman,” Alaya warned dangerously. If the woman was refusing to collaborate, it surely meant that she had something to hide. “We’re just asking around. So, I trust you know Mr. Alexander? When is the last time you saw him?”

When the door was about to be slammed in their faces, Adonis blocked the wooden plank with his feet. The guilty expression on Heather Goldman’s face only confirmed Alaya’s suspicions. Whatever had happened between Mr. Alexander and Mrs. Goldman was not something from the past, the duo was still pretty much one hot item.