Excerpt of "The Heiress of Santorini" - Chapter One, Part Two

Trying to occupy her mind with something else, she thought about the weekend coming up. John was taking her to his cabin in the mountains. Images of lush greenery and a rainbow of glowing pastel clouds stretching across the sky at dawn and dusk brought a longing smile to her face. They both needed to relax and escape from the stress and pressure of their everyday lives.At twenty-seven, Alexandra was the marketing and sales manager for the Atlanta office of Guarantee Insurance. She made a fantastic salary, had a beautiful apartment in Dunwoody, and drove an expensive convertible. Not bad for the daughter of a homicide detective living on a police salary. Despite their difficult financial situation, her father had put Alexandra through college. She was sure he would have done even more if he’d lived long enough.Her father was the only parent Alexandra had. Her mother—Anastasia Vassiliou—had died when Alexandra was only eight years old.“I miss you, Mom,” Alexandra whispered, as cherished images of her mother’s kind face flashed before her eyes. They used to be so happy until Anastasia fell ill and faded away months later. It was the first time that Alexandra heard her father desperately urging her mother to contact her family. Apparently, they had the means to fund the cancer treatment she needed. However, Anastasia stubbornly refused.That refusal puzzled Alexandra. For years after her mother’s death, Alexandra felt angry at her. She thought her mother didn’t love them enough to do everything in her power to stay with them. I was only a child… I didn’t know any better, she reminded herself bitterly, feeling a lump in her throat.After her mother passed away, Alexandra became closer to her father. Despite his line of work and his exhausting work hours, he always spent time with her, guiding and encouraging her throughout her life. His death had been a mortal blow. She wouldn’t have made it if not for John Harrison, a rookie beat cop working with her father. John was there for her, comforting and supporting her through all the hard times.With John’s help, she completed a degree in Marketing. He even persuaded her to continue in order to get her MBA. Now, she was finally compensated for all the hard work and was able to pay off the student loan she had accepted to continue her studies.John had also advanced and was now a promising homicide detective for the Atlanta Police Department.Alexandra smiled thinking of him. John had grown up a poor boy in the back streets of West Atlanta, without a mother and with a drunk for a father. From his early teens, he butted heads with the law. Luckily, Alexandra’s father had pulled him off the streets and pointed him in the right direction. His influence had persuaded John to join the police force, and he’d come a long way since then.Dad would have been so proud of John, Alexandra contemplated, and a smile appeared on her lips. She adored John. He was the brother she never had. Kind and understanding, he always offered her a shoulder when she needed a good cry.The ringing of the phone made her jump. She answered it on the second ring, to avoid giving Holly any further reasons to worry.Her assistant was a sweet and bright young girl. During the last six months she’d been working for Alexandra, she had turned out to be a valuable colleague. Just out of college, the girl hungered for knowledge and was learning fast.“Alex Stewart!” Alexandra answered the phone.“Hi, Alex.”Her shoulders sagged in relief at the sound of John’s voice. “John!” she cried out, happily. “I was just thinking about how much I’m anticipating our weekend in the mountains.”The silence on the line was loud. “Well, that’s why I’m calling…” He hesitated.“What’s wrong?” Alarm coursed through her. He always dithered around bad news.“Another murder,” he replied. “I’m afraid I can’t leave right now.”

I’ll be posting a new section every Friday. The novel will be published soon by Booktrope.