"We are engaged?" Finlay questioned as soon as the maid left the guest room.
"Don't look at me like that." I plopped on the comfy queen-size bed. "I had to make an excuse to get in."
The guest room was the size of my entire apartment. Golden and off-white designed wallpaper combined with antique brown furniture.
I'm glad I came here.
"This is the best idea you come up with?" Groaning, I sat straight and looked at him.
"Why else would they let an American girl live with them in their gigantic f**king castle, Fin?" I raised my brows, and he remained quiet. "This is the only way to get close to them."
"You could have told me your plan." He grumbled.
"Pardon me Mr. Cockburn that we got engaged without your consent." I rolled my eyes. "And don't look so disheartened. It's not real."
He mumbled something I couldn't get and ignored it.
"I don't know how much time I can get, but we need to find the person behind all this as soon as possible." I hopped off the bed and entered the en suite. "Let's go meet your family..."
I trailed off when my eyes landed on the enormous bathtub.
This place is heaven!
"How about a bath first?" I drooled, taking my leather jacket off.
"Woah!" Finlay shrieked, spinning on his heels. "What are you doing?"
"Taking a bath," I said in a duh tone, taking my shirt off.
"And stripping in front of me." He mumbled, and I chuckled when I saw his ears turning red.
"Don't act like you haven't already seen me." I teased him and threw my shirt, which passed him and landed on the tile. "I know you peeked."
"I did no such thing!"
"Relax Fin." I giggled, opening the tabs in the bathtub.
"The first time we had a conversation like this, you went furious." He pointed out.
"Well..." I touched the water to check the temperature and then got in. "I got comfortable living with you."
A breath of relief left my lips when I slide into the water. I grabbed the bubble bath liquid and smell it.
Hmm... Lavender.
I add it to the water and mixed it to make bubbles.
"I never imagined I'll be taking a bath in your castle." I filled in the tub with bubbles. "You can turn around. I'm decent."
"You're taking a bath," Finlay grumbled. "How can you be decent?!"
"And I'm covered in bubbles, see!" He deliberately turned his head and sighed when he saw me. "Nothing to see here."
"Very naughty Amber." Finlay crossed his arms, and I bit my lip as I tried to stop my laugh.
Geez, he's so cute!
"What are you planning to do now?" Finlay asked, and I leaned my head back.
"I convinced your stepmother and grandma." I grinned when their shocked faces flashed across my mind. "Now I need to meet the rest of your family."
His stepmother couldn't believe it, but when his grandma examined the ring, she knew it was real. I introduced myself to them and told a fake a** love story and began crying when I discussed his accident.
They told me to take some rest since I came from a long way and at dinner, they'll introduce me to everyone else. His grandma called the maid and told her to show me the guest room.
"How big is your family?" I asked, closing my eyes.
"A grandma, father, stepmother, and a half-brother. Then I have an uncle, aunty... around ten people."
"Ten suspects."
"Why do you think it's someone from the family?" His voice was laced with confusion.
"Because..." I peeked through my eyes. "No one else from outside knows your existence, Fin. It's someone from inside and my first guess..." I narrowed my eyes. "Is your half-brother."
"Why him?" He frowned.
"Because one, he's your half-brother. Two, he's definitely the guy that the security guard was talking about. He might also be the hoodie guy and three... jealousy. I've read about Cock-"
"Co."
"Potayto, potahto." I cracked up. "So I read the Coburn's history that your grandfather inherited the whiskey business when he turned twenty-five, which happened the same with your father, but Neil is twenty-five and he still hasn't got the business."
"And?"
"The eldest son of the family inherits the business since your uncle died before he could. Your father got it and technically you are the next in line, which means you'll get the business, not Neil."
"I'm twenty-seven and I worked at Knight Corporation. Don't you think I would have already gotten the business if that was the case?"
"This is where my next assumption comes from." I placed my arms on the bathtub edge and looked at Finlay. "You wanted nothing to do with the business, and I think it's because of your mother."
"My mother?" He frowned, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
F**k, I haven't told him.
"Um... You know how you saved me from drowning?" He nodded, and I told him the remaining story. "Maybe you resent them for what happened to her, and that's why you lived alone."
"I..." He gulped and averted his gaze.
"Fin..." I felt bad for him and I wished I could just hug him.
"It's fine... Go on with your theory." He waved in dismissal and I nodded.
"I think Neil wants you out of his way so he can get the business and that's the reason he came to meet you and you obviously you didn't agree with him, so he took the easy way."
"Makes sense." He bobbed his head, trying to observe the information.
"Have you seen Neil?"
"He's at work in the morning and comes late at night, so I have seen little of him."
"Let's meet him at dinner."
• • • • •
I looked through my clothes for something formal, but I was in a hurry when packing. All I had was tops and jeans. I wore my black top with the same color jeans and boots. I parted my hair from the middle and pinned half of them to my sides.
"It's raining," I murmured, looking through the window and saw nothing but forest and darkness. It isolated their castle from the town.
"It rains a lot here." Finlay shrugged.
"And it's cold." I shivered and picked up my maroon leather jacket. "Who thought it would be this cold in June?"
"Welcome to Scotland." He smirked, and I glanced at his clothes.
"You feel nothing?"
"The cold doesn't bother me." He chuckled.
"Ok, Elsa." I giggled and opened the door. "Time to see-"
I halted when I came face to face with the maid who earlier served me standing outside the door.
F**k, did she hear me?
"Um... Hi." I waved my fingers.
"Ah am 'ere to escort ye to th' dinin' room." She gave a big smile.
"Uh... Thank you. I would've gotten lost in this maze."
I gave her a nervous laugh, and she kept walking in front of me without responding. I glanced at Finlay and he shrugged.
Quietly, I walked behind the woman and tried to remember my way back to my room as she went from one corridor to another, then took the huge stairs which were different from the ones I saw before.
After walking for God knows how long I heard voices, a lot of them. I gulped when she stopped in front of the double door.
"Madame, 'ere we er."
Nodding my head, I took a deep breath. She opened the door and motioned for me to get inside.
I went in and saw a huge dining table in the middle of the room. The walls were painted the same off-white color with golden patterns on them and a gorgeous crystal chandelier in the middle of the room above the table.
No one paid attention to me as they were talking among themselves. Then a blonde girl sitting in front of Finlay's stepmother looked at me and her brows dipped in confusion.
"Who er ye?"
Everyone stopped their conversation and stared at me as I shifted in my place, suddenly feeling nervous.
"Thiz iz Amber." Dolina smiled. "Finlay's fiancée."
And it begins.
• • • • •
A/N
What do you guys think about Amber's theory of Neil? 👀