***
It was just the day before the horrific phone call when Eugenia had arrived home late from her music class for the fourth time that month. Ariadne cared for Eugenia more than anything in the world, and her only source of worry came from this love and care. The last time Eugenia had quietly snuck inside two hours late, Ariadne snapped at her. At fourteen years old, Eugenia was entering a rebellious phase of life that even the most perfect of angels experience. Since that night, there had been some tension between Eugenia and her stepmother. Eugenia tried to explain that she had to study late sometimes and that she loved to go to the library after her music lessons, but Ariadne just wanted her to stay out of trouble and come home early. She couldn’t understand what Eugenia’s problem was; when they had moved to Phoenix she had a library and music room built in the house, especially for Eugenia. She thought that her stepdaughter must be hiding something from her and felt hurt. Eugenia wished that Alice could understand the difference and was hurt that her stepmother didn’t trust her anymore. They had made up after the argument over a cup of hot cocoa, for they loved one another very much, but since then they had both felt a certain change in their relationship.
***
Ariadne leaned into her husband as he kissed her on the forehead. She trembled with frustration, regret, and fear, wondering what could have happened to Eugenia. She knew firsthand how dangerous it was for a young girl outside after dark, and she wished that Eugenia would have just listened to her. She couldn’t help but consider how this may never have happened if they had just stayed at her old mansion in the valley of southern Arizona. Lucien and she had taken the decision to move to Phoenix shortly after their wedding because there were much better physiotherapists willing to come to the house and work on Eugenia’s leg, and there they had access to much better junior high and music schools than what she would have been able to attend in the valley. Ariadne had tried to set up their new home with everything her stepdaughter could ever wish for so that she would feel comfortable. She just wanted her to avoid staying out late and getting into trouble as she grew up.
As she sat on the floor of the reception hall, trembling with worry, she couldn’t help but play back in her mind the heated discussion that had occurred between Eugenia and her just before Eugenia had left for her music class that afternoon. She had approached the young girl in an attempt to find out what the library in the city had that she couldn’t offer her at home. Eugenia took offense to this and stormed out in a hurry. Ariadne’s heart was shattered. She feared now that she may never see her precious angel again. She looked at Lucien with tears streaming down her pale cheeks and let her head fall onto his shoulder.
“It’s all my fault!” She sobbed, “What are we going to do?”
III
Eugenia had always been an exceptional girl and never ceased to amaze everyone she met. Though she avoided sports due to her physical trouble with her leg combined with her innate inclination towards music, reading, and all things intellectual, she had been a strong and healthy child who was blossoming into a beautiful young woman. She was extremely talented with her music, earning such nicknames as “the female Mozart” and “Eugenia the genius.” She loved diving deep into the depths of each tune and exploring every delicate sound of a melody.
Harpsichord had always been her favorite instrument; piano was next. She had played Mozart’s symphonies when she was just five. The natural passion which separated her from other kids had always made Lucien proud of her.
After Ariadne met Eugenia, she had been drawn to the little girl instantly without being cognizant of her musical talents. It wasn’t long before Ariadne learned that Eugenia’s mother had died while giving birth to the little angel. She felt intense sorrow that Isabelle, Eugenia’s biological mother, never got to see what an intelligent, beautiful, and talented girl she had brought into this world. Sometimes she even cried for her. She had neither seen nor known the love of a mother.
Before Ariadne had met Lucien and Eugenia, she was successful and wealthy but she was not happy. For all the money she had in the world, she lacked some important values which make a person whole, such as trust and love. Her life had been rough. She had single handedly fought the world and had come out on top, but she was broken and bruised, lost like Alice in Wonderland before she met her “mad hatter” and “Eugenia the genius.”
It hadn’t taken her long at all to decide that she wanted to do something for Lucien’s little girl after she learned of her passion for music and her zeal for life. Since she met the father and child, she made sure to contribute in every way to the little girl’s well-being and overall happiness. She saw it as an opportunity to shower a child with all the love and care that she had never known.
Ariadne took a leap of faith that she never thought she would when she stationed some of her best and most trustworthy employees in France to open a new spa outlet there. Managing multiple business locations and properties throughout Arizona and France wasn’t easy, but all her effort had been worth it as she got to see her business and her family blossom over the course of five years. She finally understood the values of trust and love and she couldn’t be happier.
Everyone was happy and everything was going fine until Eugenia started staying out quite late after her music classes. The first couple of times she turned up late for supper, Ariadne and Lucien went easy on her, but when Eugenia started coming home later and later, Ariadne’s worry grew more intense. It was coming to the point where Ariadne and Lucien had to wait for her to come home a few times every week. Ariadne knew that the classes finished by 6 PM sharp, but Eugenia wouldn’t turn up until 9:00 PM or even later.
After having a phone conversation with Eugenia's teacher, Ariadne was convinced that there was something fishy going on, but she wondered why Eugenia would be hiding anything from her father or herself. When Eugenia had disappeared a couple of times during the weekend, Ariadne was ready to interrogate her. She had already spoken to her husband about it who decided to sit down quietly during the whole session. Lucien knew about Ariadne’s tough life and understood her worry and frustration. He was getting worried himself, but wasn’t very good at having emotional talks or being firm with his only daughter. Ariadne just wanted to know from Eugenia was where she had been spending her extra time. Eugenia kept insisting that she was at the library, but Ariadne would not believe her. As her parents’ frustration mounted, she spoke to them less and less and eventually started locking herself in her bedroom. Ariadne and Lucien were struck by the sudden change in Eugenia’s behavior and they were baffled about what they should do about it. They just wanted her to understand that they care for her more than anything in the world and they just want her to be safe, but there was clearly some serious miscommunication happening. They were confused about what to do as any parent with a rebellious teen would be. Ariadne longed for the simplicity and understanding of Eugenia’s younger years.
IV
Since meeting his Alice, everything in in Lucien's life was moving, growing, and changing quickly, and so was he. After losing Eugenia’s mother, he never dreamed of finding love again and he had been sure that he would never remarry. When he met Ariadne and saw how quickly she came to love and trust Eugenia and him, his heart felt full for the first time in years. He gave up his life in France to begin anew in the United States. During the five years since his marriage, he had completed the necessary studies required to allow him to practice law in his new country, passing the bar exam in Phoenix with ease after taking several jurisprudence courses. Just two years after moving to the city, he was able to open his own practice and his business was flourishing.
Being a naturally adaptable person, Lucien took to life in his new home fairly well. He learned the ins and outs of American law quickly and perfected his English. He was happy and comfortable with his new family in Arizona, but as one can imagine, even the most adaptable people face a degree of struggle when getting acclimated to a new culture. One of Lucien’s main concern
s was his daughter, Eugenia. He understood that growing up in America would be much different for her than the life in France that she was used to. Fortunately, she had learned quite a bit of English before they left for the United States, and being a fast learner, she had picked up on the rest with amazing ease. Still, there were certain values that differed dramatically between the two countries. He was afraid that the general selfish attitude of the Americans would rub off on his sweet little girl as she was at a very impressionable age when they moved.
Ariadne Valier was a smart woman. She knew when and how to make proper decisions. That was one of the best and the unnoticed quality in her which helped her crawl out of any filth she could have ever gotten into. When she saw Lucien worrying about his daughter’s acclimation to life in America, she suggested he take one of the rooms in their large home to open his practice in so that he could oversee his daughter’s education and build his business easily.
Lucien instantly agreed to the suggestion and had a good office set up in his house. Soon, he had so many clients that he took another of the rooms as his private office. Apart from his work, he had never forgotten about the responsibilities he had over his only daughter, Eugenia. He knew that it was quite easy for teenagers to get spoiled in the States and he made sure to always look after her. Unfortunately, he soon saw the American attitude rubbing off on her, and though he tried to keep things calm and peaceful, it broke his heart a little bit more every time she arrived home late and every time Ariadne had an unsuccessful attempt at communicating with her.
V
When Lucien took the phone from Ariadne’s hand as he held her in his arms that horrific evening and heard his little girl wailing, he was almost thrown into a rage. A surge of emotion flowed through his body and he was frozen on the spot. There were only two things which kept him calm. Most importantly, he had to reassure Ariadne that things would be okay. He had to be strong for her own sake. Another was his natural ability to understand that a bad situation will only escalate if a person loses control and acts irrationally. He suppressed the rush of adrenaline that was flowing through his veins as he held his wife and kissed her on the forehead. He could not bear to see her cry. He knew everything about her; everything she had been through. He knew how much she loved and cared for Eugenia and he knew how worried she had been lately. She wanted so badly to protect his little girl and to give her a comfortable life, free from all of the struggles and hardships she had experienced in her own. He had never seen anyone so hardworking, honest, and selfless in his life. He knew how lucky he was to have her, and he always put his emotions on the back burner to make sure that she was alright. He had never had to be so strong before in his life.
Lucien’s mind was flooded with thoughts. Among the first was wondering what he could possibly do to find his little girl. Though he had been in the United States for five years, he had spent two of them carefully studying law and English, and the last three building a business and a home with his family. He didn’t even know where to begin.
When the phone rang a second time, Lucien made sure that he was the one to answer it. It took every ounce of willpower he had not to scream into the receiver when he heard a strange man’s voice on the other end in place of his sweet daughter’s.
“Where is my baby?!” Lucien almost shouted, but restrained himself.
“Your girl is safe and sound, she won’t wake up for a while now.” The man whispered creepily. Lucien guessed that he had a device to disguise his voice. No human being would sound like that naturally.
“You had better tell me where you’ve kept my little girl, you psycho.” Lucien said in a low but very grave tone.
“Listen real close, Frenchie. You wanna see your crippled little freak again, you and your Mrs. better show up tomorrow at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument Park with two million dollars, cold, hard cash. You got ‘til midnight. And don’t even think about callin’ no pigs if you want your baby back alive.”
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Eugenia-Novella-Mystery-Suspense-ebook/dp/B017PIAF0E
***
Sample from Between Love And Honor
http://www.amazon.com/Romance-Between-Novella-Mystery-Suspense-ebook/dp/B016OXY5SE
Chapter One
Voices echoed off the colorful tiled and stucco walls in the hallway of University. They were all jumbled and unrecognizable in various dialects and degrees of ability, but to Lillian Stone the voices served as a failure, her own failure. She thought she could manage, she thought she could hold her own, she thought wrong. Coming to Florence had been her sole dream for as long as she could remember and now she felt that dream was becoming a nightmare. She could feel the hot tears behind her eyelids and knew if she didn’t get away from the swirling gibberish that was filling her ears, those tears were going to spill out in an unstoppable wave of regret.
The humid outside air hit her square in the chest as she rushed from the grand foyer and down the steps onto the street. Her bag was slung over a shoulder and she clutched her city guide and text book in one hand turning down the street with her head down, allowing her long locks to fall and conceal her frustrated features from any onlookers. She’d make it back to the student housing and call home, talking to her mother would calm her nerves and help her rationalize her anxiety. Lillian looked at the clock in the piazza, she sighed it was only noon, that would mean it was five in the morning back in Iowa. Her mother wouldn’t be awake yet.
“Okay Lillian, you are an adult. You do not need to rely on your mother to make you feel better.” she consoled herself as she continued to walk on.”So what if your Italian sucks, that’s why you are here, to learn.” Lillian set her jaw in determination and quickened her pace wanting to get back to the apartment before her roommates did. Getting a moment alone in the small two bedroom, with three other people and one bathroom was treasured, even at this early stage of the game. It wasn’t that the foursome didn’t get along; they did in a “pleasant we are new to each other and being polite” kind of way. If any of Lillian’s friends from Iowa were here with her, sharing the miniature apartment, they would already be at each other’s throats, having known each other since kindergarten and being more like siblings than high school acquaintances. So in that token, it was nice to not know one another well. Lillian hoped they would all become friends soon, but it had been so long since she had to make new friends she was a bit rusty on the whole etiquette of it.
She stopped to catch her breath and look around; not a single building looked familiar. Where had she managed to get herself lost? She doubled back thinking she had missed a corner while buried in her own thoughts. It was just like her to get worked up and then lose her focus. Her fingers fumbled with the city guide, juggling her bag and her books as she tried to locate where she was. Those hot tears of frustration were welling up again.
“Scusi?” she said tapping a man who was washing windows on the stone house behind her. “Cerco umm…” she held her hands up in frustration, “student housing?”
The man smiled and nodded. It was obvious he had no idea what she wanted. “Buon giorno.” He greeted and then turned back to his chore, politely dismissing her.
Lillian smirked, still lost and frustrated. She meandered back the way she thought she came. There must be an English speaking tourist somewhere nearby. She would head towards the shops and vendors, but which way were they? If she knew that, then she guessed she would not be lost. Up ahead she saw a woman carrying a canvas bag of fresh breads and vegetables. If she walked the way the woman was coming from she should at least find the vendor she bought her goods from and hopefully relocate herself to the piazza.
As the woman drew near Lillian attempted to ask her directions. She shook her head and pointed back the way she came. Lillian was having a hard time with her accent. She followed the woman’s finger looking down the street. “Scenda, e poi a destra?”
The woman nodded and then brushed her away, scurrying off to her destination.
“Oka
y, down the street and to the right.” She sighed, “I think that is what she meant. Well I guess getting lost is one way to learn.” Lillian was determined to stay positive.
When she reached the familiar piazza, just outside University, she was beyond relieved. The clock now read quarter after two. She had been lost for two hours and had not only missed her window to call home before her parents went to work for the day, but she was now rushed to get to her Italian tutorial session. Again a heavy sighed escaped her lungs. Today was not her favorite day in Florence. She knotted the length of her hair atop her head to cool down and ease the humidity on her skin. Thankful that she had worn her running shoes and not her sandals, she made her way back inside the building, sprinting down the hallway and bursting through the classroom door with a clumsy flourish as she tried to yank the strap of her bag over her head.
“Buona sera,” greeted a handsome man at the front of the classroom. “Have a seat, per favore.”
Lillian looked around the room. No one had arrived yet. She parked herself in the front row, eager to get started and wanting an unobstructed view of the god that was to teach her perfect Italian.
Chapter Two
By the time the class was over, Lillian had learned three things: one, she was not the only student, out of the seven in her class, to have been stunned by how little they understood the Italian language; two, the scheduled professor’s wife had recently went into labor and his TA would be taking on the class until his return; and three, the gorgeous Italian god at the head of the class was the TA, Lorenzo Corsini. Lillian was feeling better. She would still call her mother, but now it would be with excitement in her voice instead of agonizing frustration.
The Love I Found: Contemporary Romance Mystery (Ariadne Silver Romance Mystery #3) Page 10
