“Eww!” Victoria cringed at the thought. She laughed out loud and headed into her apartment. She tossed her bag on the floor by the door and headed to her bathroom, shedding her clothes along the way. After a hot soothing shower, Victoria threw on a t-shirt and panties and flung herself on her bed. Within minutes she was in a deep sleep.
Only a few hours later did the insistent ringing of her phone snatch Victoria out of her peaceful sleep. She moaned and looked at her clock. It was seven-thirty in the morning, and she didn’t have to be at work until noon. She grabbed her phone and looked at the caller ID.
It was Tracy.
She pushed the talk button and moaned, “Tracy, some of us don’t work a normal nine to five.”
“I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that your hours rotate,” Tracy chirped in a tone way too chipper, in Victoria’s opinion.
“I was just calling to see if I can bring a date to the Sickle Cell Benefit on Saturday.”
Victoria was a volunteer fundraiser for the Sickle Cell Association of Illinois, and every year she sponsored a huge black tie event.
“Tracy, you can bring as many people as you want, as long as they buy a ticket and bring their checkbook.”
Victoria knew that she was being grumpy. She didn’t care. It was seven-thirty in the damn morning!
“I’d like to bring Steve. We’re kinda dating.”
“Oh, my,” Victoria giggled. “Well, that woke me up!”
Victoria sat up in pleasant shock. “Well, Miss Tracy, Steve already bought a ticket but good luck getting him into a tux,” she chuckled.
Victoria knew that Tracy was gonna have to sit down and have lunch with her best friend very soon. She wanted details.
“I’ll get him in a tux,” Tracy said with confidence.
“Can’t wait to see that, but right now I’m going back to sleep,” Victoria yawned into the phone.
Still way too damn chipper, Tracy was barely able to reply. “Okay. Later, babe,” before Victoria was hanging up the phone and getting back under the covers.
CHAPTER 6
STORM
Jack stood at the window of his penthouse apartment atop Storm Tower and sipped his scotch.
He stared at Chicago’s impressive skyline. He took another sip and looked down at the busy streets. He wondered if his caramel beauty was out strolling the dangerous streets of Chicago. He couldn’t believe that he was becoming protective of a woman that he didn’t know. He walked over to the sofa and retrieved a file from the coffee table.
John, Jack’s head of security, had done a very thorough investigation, so Jack had Victoria Price’s complete life story in his hands. She had been a cop for ten years, and a very good cop at that. Her career as a police officer was impressive. She’d studied self-defense for years and she specialized in hand-to-hand combat. She was even an instructor at a local YMCA. She had two loving parents. Her father was African American, and her mother was Dominican. She had one sister and one brother. Her entire family lived in South Carolina. She had been engaged at one time to some asshole lawyer, Dante Roberts, until she walked in on him in bed with another woman.
What would make a man want another woman after having Victoria?
She was also a volunteer for the Sickle Cell Association of Illinois, and she was sponsoring a ball that Saturday. He had Mary secure him a ticket. That would be when Jack would make his move. She was participating in a bachelorette auction. That was one bid that he didn’t intend to lose. He had every intention of seducing Victoria Price Saturday night.
She is worth every penny, he thought to himself.
His ringing phone interrupted his thoughts of Victoria. He stared at the caller ID and debated on whether he should answer. It was Caroline; a woman that he’d had sex with a couple of times. Caroline Miller was your typical spoiled little rich girl living off of Daddy’s money, but Jack’s net worth made Daddy look blue collar.
Caroline was no fool. She wanted more than sex. Jack didn’t do more, but he answered the call none-the-less.
“Storm.”
“Baby, where’ve you been?” Caroline was using that whiny voice that Jack couldn’t stand.
Jack had absolutely no patience for this shit. “Busy. What do you want?”
“I miss you, baby. I wanna drop by.”
“Not tonight, Caroline.”
Jack wasn’t interested at all. He could’ve definitely used the release, and Caroline was definitely beautiful in a superficial kind of way. She was petite with long blonde hair, a peaches and cream complexion, green eyes, and enormous fake boobs. But Jack had no desire to spend an evening with Caroline. He couldn’t get himself to focus on anyone other than Victoria. He just needed one night with her so that he could get her out of his system once and for all.
“Caroline, I have to go.”
He ended the call abruptly, not giving her a chance at a whiny protest. He placed the folder containing Victoria’s information back on the coffee table and headed to his home gym to relieve his sexual frustration.
Forty-five minutes and a bucket of sweat later, he was still picturing that bead of sweat rolling into Victoria’s caramel cleavage. Jack abandoned his workout and headed for the master bath to shower. He peeled the wet clothes from his body and jumped in the shower. He turned the knob to adjust the temperature. It started spraying cold water, which was good. He definitely needed to cool off. As the water warmed, his thoughts returned to Victoria. He imagined those long brown legs wrapped around his waist as he thrust his cock deep in her pussy over and over again. He could easily picture her big tits bouncing as he pounded into her. He could almost taste her as he imagined licking and sucking her hard brown nipples.
He couldn’t take it anymore, so he wrapped his hand around his cock and began slowly stroking up and down. In his deep sexual thoughts, the harder he thrust and pounded her pussy into submission, the more her big tits bounced. He stroked his rock-hard cock faster and harder. He was so close. He could feel his balls tightening. Jack released with a loud moan and shot hot semen all over his hand and the shower floor. When he caught his breath, he realized that Saturday wouldn’t arrive soon enough.
CHAPTER 7
VICTORIA
“Thank God it’s Friday,” Victoria sighed as she hopped out of the covert car that Steve was driving.
After three days of avoiding cameras while securing the Taste of Chicago, Victoria was almost happy to be streetwalking again. She said a silent prayer that no one would recognize her from her time in uniform. She walked over to her designated corner and strolled up and down the street.
Today’s ensemble consisted of a black liquid mini-dress with strategically placed cutouts and black gladiator stilettos. Five minutes into her stroll, she spotted a black Escalade parked down the block. Victoria started walking in the direction of the vehicle, but it took off suddenly.
She shrugged and thought to herself; maybe I’m not his type.
She turned and walked back to the corner with a little extra sway in her hips. A red Mustang pulled to the curb. Victoria sashayed towards the vehicle and leaned into the passenger side window.
She smiled and spoke to the driver. “Hey, baby. You need a date?”
The man flashed a toothless smile at Victoria and replied, “I sure do, Beautiful”.
She smiled back and asked, “What kinda party did you have in mind, Big Man?”
“I want a full ride, Sexy.” He winked. “I got a hundred for a blowjob and summa that good pussy,” he growled.
Yes, he actually growled. The fool already had his pants unzipped. Victoria was sure that he needed a bath.
“You got condoms?”
The dirty John’s answer was, “Don’t like rubbers, so I’ll give you another fifty to go raw.”
“Cool,” she said with a smile. What she was thinking was, this nasty mothafucka!
Victoria performed a secret takedown signal to a watching Steve. The team rushed in and arrested the nasty would-be John.
<
br /> Two hours passed and Victoria had six men in custody. It was time for a short break, so she started to walk across the street and jump in the car with Steve. Before she could get to the corner, a tall skinny twenty-something-year-old punk walked past her and smacked her on her ass.
Oh hell no!
Victoria turned around and punched the little asshole square in his nose. She didn’t like being touched. The idiot grabbed his nose and fell to the ground. He shot a hateful look her way, but before he could get to his feet, he was being “handled” by Steve and Deon. By the time the rest of the team arrived, the little molester was very apologetic. He became arrestee number seven.
The team headed into the station to process the arrestees. Victoria and her team quickly finished the paperwork and headed out. She was tired and needed her rest because she’d have a busy day the next day. She was so excited about the ball. She and Tracy had planned a spa day in preparation for the big event. It would be a day full of primping and pampering for them both. The gown that she chose for the event was the most expensive item in her closet. She usually didn’t spend a lot of money on clothing, except shoes. Cops didn’t make enough to have designer wardrobes. Yet, since she was throwing herself in the bachelorette auction, she figured she should at least look her best. She was hoping the auction went well. The charity really needed funds.
Victoria hopped in her car and started it up. She pulled out of the lot, turned her radio up, and starting singing along with Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines”. Victoria was close to her apartment when she turned her radio down and studied her rear view mirror. She could have sworn that the same vehicle had been behind her since she left the station.
She wondered if she was being followed.
Victoria decided to drive by her apartment building. She definitely wasn’t about to lead whoever was following her to her home. She kept driving straight until she reached the traffic light at Cottage Grove. She made a right and headed north. The vehicle that was following her kept straight. After about four blocks, Victoria decided that maybe she was overreacting. So she made a right turn and drove towards her apartment. When she turned onto her block, she did a quick survey and pulled into the parking lot. She parked her car, hopped out, and headed towards the building holding her nine-millimeter by her side. Maybe she was being paranoid, but she didn’t give a damn. A little heat went a long way.
She made her way into the building and up the stairs. Sure enough, Mrs. O’Malley was standing her nosy ass in the doorway.
“Did you give one of your men a key to the entry door?” Mrs. O’Malley was snarling as she waited for an answer.
“One of my men? Mrs. O’Malley, when have you ever seen a man over here?” Victoria finished with, “I don’t have any men.”
“Well, some man…,” she paused as if she wanted to call him something else, “…was sniffing around your door.”
This made the hairs on the back of Victoria’s neck stand. “Mrs. O’Malley, what did this man look like?”
The old lady looked down and spotted the gun in Victoria’s hand. “He looked like a thug!”
Then the mean old lady stepped back and slammed the door in Victoria’s face. Victoria wanted to kick her damn door in, but she decided against it. Instead, she unlocked her apartment and went inside. Well, one thing Victoria was sure of, judging from Mrs. O’Malley’s reaction, was that her visitor was definitely black. Like normal, Victoria tossed her bag on the floor by the front door. She looked down and noticed a note that had been slipped under her door. She picked it up and it read: “Missing you. Will see you soon…Dante.”
“Not if I see you first,” she said out loud. She walked into the kitchen and tossed it in the trash.
Victoria threw a TV dinner in the microwave and poured herself a glass of her favorite red wine. She grabbed her dinner and wine and sat on the sofa. She’d set her DVR to record Scandal and she was ready to relax and watch Olivia Pope fix the world. She didn’t give her cheating ex-fiancé another thought.
CHAPTER 8
VICTORIA
Victoria was well rested. She hadn’t gotten this much sleep in what seemed like ages. She rolled over and looked at the clock.
“Shit!”
It was nine o’clock. She was supposed to meet Tracy at the salon at nine-thirty. She jumped from her bed, ran into the bathroom, and took a record-breaking short shower. She brushed her teeth and threw her hair into a high ponytail. She ran into her room, searched her drawers for underwear, and grabbed the first pair of sweats that she could find. Then she slipped on a t-shirt and some sneakers.
On the way out, she snatched her keys and tossed her phone and her weapon in her purse. She was ready to roll. After she locked up, she ran down the stairs and out the front door towards the parking lot. When she reached her car, she noticed one red rose tucked into her windshield wipers. Attached to it was a card that simply read: “Mine”.
She didn’t know what was going on with Dante. Maybe his on-again/off-again ex dumped him. She didn’t care. He was no longer her problem. She tossed the rose and the card to the ground, jumped in her baby, and headed to the salon. When she arrived at the salon, it was almost ten o’clock. She walked in and found Tracy sitting in the waiting area.
Tracy looked up at Victoria and rolled her eyes. “I swear, you’re gonna be late for your own funeral.”
Victoria smiled and responded with, “I’m pretty sure that’s a good thing.”
“Let’s go. They were waiting on you and Lord knows you need a lot of work done,” Tracy said with a giggle.
“Whatever.”
Four hours later, the ladies had been shampooed, styled, manicured, plucked, and waxed everywhere. They were being escorted to big relaxing chairs for their final treatment: pedicures. This was a perfect opportunity for Victoria to get the juicy details about her partner and her best friend. She waited until they were relaxed and soaking their feet in the hot soapy water.
“So, dish,” Victoria blurted out.
Tracy tried to play dumb. “About what?”
Victoria looked Tracy in the eye. “Don’t make me beat you,” she threatened.
Tracy laughed before confessing, “I like him.”
“Like wanna-be-in-a-relationship-with-him like him?”
“Yeah,” Tracy cooed with a goofy grin.
“My best friend and my partner. This might not be so good for me.” Victoria shook her head. “Just please be good to each other. I don’t wanna be caught in the middle,” Victoria pleaded.
“Vic, I really like him, and we’ve been seeing each other every day since we met at the club,” Tracy admitted.
“Okay. Well, let’s get to the important stuff,” Victoria said with a grin on her face.
”What stuff?”
“Again, don’t make me beat you.”
Tracy’s face turned red, which Victoria found funny since she had a deep brown complexion.
Tracy smiled and said, “I’ll tell you this much; he fucks just as good as he looks.”
Victoria threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t tell me anymore,” she pleaded.
They relaxed into a comfortable silence. When their spa time was over, she hugged and kissed her friend goodbye and told her that she would see her at the ball. She jumped in her car and kept the windows up so she wouldn’t mess up her hair. She had to stop by the Barrington Country Club, which was located in one of Chicago’s most affluent suburbs. She had to meet with the event planner to make sure everything was going according to plan. She arrived at five o’clock. When she walked into the ballroom, it took her breath away. It was absolutely beautiful and totally complete. This was new. She’d hired a new event-planning firm this year because of problems with her previous planners. She was highly impressed. There was nothing for her to do there, which gave her more time to get dressed. She gave the thumbs up to one of the planners across the room and headed out of the door. She jumped in her ride and headed to her apartment so she could begin
the task of making herself biddable. She had two and a half hours left to prepare.
* * * *
Victoria stood in front of the mirror and almost didn’t recognize herself. The beautiful copper colored gown made her caramel skin appear to glow. It hugged her body in all the right places. It allowed a tasteful amount of cleavage but draped dangerously down her back, resting right above her bottom. The dress clung to her body with a slight flair below her hips. The satiny material flowed like liquid.
She selected a gold rhinestone studded strappy sandal. The five-inch heel made her stand at least 5’9”. Her hair was pinned in a side up-do with bouncy curls cascading down one side of her face. She applied a small amount of makeup, all earth tones. She wanted to enhance, not cover. She twirled in front of the full-length mirror and noticed how dangerously low the back of her dress was.
“Daaaaayum,” she sang, as she was impressed with her own reflection.
Victoria absolutely loved dressing like a lady, as opposed to the streetwalker that she posed as for work. She was almost giddy. The Sickle Cell Association sent a car for her, so she grabbed her lip-gloss and phone and tossed them in her clutch. She walked out into the hall and locked her door. She turned to see Mrs. O’Malley in her doorway. The old lady’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
She mumbled, “Pretty”. Then she stepped back and slammed the door in Victoria’s face.
Wow, Victoria thought to herself as she smiled and made her way to her chauffeured vehicle.
CHAPTER 9
STORM
Jack Storm strolled through the ballroom well aware of the attention he was receiving from the ladies. He could care less. His eyes searched the ballroom for only one woman. It was eight-twenty and the event was scheduled to start at eight o’clock. He arrived eagerly at seven forty-five. He didn’t believe in being late for anything, ever. He was getting impatient, so he walked over to the bar and ordered a scotch. He needed to calm his nerves. It was a nice turnout and inside he was proud of Victoria. The ballroom was elegant and the attendees were dressed to the nines. He knew that she didn’t make a lot of money, but she still managed to give back. Jack had contributed financially to many charities, but never had he been as hands-on as Victoria. She single-handedly had created the perfect event. He didn’t know much about Sickle Cell Disease, but he’d be sure to leave a substantial donation before the night ended.
Beautiful Prey: The Storm Series Page 3