Lethal Combination

Chapter 16

The next morning, Ainsdale was awakened by her phone which was vibrating beside her as it rang. With closed eyes, she held out her hand and tried to locate her phone while her face was still pressed comfortably on her pillow because it felt like she did not want to wake up completely yet. When she was finally able to get hold of her phone, she held it close to her ears and answered it without looking at or who the caller was.

"This is Ainsdale speaking. Who is this?" She stated with a half-sleepy voice.

"Qualcosa è successo a te la scorsa notte che ti ha fatto dimenticare chi fosse tuo fratello? (Did something happen to you last night that made you forget who your brother was?)" Her brother, who was on the line, asked back in a sarcastic tone before he continued. "And did you just wake up? It's already eleven in the morning."

Upon hearing her brother's voice, she sat up in a rush, making her feel dizzy and her eyesight blurry at the sudden movement as her shoulder throbbed in pain in a way that she had to grit her teeth to keep herself from cursing. For a while, she remained sitting still on the bed as she closed her eyes to steady herself. She didn't do anything much last night, which could have exhausted her. Well, aside from… that. Was the drug acting up again because of it?

As she remembered what happened between her and Alessio under the blooming wisteria tree on the hill, her cheeks flushed and her body turned hot in response, as if the things that Alessio made her experience last night were happening to her all over again. She had never entertained any love interest before because of her views on life and her line of work. Though there were men who had tried to woo her, she could not risk the burden of explaining the things she did in order to cope with her boredom just so she could make the person who claims to have loved her understand her reason. However, she is not an innocent virgin. She is very knowledgeable when it comes to those things. What she lacks is experience itself.

In fact, Alessio is the first man who ever touched her that way, who held her in ways that made her anticipate what was about to come next. He was the very first man she allowed to do so. The first man who whispered such dirty words into her ears while his hands and lips were doing wonders to her body, and the very first man who had been able to make her look forward to what he was about to do next for her undoing. She wouldn't deny that Alessio is an expert lover because he made her experience a glimpse of what he is capable of when it comes to physical intimacy. No wonder many women cling to him like moths to a flame. They flocked around him because not only was he rich and capable of providing for a woman's materialistic needs, he was also very capable of pleasing them sexually.

Alessio is a dangerous man to be involved with and she is aware of that fact. Besides, she knew that he discards women who are romantically or physically involved with him in the most painful way once he's gotten bored of their presence and he does it in complete silence without looking back. He was the very reason why the women who claimed they loved him feared receiving roses from him, because they never knew the day when yellow roses would be the flowers that would greet them. The women who had received them in the past learned that yellow roses from Alessio meant they no longer held any importance to him. Those who had insisted otherwise and tried to talk him out of his decision heard words from his lips that hurt more than the silence he gave first.

But is she afraid of the dangers that accompanied his existence? No. Because she, too, is dangerous on her own. And she is willing to welcome another danger in the person of her brother's friend, Alessio, to know what life has in store for both of them. She had started to let him in. Why not let him in completely?

She could still feel his lips that grazed her skin. She could still feel the lingering touch of the tip of his tongue that traced the outlines of her body. And, she could still feel his fingers that touched her in her deepest core through the crevices of her lower lips. And damn! She could feel herself turning wet at the thought of him doing more things to her. She bit her lip. She wanted him in ways that she had never wanted anyone before him. She craved his touch and what happened last night is starting to become insufficient. She knew she was starting to become greedy because she was starting to want more of him.

She groaned. What the hell did Alessio do to her? She's turning into a s*x-crazed woman as the minutes pass by that she's here all alone without Alessio by her side.

"Fiume?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you alright?"

She cleared her throat. Her brother is a very observant person. He is good at that. He could tell something is amiss by just the sound of someone's voice or by reading the gestures and expressions of someone he's talking to. Being his sister who grew up under his wing, he could read her clearly, as he would, to his favourite book. Though she is an expert at hiding her emotions and expressions, Aizen is an exemption to everyone who can't read her. Even though the fact that it was him who brought them closer together still remained, she couldn't risk him knowing that something had started to burn between her and Alessio because she had a feeling that he'd get in between them.

Aizen and Alessio are friends and she is Aizen's younger sister. That relationship was the very same reason that her brother would want her to stay away from the head of Arcana as far away as possible. If Alessio and her grew closer together than they are right now, no one can tell whether they'd become lethal together or a threat to each other if the time comes. But, with everything that'd been going on, Ainsdale could already foresee that Alessio wouldn't give a damn. After all, he was a man who would go straight in, facing all the dangers ahead, just as long as he could get the thing that he wanted in return. She is not completely oblivious. She knew and she could feel that Alessio wanted her – caged in his arms and moaning in his bed.

"I'm fine. What made you call me again? Is there something urgent that I need to know?"

"Fiume…"

"Hmmm?"

"Dovrei solo uccidere Euphrosyne? (Should I just kill Euphrosyne?)"

She blinked.

"What?" She asked her brother in return, her voice laced with surprise because of what she thought she had heard.

She wanted to know whether she heard him right or wrong. The pain in her shoulder and her throbbing head had already been forgotten.

"Volevo ucciderla. (I wanted to kill her.) I'm sure Alessio will surely kill her either way, in cold blood might I add, so maybe I should just spare him the hassle and erase her existence from the world myself. I guess the world would thank me too if that happened."

For a while, Ainsdale remained silent. She knew her brother. Something must have happened for him to want and rush the death of the woman under his mercy for a while now.

"Turn on your camera," she told him, not giving him any leeway to say otherwise.

She shuffled away from her bed and walked towards the coffee table where her laptop was on. Her attention solely focused on what was happening on her brother's side. She didn't even spare herself a glance in the mirror to check whether her hair was pointing in different directions nor did she look over her sleeping clothes, which were just a pair of an oversized T-shirt and silk shorts.

"Voglio vederti. (I want to see you.)"

After clicking a few keys on her laptop, it turned on and immediately opened a window where she saw her brother, who looked like he was ready to commit murder anytime. His hair was unruly, as if he had just scuffled with someone while blood tainted a part of his neck and the collar of his shirt. It couldn't be his blood because he didn't have any cuts or wounds, so the blood must belong to Euphrosyne. His rage was very visible in his eyes and he couldn't seem to keep it inside him. If he couldn't vent it out, someone around him would surely end up dead and, at that moment, that someone was Euphrosyne.

"Che è successo? (What happened?)"

Aizen breathed in deep while he leaned back in his chair and looked above before he sighed as he ruffled his hair even more with his fingers. Reminiscing what happened to him a while ago seemed to have brought back unwanted memories to him that he couldn't even say a word about it.

"Aizen, talk to me."

"Euphrosyne…" he started and she waited for him to continue. "She put the pieces together as to why I was interrogating her about her existence."

She frowned. Is that really a problem? "So she knew of our relationship?"

"Not exactly to the point that you are my sister but that we share a connection to each other. I think she is thinking we must have met back before everything about the mess involving the Simonettis happened and I just let her be."

"I don't think I see the problem in that, Ice. What really happened this time?"

He remained silent for a while before he spoke to give an answer to her query.

"After learning that I am somewhat connected to the Euphrosyne whom she thought, even until now, had really died along with the old patriarch of the Simonettis that night fifteen years ago, she laughed and said that she had fun seeing you be miserable that night."

Her face darkened at that. If Euphrosyne is not who she is pretending to be, and if she saw what took place fifteen years ago, wouldn't she be eight years old back then?

"What?"

"I swear I almost slit her throat open because of how confident she sounded as she said those words to mock me."

Ainsdale massages her temple to keep it, even temporarily, from throbbing. "Don't kill her."

Aizen's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Why wouldn't I do so? She was among those who tried to kill you when you were eight!"

"Ice – " she said, but he cut her off.

"The nerve she had when she f*****g bragged about how surprised and horrified you were when you saw her having the same face as you despite you having no sibling nor a twin. If I had not stopped myself, I would have smashed her face on the wall."

Something had snapped in Aizen. She could see it in his eyes. He really wanted to kill her that instant. And to add to that, his words accompanied his desire to do what he had just uttered. Euphrosyne must have lost every hope she had to escape from her brother, so she started telling him everything she knew just so she could see him being agitated. But to get to the roots of everything that happened fifteen years ago, they still needed to infiltrate the Simonettis, who may have or may not have a connection to the Brovinos that has a hand in manufacturing the drug called Flagrare which is presently hindering her from her normal activities.

"What other things did she say?"

"She said it was her who pushed you to your death on the cliff with a smile on her face as she watched you fall straight down to the ravine below."

At that, something in Ainsdale's forgotten memories resurfaced though it was accompanied by an excruciating pain in her head that almost made her scream. At first, she could still hear her brother's worried voice through the speaker of her laptop as he called out her name frantically. Afterwards, everything around her, starting with the sound of her brother's voice, started to disappear as everything around her went black. The last time she remembered before losing consciousness was the horrified look on Aizen's face on the screen as she fell unconscious on the floor with her forgotten memories being played in her mind like a movie in replay…

That night, Euphrosyne felt elated that Alessio's mother, Felize, offered to help her prepare for her son's 12th birthday banquet, which was going to be held in the grand hall of the Terra di Sienna manor. She grew up not meeting or knowing her parents personally because of an unfortunate accident that took their lives when she was still a few months old. Thus, she never experienced how it was to have a mother or a father. But, her grandfather did not fail to shower her with love and she grew up under his custody with much care. And having Felize be attentive to her needs like a mother should to her daughter brought up feelings which Euphrosyne never felt before. Longing for a mother she grew up never having. But she immediately concealed it with a smile. She was quite good at that even at such a young age.

Through the mirror, she stared at her reflection, particularly on the red velvet floor-length gown she was wearing until the color of her eyes changed to a reddish brown. Her eyes do that every time she stares at something. Her eye color is naturally gray but they change color depending on her surroundings or the things she's staring at for a while. She possesses most of the Simonettis' traits aside from her eyes, which her grandfather had once told her were just like the eyes of her late mother. It was the only trait she took after from her.

Her gown had arms that went longer than her own but was slit up to her shoulders which showed her arms in an elegant way. Her mahogany red hair was braided messily in an elegant fish tail behind her and it was adorned with small flowers and little hair ornaments made from precious stones. And when Felize was done helping her, she stood up with a broad smile painting her lips.

She twirled in front of Alessio's mother.

"Sembri bellissima, mia cara. (You look beautiful, my dear.)"

She beamed. Especially when it was the mother of the boy she liked that praised her. "Really? I should show my dress to Scion."

Felize chuckled and lovingly touched the little girl's cheek. She liked her. And she knew her son did too. "I'm sure Alessio would be delighted if he saw you."

Euphrosyne hugged Felize's waist before she ran towards the door. "Oh, grazie, zia Felize! (Oh, thank you, aunt Felize!)"

She was not able to hear her response because she had already gone out and ran in the hallway towards Alessio's room. Without so much of a knock to show courtesy to the one who owned the room, Euphrosyne turned the door knob and went inside rather excitedly to look for him.

"Scion! Scion!"

"You're noisy," Alessio reprimanded as he glanced at her while he stood by the large windows of his room. He was probably watching the arrival of his guests prior to her arrival.

She ignored what he said and she twirled in front of him. "Aren't I beautiful? Your mom helped dress me up."

"Pretty."

She crossed her arms and pouted. "I feel like you are complimenting the dress and not me. Why are you bullying me?"

He chuckled. "That's just your imagination running wild, freesia."

"Rose," she corrected.

He grins mischievously. "Heliotrope."

"Urgh," she said with a stomp before turning to leave.

He'd just ruffle her feathers more if she stayed there with him. It would be better to go down the banquet hall first before him.

"Where are you going? I have something to give you."

That made her stop and turn around. She raised her brow in question and watched Alessio walk towards the table before he pulled something out from the table's drawer. It's a rectangular box.

"What is that?"

"I like you, so I'm giving you a gift."

"A gift?"

That night, the only jewelry she is wearing is the necklace her grandfather gifted her. It wasn't an ordinary necklace because the pendant was actually a seal, something that would make their vassals recognize it was her. At such a young age, she understood what her grandfather meant by that. Hence, why she is keeping the necklace safe with her.

Alessio opened the box and Euphrosyne's eyes grew wide when she saw a gold necklace within it. Its pendant is a symbol which she knew was the Arcane Family's crest. It was delicately adorned with glittering little stones which she was sure were natural diamonds and behind it, the name 'Scion' was engraved intricately in cursive writing.

Scion literally means 'heir' and this boy here in front of her has that word attached to his name, both in the aspects of it.

"W-why are you giving me that?"

"I told you, because I like you. Give me your hand," he said, which she somehow immediately followed.

Alessio tied the necklace to her wrist and made it look like a bracelet. "Don't lose it. I won't be able to marry you without it."

"What?"

Alessio laughed. "Kidding, dianthus. Why are you so jumpy? Just don't lose it. Come on, they must be waiting."

Euphrosyne followed him but once in a while, she couldn't help but look at the necklace turned into a bracelet on her wrist. Though small, she knew it was worth thousands. Yes, with an 's'. It was gold and adorned with diamonds. So why did he just give it to her? They went down into the banquet hall as a pair and they were told to pose for a picture on the grand stairs before they went in and mingled with everyone.

The banquet was in full swing when Euphrosyne noticed her grandfather had received an urgent call. She had no idea what the call was about but it seemed like they had to leave immediately because she heard her grandfather excusing themselves to the old patriarch of the Arcanes.

"I apologize, Alonzo. Something came up with our family."

Euphrosyne held Alessio's hand tightly while the two old friends talked for a while in a more serious mood in the corner away from the rest of the guests. She knew about the struggles within the Simonetti family and it seemed like something had happened again which her grandfather could no longer ignore.

"Euphrosyne Amherstia…"

Euphrosyne glanced at Alessio, her eyes wide in surprise. It was the first time he had addressed her with her name.

"I will come and see you soon," Alessio assured her, before she heard her grandfather calling out to her.

With one last look at Alessio, Euphrosyne ran towards her grandfather.

The moment they went inside the car, even until they were on their way back home, her grandfather had been busy talking over the phone. It must have been the fifth call he picked up when he was talking to someone in exasperation and, at some point, Euphrosyne heard him mention "DNA copies", "cloning" and a "successful project". At such a young age, she did not pay it any mind and just stayed silent in her seat. But when she heard her grandfather curse in anger before he ordered the immediate capture of his other son, the twin brother of her late father, she actually turned her head and stared at him.

She was about to ask her grandfather what was happening when their car swerved because a blinding light from an incoming truck distracted them. Their driver lost control of the steering wheel and their car rolled over towards the other lane. As an instinct, Julio grabbed and protected her using his body as she screamed horrifyingly inside the car.

Everything happened so fast that they couldn't tell how many times their car rolled over before it came to a stop in between two large trees by the cliff. If they had not been wearing their seatbelts, they would have died for sure because of the impact.

"A-are you alright, Tia?"

"G-grandpa?" She answered in a trembling voice. The shock and fear must have finally caught up with her.

"A-are you hurt anywhere?"

"No."

When she moved, she felt thick liquid had covered the leather seats of the car and from the rusty scent, she knew it was blood.

"Grandpa, what's happening?"

"Ascoltami, Tia. (Listen to me, Tia.) C-can you move?"

She nodded but when she realized that her grandfather could not see her through the darkness, she answered him verbally with a 'yes'.

"Tia, you must live."

Before she could ask him what he meant, voices which she had never once heard before disrupted the silence of the night. It didn't take too long before the door on the passenger's seat in front opened. A flashlight was lit and their driver, who seemed to be still alive, groaned at the sudden brightness.

"È stato un incidente infernale. Non sapevo avessi il coraggio di guidarti fino alla morte. Sei ancora vivo, Nico? (That was one hell of an accident. I didn't know you had the guts to drive yourself to death. Are you still alive, Nico?)"

They know each other?

Though in pain, Nico chuckled. "I played well, didn't I? The boss should pay me thrice as much as the original amount agreed upon."

The man outside laughed. "He's already giving you a lot and you're still asking for more. Do you want to be shot dead?"

"You bastard! Have you been working with my son, Frederic, all this time?"

Nico glanced back at them. "Who do you think it was that has provided him with the miss' DNA samples?" He asked instead of answering before he walked out of the passenger's seat as if he wasn't injured at all.

It was the first time Euphrosyne felt fear which was almost choking her to death. Her heart was thumping loudly inside her chest because of everything that was happening around her. The bliss she felt before in the presence of Alessio had long been forgotten as the reality that something unforeseen was about to happen before the end of the night.

Euphrosyne glanced around through the broken windows of the car. There were men outside who were discussing things about how they could make things look more like an accident by the end of the night. What happened to them was staged and their driver was working with the ones who had planned it. It happened in a place away from civilization, so no one would be able to witness it. The road was curved rather dangerously so they could simply state that the accident happened due to reckless driving or a mechanical malfunction on the car's break. And if she and her grandfather died right here, they could just declare whatever reasons they might think of and they would not be questioned by the authorities at all.

Before Julio could curse him some more, the door at his side opened. Without much consideration that he was presently injured because of the large glass shard that was sticking on his side, he was pulled outside by another man aside from the one that greeted Nico rather harshly. Euphrosyne screamed at the way they manhandled her grandfather as she followed him outside, but before she could completely hold onto her grandfather, Nico pulled him back without being slightly taken aback by her tears and physical state.

"Stay here, miss. Someone is rather excited to meet you, so I need you to stay put."

"Ti odio, Nico! (I hate you, Nico!)"

He smiled. "As you should."

They made her watch everything take place. Even to the point where a man, who had just got out of the car parked not too far from them, stood in front of her grandfather with a triumphant smile. Beside him was a girl who looked exactly like her.

"Hello, father!" Frederic greeted Julio in a condescending manner. "I would like you to meet Euphrosyne. Your granddaughter who will be inheriting all your wealth as you have stated in your will."

"Alla fine hai perso la mente, Frederic. (You have finally lost your mind, Frederic.)"

Frederic just smiled at that. "Your vassals would not have any reason to question her identity if she looked exactly like your beloved granddaughter, would they?"

Euphrosyne didn't hear anything from that point because her attention solely focused on the little girl that had come together with the man who looked like her late father. She watched Frederic looking in her direction with a glint of threat and mischief in his eyes before he said something to the girl. He must have told her to greet her, so the girl walked towards where she stood frozen.

"Ciao, Euphrosyne! Ah, ma dovrei chiamarti? Dopotutto, a partire da stasera, prenderò il tuo nome e la tua vita. (Hello, Euphrosyne! Ah, but should I call you that? After all, starting tonight, I'll be taking your name and your life.) I should introduce myself at least. I'm… Euphrosyne."

The girl who had the same face as her, with the same name as her, smiled. It was chilling and sinister.

"There is no need for two Euphrosyne to exist in this lifetime." She whispered menacingly when she took a step forward, while Euphrosyne took a step back. "That is why I needed you to disappear. Nico, pull her towards the cliff."

"W-what? No!" She struggled and she shouted for help but it was useless. "Nico, don't! Please!" She pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.

The second she was standing at the edge of the cliff, Nico pulled out his gun and pointed it towards her temple. By that time, tears were already rolling down her cheeks but the girl who looked exactly like her just laughed at her misery.

"Perché lo stai facendo? (Why are you even doing this?)"

"Because I was told your existence would be a hindrance to mine."

"What?"

"Entertain me for the last time."

Euphrosyne's heart beat painfully inside her chest. No matter how simple her words were, she knew it holds a threat.

"Do you prefer Nico shooting you in the head or are you going to jump down the cliff yourself?"

For the last time, she looked at where her grandfather was being held. Frederic made him watch what was happening to her from their position and her heart clenched in pain.

"I'll give you everything you want, Frederic! Just don't hurt your niece!"

"But my niece will remain alive after this night, father. We just have to get rid of the other."

"Frederic!"

"Choose," the girl in front of her stated, so she focused her attention back on her.

"Nico, shoot me," Euphrosyne ordered with her head held high, which surprised Nico, but before he could pull the trigger, the girl who carries the same face and name as her, walked towards her with a smile.

"On the other hand, I would rather push you off the cliff myself. At least, that way, I knew you died by my hands."

Euphrosyne's world seemed to have stopped at that and when she realized it, she was already falling off the cliff. And like a slow motion, for a moment, before she completely fell, as if to add to her misery before death welcomed her, she saw her grandfather being shot in the head as two men held him in between them. As she fell down towards the river below, she saw a satisfied smile on the girl's lips while she watched her meet her end in the darkness that covered the river below the cliff without any regret or remorse in her eyes.

Everyone thought that with her small frame and young age, she would not survive the fall on the cliff from that height. She, too, had expected that death would welcome her with open arms the second she reached the bottom. Thus, it came as a surprise to her when she found herself gasping for air while trying to survive from the raging waters of the river that caught her fall. She was carried away by the strong current. When she finally made it to the surface of the water, she was already too far away from where she fell. She couldn't tell how many times she sank underneath and how much water she drank from the river. She even lost consciousness when she came in contact with a large boulder and she didn't know what else happened to her from that point. When she regained consciousness, she was already lying face down by the river bank along with a few logs and branches, her head bleeding from an injury with a few broken bones and ribs.

Moving proved to be so difficult and her senses weren't working normally. Everything was painful and the freezing temperature of the water seemed to have embraced her completely, making her shiver uncontrollably. She heard muffled voices as she saw a light getting near where she ended up. The last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness for the second time that night was seeing two boys with horrified expressions as they looked down on her.