In the summer of 2018, a seed was sown and I am now beginning to reap the benefits of that seed. An independent creator and producer named Johnny B stumbled across my writing and reached out to me to help him create his vision for a movie he had in mind titled Warlock. At the time, I was furiously working to revamp the Davenports, promoting Prosey’s Corner for sponsorship and heading into a new career opportunity. I honestly did not think I had the bandwidth to provide anything of value since my plate was full, I had little interest in horror films and no confidence in my ability to provide anything of value. Thankfully, Johnny saw otherwise and continued to encourage me to work with him.

A year later, we now have a completed script and an official short film that is under consideration by Paramount and as an exhibit for the SXSW festival. Won’t HE do it! I want to send a huge thank you to Johnny B and Timothy Russell for including me in their vision, believing in my writing and opening doors for me that align with my ultimate writing goal of becoming a well sought after screenwriter! I hope my Prosers will enjoy the movie trailer and go out and support the film when it is released.

In addition to the wonderful news of the upcoming release of Warlock, I am also releasing the official prologue for book two of The Davenports: crescendo. I still fully intend to release the book in 2020 and I am aiming for a January date. I am still hard at work editing and revamping the story so that it exceeds my Prosers expectations. I so appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding in the delay of the book. It has to be right and it has to represent the Mara Prose brand well and when I feel that it does, it will be released to everyone. Enjoy the snippet below and stay tuned for the official release date when we find out how Alessandra is fairing with the company now that her father has been pushed out. Will Steven reunite with Priscilla? And what does Blake Kane really have up his sleeve in regards to his partnership with Makhail Davenport?

Prologue

The court room was silent and the air was ripe with tension.  Alessandra Davenport could feel the beads of sweat running down her back beneath her black Chanel blazer and Clic C’Est Noue Hermes blouse.  Her matching gold plated Chanel belt felt extremely constricting on her abdomen and she longed to remove it and toss it out the nearest window.  If she was honest, her entire ensemble was asphyxiating.  This was an all-new nightmare for her; she had lived through too many to count at this point.  Her role as President at Davenport Industries had been anything but ideal.  It was just shy of her dream of chairmanship; the position that would give her enough power to finally avenge her brother Cale Davenport and his untimely death.  But heading up Davenport Industries had become an albatross and detriment to her existence and so far had only resulted in more pain and disappointment for her. 

Was this what her grandfather, brother and dare she think it…father were trying to protect her from all along?  Lately, her confidence in her abilities were sorely lacking.  Once the Department of Justice decided that Davenport Industries was largely responsible for the Norway explosion and placed the company under criminal investigation, Alessandra found herself under fire at every turn.    The company’s every move was now scrutinized, the board distrusted her and even her grandfather had tucked tail and left her to fend for herself while he focused on taking the company in a new direction without her.  And to make matters worse, she was no closer to solving the mysterious death of her beloved brother.

Over the past three years, Alessandra spent every day continually fighting for the rightful control of Davenport Industries.  Her grandfather’s sudden resurgence in the industry had been unforeseen and never did she think he would become her adversary.  Of course, he was nothing like her father Makhail Davenport and truthfully, she enjoyed a good deal of free reign within the company.  But Maki Davenport had made it very clear that he had no intention of retiring the company to her any time soon, especially with the current state of affairs.  This trial, if Davenport Industries were found solely at fault, could cost the company billions and this would threaten their position in the industry for many years to come.  It would leave them vulnerable to takeovers and they could even lose their current multi-million dollar projects to their competitors.

After her father was removed from the line of succession, Maki surprisingly rekindled a passion for Davenport Industries.  He had not realized how much he wanted his son Makhail pushed aside and how much of a dark cloud that relationship had been over DI.  He was free once again to run the company as he saw fit, and he was enjoying his second chance at controlling the very empire he worked tirelessly to build.  At first, Alessandra did not take Maki’s revelation seriously but as time progressed, and she started to be excluded from major decisions, an inner fury started to build within her. 

She felt betrayed, slighted and ashamed of herself for the thoughts she was beginning to have towards Maki.  No one could have predicted this sudden change of events, least of all her and she was at a loss at how to rectify it.  It had been easy to sabotage Makhail, but her grandfather was a different story.  She loved the man fiercely and she could not find it in her to betray him.  Yet, he was blocking her deepest desire and Alessandra was finding it harder and harder to hold back her sinister nature.

Alessandra had expected a period of mentoring from him and even anticipated that it would take a few years for the knowledge transfer from her grandfather to be complete.  Unfortunately, she did not plan for Maki’s reluctance to make her CEO of Davenport Industries.  She had no choice but to accept his offer of President and his new plans to remain Chairman until his last breath. Death…Alessandra pushed the thought away.  It was an unspeakable thought but it continued to reverberate through her.

Her presidency within the company would have been an acceptable start for her at DI but Alessandra’s past dealings were dependent on her repaying debts that could only be repaid inconspicuously as CEO of Davenport Industries.  Maki could never gain knowledge of her secret agreements; those deals held promises she had to figure out how to fulfill.  Out of sheer desperation, she had already taken several risky measures over the last three years and it was those very underhanded dealings that landed her in her current situation – facing a grand jury in a court room full of powerful enemies that wanted nothing more than to see the downfall of a Davenport.

Alessandra searched the room for a friendly face, willing herself to remain unreadable in a sea full of sharks.  They were out for blood, her blood, and she would be damned if she let them beat her.  Her attorneys were in a huddle furiously arguing amongst themselves.  She almost laughed at the absurdity of them arguing about her future.  Could they save her?  Well that remained to be seen but the outlook was grime.  There was a mountain of circumstantial evidence against her but they were missing the coup de gras – actual proof that she was responsible for the arson that caused the Norway oil rig explosion. 

When her father was blamed by their board of directors for the catastrophe, Alessandra foolishly believed her troubles were behind her.  She had underestimated her father’s vengeance and his partnership with Blake Kane had proven detrimental to her and Davenport Industries.  She could not prove it but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt her father was behind the anonymous reports to the DOJ.  No one had connections like her father and she knew she had been betrayed by someone within Davenport Industries but she had yet to discover the actual mole.  Luckily, the Colt family had as much to lose as she did and remained firmly in her corner.  If they turned on her, Alessandra could kiss her freedom goodbye.  But she wouldn’t allow that to happen.  The Colts would continue to be handsomely taken care of well beyond their initial undocumented agreements.

A wave of nausea suddenly hit her with that last thought and Alessandra motioned to her attorneys.  “I need to excuse myself for a minute, I am not feeling quite well” Alessandra explained.  “Is there anything I can get you Miss Davenport?” Daniel Goldblatt, DI’s chief counsel asked immediately with a concerned look on his face.  “No, no, I just need a minute to gather myself.  I only had coffee this morning and should have stopped for a bite to eat.  I will be fine, thank you” Alessandra stated.  This seemed to pacify Daniel somewhat and he turned back to consult with his team of counsels.

Alessandra pushed herself back from the table and stood but had to quickly grasp the table to steady herself.  Her feet were unsteady and her head was swimming.  She could not allow anyone to see her in this state, so she willed herself to move quickly from the room to the ladies room down the hall.  She avoided eye contact with everyone and kept her gaze straight ahead and pushed through the doors of the courtroom.  Once outside the room, she picked up her pace and almost ran the last few feet to the restroom.  She barely made it to the stall before she hunched over and started retching into the toilet. 

After several moments, she backed away and propped herself against the wall.  Waves upon waves of nausea and cold chills continued to ripple through her system.  She knew she had to pull herself together and fast.  They only had a short period of time before the break was up and she was back under persecution.  She reached into her purse and furiously began to dig around for her towelettes and makeup attaché’.  When she grasped what felt like a useful cosmetic, she quickly pulled it out and gasped.  How could she have forgotten?  It had been days but it still should have been at the forefront of her mind.  She could feel all the color draining from her body. 

As if her life wasn’t tumultuous enough, she now had a new concern due to one night that occurred exactly seven weeks ago of reckless behavior.  Alessandra looked down at the positive pregnancy test in her grip.  She was pregnant with Steven Kane’s child.