A Summer With Snow (Frosted Seasons #1)

by Hallie Swanson

  “Because he was a lazy fucking bastard, and quite happy to sit at home on his arse and turn Mum into a workhorse.”

  He turns towards me, then goes to sit down with a mug in each hand.

  “She was too busy to even make time to turn up at my audition; the movie meant so much to me, yet she wasn’t there… I was so angry. I rang, but she didn’t answer, so I left a voicemail. I said some really awful things, and just before I hung up I said she was a useless mother and that I hated her.”

  I reach for my mug.

  “We all get angry,” I say. “I guess at times we all say things we don’t mean. She’s your mum, I’m sure she’s forgiven you.”

  He drops his shoulders.

  “She left work early and ran a few speed cameras trying to make my audition… There was a collision, her and two other cars.”

  I hold my hand to my mouth.

  “Oh my God.”

  “The drivers of the other cars got away with a few minor injuries, but Mum wasn’t that lucky. She died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. After she died, I collected her things, and when I looked through her phone I saw that she’d listened to the voicemail I left her. She died thinking I hated her … it was a wrong I could never right. I couldn’t live with myself. I started to drink and gamble, and in a matter of weeks ended up in a gang, on the streets. It was quite a while before I landed in rehab, but it was there that I met Snow. Though when I met him he went by the name of Rayne.”

  “Why didn’t he use his first name?”

  “He always associated the name Snow with Summer’s death, so maybe being called something else helped him forget.”

  “Okay, I can buy that, but why did you steal his identity?”

  “It was unintentional; I never meant any of this to happen. Rayne had his reasons… He couldn’t cope with the businesses, asked me to go abroad and sign a few cheques on his behalf. I was trying to help, but in doing so things spiralled out of control. Instead of standing in for him, I became him. I was Snow, the face of the Seasons Hotels. I even went as far as to change my name by deed poll.”

  “What happened when he found out?”

  “What do you think? He was pissed… He asked me to do one final thing.”

  “The funeral?” I interrupt.

  He nods. “I was never meant to fly back out to Mexico; he was taking over the businesses in his own right, and I was going to disappear.”

  “So what happened?” I quiz.

  He smiles. “You, that’s what happened.”

  Looking back at him and seeing the way he holds me in his eyes, my heart can’t help but feel heavy. I want more than anything to give him another chance, but could I ever trust him? I feel something rub against my leg, and dropping my eyes I glance down beneath the table. The puppy sits with her head cocked to one side, and I’m hit by the nice things he does. I think of Rayne and realise I’ve spent the last ten years in love with someone who only really existed in my mind.

  “So for starters, how about telling me your real name?”

  “Gabriel Cole,” he says, reaching his hand across the table. “Pleased to meet you.”

  I take it, but quite abruptly he lets go as his phone buzzes.

  “Good timing, Chase,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Soz, Darc, but I’ve got to take this.”

  He walks into the hallway, leaving me alone with a cool cup of tea and my thoughts. Maybe I can forgive him, learn to live with what he’s done. It’s not a decision I can make overnight, I need time. Even after everything he’s told me, the feelings I have are still strong … I still love him. I’m not going to call things a day, well not yet anyway; I’ll ask him to move out for a while, we’ll go on dates, build things up gradually. I need to get to know Gabriel Cole, the man with whom I’m planning on sharing the rest of my life. The kitchen door opens and Gabriel leans back against it, his face ashen, drained of colour.

  My eyes widen. “What’s up?”

  “Chase, he wasn’t his usual self.” He looks down at his feet. “He sounded shifty. I can’t be sure, but I think they may be setting me up. God damn it!”

  I watch his hands clench as he hits the doorframe.

  “Gabriel, I don’t understand, setting you up for what?”

  “For fucking murder, that’s what!” he spits out.

  “Murder!” I gasp.

  It feels as though my last breath has been knocked out of me. My shoulders drop as I slouch down in my chair. Not knowing where to look, I gaze down at my fingers as they strum in my lap.

  “Gabriel, start talking.”

  “There was something I didn’t mention…”

  I lean forwards.

  “I’m all ears.”

  He takes a deep breath. “You know how I rushed to get you off the yacht? Well, there was a good reason. We needed to get a flight and get out of the country fast.”

  “Go on,” I prompt.

  “Me and Rayne…”

  “Oh God, tell me you didn’t!”

  “Do you really need to ask? No, of course I didn’t. I may be capable of a lot of things, but murder’s not one of them.”

  He looks up at the ceiling, like he’s remembering.

  “As planned, we met in the dining room. The truth was meant to come out, you were meant to be there. We had words. Between us we polished off a bottle of wine; I opened another, drank that and started on the whisky. I remember we parted on bad terms and I finished my drink alone, stumbling back to our cabin. Chase called me early. I walked into the dining room, and there was blood, so much blood. He searched the yacht, but Rayne was nowhere.”

  “People don’t just vanish…”

  “That’s just it, Darc, I took Chase’s word, and it never crossed my mind to check for myself.”

  “Why would you even think that of Chase? He’s your best friend.”

  “Maybe it has to do with the small fact that Rayne is worth well over a billion… Money can buy anything or anyone. Chase has never been well off, so I’m putting two and two together and things are starting to add up.”

  “I knew Rayne well; I can’t understand why he’d go that far.”

  “Think how hard it would have been to fly from country to country, visiting each hotel and telling all his staff that I was only ever an imposter and he is the real Snow. Think of all the red tape and shit that would come with it.” He laughs. “I’ve done him an injustice; he’s clever, far cleverer than I have given him credit for. He’s sorted his life out, and now it seems he’s one step ahead, one big fucking step. I know what game he’s playing… If I’m had for murder, what do you think that’ll mean?”

  I frown and sit quietly.

  “Publicity, Darcy, that’s what.”

  “Gabriel, you’re lying. I don’t buy any of it; the papers would be full of bad publicity, so what you’re saying makes no sense.”

  He sucks in his lips. “You’re so naive! Lift those rose-tinted glasses you wear. Believe me, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. He called my bluff, told me he could double hotel bookings overnight, and by doing what he’s done to me, I believe that he can. So I go down for murder, and when he feels like it he decides to turn up. So the murder case is dropped, but I’m not off the hook, as he’ll have me for fraud; yet more publicity. So you see, Darcy, he has all ends tied up.”

  I lift my hands.

  “Where does that leave us… What now?”

  “Chase and Rayne know where I live, so if my assumptions are correct, it’s only a matter of time before the police turn up. Darcy, grab the dog and a few things … we need to get out of here.”

  “Seriously, after everything you’ve told me?”

  “It’s up to you, but when I walk out of this house, you’ll never see me again. This time I won’t be coming back. I’ve disappeared before, it’s no hardship to do it again.”

  My throat burns, tears stinging my eyes.

  “You’re asking me to give up so much, but why should I, and how could I ever
trust you?”

  He steps towards me and I expect him to take a seat at the table, but he kneels down and reaches into his pocket.

  “This is for you,” he says, lifting a blue velvet ring box and placing it into my hand.

  He’s got to be joking. I feel my palm go rigid around the box.

  “It doesn’t work like this, you can’t buy me. The puppy’s lovely, but a ring?” I feel my eyes widen. “I hope it isn’t an engagement ring.”

  “Darcy, just open the box.”

  “After everything you’ve told me? I don’t want it! Put it back in your pocket, and I’ll pretend you never gave it me.”

  “Open the damn box!” He laughs, gazing up at me.

  I roll my eyes, look down into my palm and lift the lid. Though totally pissed off with him, I start laughing too.

  “You judged me before you even looked… Can I slip it on your finger?”

  Still laughing, I give a small nod and hold out my hand. Taking the ring from me, he slips it on my little finger.

  “A plastic ring from me to you, given with love. I saw it in a charity shop this morning and thought it was perfect. It’s not about money any more, it’s about you and me; it might be made of plastic, but it means so much more.”

  I peer down at the clear stone as he slips his hands into mine.

  “I want you for keeps, and I want us forever,” he whispers. “Please give me a chance; believe me, I will earn your trust.”

  He lowers his head into my lap.

  “I’m nothing without you. I’m a mere shadow of the man I once was; all I am today is a bum dressed in a ten-thousand-dollar suit. You know me, Darcy, inside and out; all that’s changed is my name. I’m begging you, come with me. We can start a new life, have an adventure together. I’m not going to lie, it isn’t going to be easy, it’ll be damn hard, but we will get there, and most importantly we’ll have each other.”

  “We may have each other, but we’ll spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. Tell me I’m wrong. We’ll never be able to settle anywhere. What about children? What future will they have?”

  “You don’t need to worry about any of that, no one will recognise us. We’ll have the life, a family, I promise.” He squeezes my fingers.

  I pull my hands free.

  “Was my dressing up as Mercedes a practice run?”

  He nods. “Kind of…”

  “So you always knew there was a possibility of something like this happening?”

  “Well yes, but not the way things have turned out. I had to be sure if you could play someone else and carry it off.”

  “You make it sound so easy, like we can just walk out the door and start a new life.”

  “But it is that easy.” His eyes widen. “I spent time on the street, I know the right people who can help; they can arrange fake IDs and passports.” He glances towards the window. “We haven’t got a lot of time, so go upstairs and pack, we need to go. I’ll make a call, we’ll rent a car, we’ll be out of England in a matter of hours.”

  I pull the chair away from him.

  “And if I decide to stay?”

  “That’s your choice to make, but then all I’ll ever be to you is a memory of the summer of 2015, the summer you spent with Snow.”

  He reaches forwards and pulls me up from the chair, clasping me into his chest.

  “If you choose to come with me, you can have so much more.”

  I glance up, tears in my eyes.

  “Like what?” I ask.

  He breaks into an open-mouthed smile.

  “That’s easy … a lifetime with Snow.”

  Continue reading for a preview of book 2 of the Frosted Seasons series,

  A Summer with Rayne

  A Summer with Rayne – COMING in 2016

  Snow walks around the table so that we stand shoulder to shoulder.

  “You took your four-year-old sister out on the ice that day, even though your mum had already told you it wasn’t safe. But did you listen? Did you fuck! You snuck her out anyway. It’s for you to live with, because yes, Rayne, you killed Summer, it was all your fault. It should have been you who drowned in that freezing cold water, not that sweet little girl. Now why don’t you do us all a favour? There’s a vast ocean out there, waiting for you.”

  My eyes narrow. Cheeky cunt, who the fuck does he think he is? If he wants to play games, that’s fine, game on. My intention wasn’t to stoop this low, to come down to his level, but all that’s changed now. Francesca had the right idea suggesting we set him up, frame him for my murder. Well, fuck having him done for fraud, I’ll watch the bastard go down and rot in jail. I pick up my glass and swig the remainder of my wine, turning towards the door.

  “Rayne,” Snow calls after me. “Rayne, I’m…”

  He can fuck his apology. My mind flashes back to Summer. I hate to admit it, but Snow was right, it was my fault my little sister lost her life. I couldn’t cope and drank myself into oblivion, ending up in rehab. I can remember when I sat and told Snow what happened; it had to be the lowest time of my life. He was a friend in whom I felt I could confide, yet tonight he stands in front of me and has the gall to throw it back in my face. I turn and gaze towards him, but it’s no friend I see; the man I look at is no more than scum. My eyes burn.

  “Snow, you know what? Just fuck off.”

  I leave him to drink alone in the dining room and make my way to the top deck, where I gaze out at the dark waters below. I strum my fingers against my thigh. I should have told Darcy the truth last night when I had the chance, but again he managed to convince me otherwise and I let him have his way. It was Snow who suggested we spend today out on the yacht. When I told Darcy the truth about his identity, this was somewhere he knew she couldn’t run away; he wanted time on his own with her to talk her round.

  I take a deep breath in, exhaling into the warm night air. God, that man can talk his way out of anything, and I know Darcy would have softened and forgiven him. We could have shaken hands as gentlemen do and parted amicably. When I returned to London I would have contacted my solicitor and advised him to drop the fraud case. Darcy and Snow could have lived their life, and likewise myself and Francesca. But not now, this is way too personal, this time he’s pushed me just that bit too far.

  I listen to the waves as they crash against the yacht. I laugh into the oncoming breeze, and a smile lifts my lips and narrows my eyes. ‘There’s a vast ocean out there, waiting for you,’ he had told me.

  “Well, Snow, you should have bitten your lip and held onto those words, because very soon you’ll be eating them.”

  With my disappearance comes a ready-made crime scene; let’s see him talk his way out of this one. I pull my phone from my trouser pocket, scroll down to Francesca’s name and begin to text: The hotel’s profits are set to fly; the money, whatever amount you need, is yours xx. I press the send button. Then I call Chase; lifting the phone to my ear, it rings out.

  “The plan’s going ahead. Meet me in the dining room in an hour,” I tell him.

  “And, Snow, what’s going to happen?” he quizzes.

  “Remember who got you your job! Fuck Snow, you’ve known me since school, your allegiance should lie with me.”

  “It does, Rayne,” he insists. “I’ve been your eyes and ears, and everything you’ve asked me to find out I have, and reported back. But you’re forgetting something…” Chase pauses. “He’s a friend too; he came to me tonight and told me the truth.”

  “Took him fucking long enough,” I snap. “You’re just another one of his pawns; he uses you like he uses everyone else in his life. He doesn’t know the meaning of the word friend. So, Chase, no fucking about now, just tell me, are you in or…” My throat tightens. “Or are you out?”

  “Rayne, I’ve not been entirely honest with you.”

  “Chase, stop stalling.”

  “I’m not; it’s about Francesca…”

  “'What about Francesca?”

  Hallie Swanson i
s the pseudonym for J & L Wells

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  A Paradox In Time series

  Disturbingly Beautiful

  An Untimely Romance series

  Book 1: Untimely

  Book 2: Untimely Return

  A Shaded Rose Series

  Blood & Wings (Book 1)

  Twisted Wings (Book 2)

  A Vampire for Rose (YA version of Blood & Wings)

  An Angel for Rose (YA version of Twisted Wings)

  The following preview is from a book by a very talented author, Cassie Alexandra.

  By

  Cassie Alexandra

  Copyright ©2015 by Cassie Alexandra/K.L. Middleton

  All rights reserved.

  Prologue

  It was just after nine o’clock p.m. when Jessica Winters walked out of Twenty-Four Hour Fitness, dropped her gym bag into the trunk of her car, and drove to her two-bedroom apartment in Iowa City. She pulled into the underground garage, grabbed her things, and headed toward the elevator, relieved that her roommate, Kellie, was out of town. She’d have the place to herself for a couple of days, which meant that she wouldn’t have to listen to the sound of Kellie and her boyfriend, Jack, going at it in the other room all hours of the night. She had to admit, listening to Kellie when she was having those ‘mind-blowing orgasms’, as she so fondly called them, was hell. Especially for someone who’d decided not to have sex until she met the ‘one’. ‘The one’ who seemed to be taking his damn sweet time in finding her.

  “You should get yourself a vibrator,” said Kellie after Jessica had confronted her about keeping the noise down the previous weekend. “Maybe you wouldn’t be so weird about it.”