Dark Alley: The Complete First Season (Dark Alley Seasons Book 1)

by D. S. Wrights

  “I didn’t tell him, he doesn’t know,” Alice admitted.

  “What?” Her best friend was confused now. “So, how? And why? And who?” Her voice got a little bit louder with every word.

  “My boss,” Alice answered, wrestling with words.

  “There is something you aren’t telling me,” Bianca said, dead-serious.

  “It turns out,” her best friend took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “That Mr. Grantham is Mr. Scotch.”

  Bianca just stared at Alice and for the blink of an eye she thought she had broken her best friend.

  “You mean…” Bianca leaned towards her. “King?”

  Alice just nodded, eyes big and her expression showing how much she could relate to her best friend’s shock and confusion.

  “He’s your boss?” Bianca still couldn’t believe it. “The big boss? The J.J. Grantham? How could you not know?”

  Well, thank you.

  “I hate yellow press, you know that,” Alice rolled her eyes. “I prefer reading books, words of quality.”

  “Oh, my God, Alice!” Again, Bianca slapped both hands over her mouth, shaking her head.

  “Imagine, my surprise!” Alice eyebrows rose.

  “I’m so sorry,” Bianca couldn’t stop shaking her head. “Girl… he’s married. He’s … I’m so sorry.”

  “Yes, I know,” Alice nodded. “I met her.”

  This time she was afraid that Bianca’s eyes would jump out of their sockets as she could see her thoughts tumbling over each other in her head.

  “Now I understand why I haven’t heard from you,” her best friend said, reaching out to place her hand on hers.

  “Well, I called my boss,” Alice continued. “And he took care of everything…”

  Alice spent the rest of lunch telling everything that happened the last few days and Bianca was nothing less than stunned. She only left out the explicit details. After that Bianca just looked at her, trying to find any words to say about her best friend’s dilemma.

  “He pulled a Fitzwilliam Darcy on you,” she eventually said, quoting her favorite film and Alice’s favorite book.

  “With the only difference that he is married,” Alice sighed, staring at her hands mutilating her table napkin.

  “So, that’s why you are going on dates with Tristan,” Bianca deduced. “Because he’s single. Didn’t he try to blackmail you?”

  Alice took another deep breath, nodding.

  “Okay, so he apologized about that and took it back, but it still doesn’t change that he tried to do it,” Bianca shook her head once more. “But… damn this is just all kinds of wrong. I’m so sorry.”

  “I acted like a stupid ungrateful brat. I will have to say thank you and apologize to my boss, but I don’t know how, because that means breaking the … it means mixing work with leisure time,” Alice spoke out her worries about the whole dilemma for the first time.

  “Well, he hasn’t tried to contact you, which means he’s leaving it up to you,” Bianca shrugged. “If you want to talk to him, you will have to go you-know-where. But what will you tell Tristan? I mean, if you are willing to ignore what he tried to do, you have to tell him what happened, or...?”

  “I don’t know if I want to,” Alice looked at the ceiling searching for an answer. “I’m not sure he could handle who my boss is and on top of that it’s against the rules.”

  “So, you won’t tell him,” Bianca summarized and her best friend nodded. “Oh my.”

  “What am I supposed to tell him, Bianca?” Alice tried to keep her voice down. “What would it help if he knew that I screwed my boss?” She leaned over whispered the last three words. “And that he freaking owns the place!”

  “Wait… what?” Bianca froze.

  “Yes, he does, that’s why it only took hours to find out that Gary has been stalking me,” Alice gritted her teeth.

  “Yes, you are right,” Bianca nodded. “Don’t tell him.”

  “That’s what I said,” Alice sighed, feeling as if she hadn’t gotten anywhere with this conversation.

  When they left to return to work, Alice tried to be at least a bit cheerful. She didn’t want Bianca to have the impression that their lunch hadn’t changed her dilemma, or – even worse – made her feel even worse about it.

  Alice knew that she had to talk to King about it, that she had to tell him that she was grateful for his help and that her running out of him had been nothing else but her freaking out about the situation. He had to understand this. But how was she supposed to tell him all this? She couldn’t simply call him and ask him to meet her, because the last thing she would do was tell him all that on the phone.

  The only way she could meet him was at the Dark Alley, the place she wanted to stop going to. Thinking of that, Alice wasn’t sure if she could ever quit that place. Maybe that was one of the reasons she imagined dating Tristan was a good idea. Bianca was right that his attempt to blackmail her wasn’t something she should simply ignore. And yet, she was willing to do it.

  These thoughts kept following her the entire rest of her working day, which frustrated her because she couldn’t focus on her tasks anymore. So, by the time she was ready to get picked up by Tristan for dinner, Alice had finally come to a decision.

  “Since we are dating…” Alice started, trying to direct their conversation into the right direction.

  “We are?” Tristan cut her off, pleasantly surprised.

  Alice smiled forcedly and he instantly realized that she had something to say that was important to her.

  “We started with on third base,” Alice shrugged.

  She didn’t continue with what she had tried to say, and Tristan stopped eating, looking at her, attentively.

  “You know, I’d love to date you, and I’m happy if you have decided that we are,” he told her, putting his cutlery down, but hesitating to reach out for one of her hands.

  “What I wanted to ask is,” Alice continued, carefully, “what you think of the place we met.”

  “What about it?” Tristan frowned slightly. “We can still tell everyone that we met at a club. It wouldn’t be a lie.” He smiled at her, comforting.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Alice answered, putting her cutlery aside as well. “What I meant is that I like the idea of the two of us still going there while dating.”

  When she had spoken what was bothering her – at least the half of it – Alice felt as if a heavy weight was falling off her. At least, until she saw Tristan’s expression.

  “As exclusively with each other,” she added quickly and he seemed to relax. “I just, I don’t know, I don’t want our relationship to become boring just because we think we have to live up to social standards. I like the possibilities of the place.”

  “You don’t think that we can have fun outside of that place?” Tristan cocked one brow and Alice was uncertain if he was just teasing her or being earnest.

  “No, no, I do,” she shook her head. “I just don’t want to limit ourselves, you know?”

  “I get what you mean and I like the idea,” he smiled at her, picking up his cutlery again, and winked. “Our little secret within the secret.”

  That was when Alice decided not to mention that the Dark Alley accepted couples, or the fact that it wouldn’t be a secret to the King of Diamonds as he owned the place. Ripping herself from her trailing thoughts, she returned to her meal as well, but she couldn’t start another chat or keep her mind from wandering back.

  Jason… Jason would know. If he wanted to, if he kept tabs on her at the Alley, he would know that she was only meeting with one guy at the club, and he would know who it was. She couldn’t imagine him acting on that knowledge, because thinking of what he already had done for her, it wouldn’t fit to his character.

  “Alice?” She heard Tristan and instantly knew that she had zoned out on him.

  “I’m sorry,” she shook her head, apologizing, “so much has happened. The new job, my new apartment….”

 
“You have a new apartment?”

  Oh, crap.

  “Yes, it’s a company thing. Because of my work, I got a place at the company apartment building downtown, so that I can be there faster in a case of emergency, which will happen quite often, apparently,” Alice explained and tried to find a way to tell her now boyfriend the size and luxury of her new apartment.”

  “Do you need help with moving?” Tristan asked.

  Alice instantly felt bad and embarrassed; she could feel the heat crawl up her cheeks.

  “No, it happened already,” she smiled a bit uneasy. “The company took care of it. It wasn’t meant to happen that fast” – this wasn’t a lie, could she go on like that? – “but apparently, my new boss laid down the law, and so I got the next apartment that was available.” – this was just an assumption, but it sounded believable. “And like that, I ended up in a pretty spacyapartment.”

  “Pretty spacy?” Tristan repeated skeptically.

  “My driver Jimmy said that these usually are reserved for managers,” Alice dropped more information.

  “Your driver?”

  “Yes, I have a driver, so that I don’t lose time during transit or when I have to run errands,” Alice answered. “I know it sounds like a lot, but all that is part of my new job. It’s very demanding. I’m the second management board assistant of Grantham Global.”

  For Alice, it felt like realization sunk in right then when she spoke the words. She already had been working on her new job, but so many things had kept her on her toes that she felt that reality caught up with her just now.

  “Wow, you must be one hell of an assistant,” Tristan grinned at her.

  “Obviously,” Alice heard herself and winked.

  This kind of self-esteem felt like a brand-new armor to her, but still, she liked it.

  Twenty-Seven

  Leaving the restaurant, Alice was still trying to not let herself be distracted by everything that had happened. But it was Tristan wrapping his arm around her, pulling her to his side that really helped. His aftershave mixed with the scent that was unmistakably him did its magic work on her senses and wrapped her tightly into a distracting cloud that made her fantasies run wild.

  Alice hadn’t been this close to him since the last time they were at the Dark Alley, and instantly all their secret adventures flooded her thoughts. Now, she completely understood what Jimmy had told her. It was one thing to fantasize about how sex might be with your brand-new boyfriend, it was another to really know how sex was.

  Although it wasn’t her conscious intention, she leaned into him and inhaled his scent, bringing her face towards his and involuntarily brushed her lips across his neck. Tristan instantly shivered languorously, he tightened his grip on her hip and pulled her even closer. His movement made Alice turn on her tiptoes and run her into Tristan’s chest, who instantly crashed his mouth on hers, burying his free hand in Alice’s hair.

  A kiss in public had never been more exhilarating for Alice, and maybe for Tristan to, so she thought. They were supposed to be a secret, they used to be shielded by the Dark Alley club, and now they didn’t need that anymore. Although normal for everyone who would look at them, this kiss had something forbidden for both of them. And it was this secret that made it impossible for Alice to pull away and break the kiss that started out so innocently, but quickly became something more, something heated, that made them both merge into each other, desperate for that thin layer of clothing to disappear.

  But then again, this wasn’t the Dark Alley. Here, on the pavement just a few feet away from the restaurant they just left, they couldn’t simply tear off their clothes and give in to the urge to taste each other’s skin, or allow their hands to roam each other’s form, or more.

  It was Tristan who broke the spell and pulled away just enough to stop their kiss, only to keep his lips lingering closely to hers. His scent and warmth wafted around her like a thick, intoxicating cloud and Alice knew if she didn’t have him inside her within the next few breaths she would feel physical pain.

  “How far away is your apartment?” Tristan whispered under his breath; to Alice these words had the same effect as a bucket full of ice water.

  The moment after she froze, she didn’t understand her reaction, and as soon as she tried to make a sense of it, she already felt regret, because she would have preferred to not know why.

  She didn’t want to have sex with him in her apartment. As in, not with him. Or anyone else but… It felt like a sacrilege. First, she had to set things straight with Jason, Mr. Grantham.

  “Why not,” Alice spoke slowly, running the tip of her index finger along the collar of Tristan’s shirt. “Go you-know-where?” She asked timidly, looking up at him from beneath her eyelashes.

  “Oh, I definitely want to have my way with you in a dark and dim alley, Alice,” Tristan spoke, his breath rolling over her mouth, making her shiver in anticipation.

  She suppressed a breath of relief and grinned instead.

  “Let’s not waste any time then,” she hummed, letting his tie run through her fingers, before she grabbed it more tightly and pulled him along with her as she turned around, just when he was about to kiss her again.

  “You teasing kitten,” Tristan chuckled and reached out, grabbing her hips just when she was about to move out of his reach and pulled her against him

  Her buttocks collided with his hips and with the hard on she could feel against her sensitive skin. Alice imagined Tristan bending her over the park bench that lay just ahead, him pulling down her pants, and entering her with one forceful strike, not caring about protection. Alice did her best to think of Tristan’s face while in that fantasy, but somehow it always tried to change into the face of someone else. She pressed her eyes shut tightly and shook her head.

  “Are you okay?” Tristan asked, as he just had caught up with her.

  “Yes, I’m fine,” she smiled at him softly, lying.

  Tristan walked her over to his car, opening the door for Alice like a true gentleman. She didn’t want to compare him to anyone else, especially not Jason. Hell, she didn’t know Jason either, did she?

  Clinging her thoughts to the amazing kiss they had shared, Alice leaned her head against the headrest of the seat and watched Tristan as he drove to the place she felt she never would be able to tear herself away from. Every time he glanced at her, he smiled. It was so cute. And she couldn’t help but smile, too. Alice knew that she could live with this relationship, she could make it happen, if she only could remove Jason from her mind. Certainly, Tristan would be able to be like Jason. He could be dominant, or couldn’t he? Alice hoped he could. Because, what was the alternative? Being the boss’ mistress?

  When she thought of her apartment, she almost already felt like it. A driver, an expensive apartment, staying at the Hilton for some spoiling. Yes, that was exactly how she pictured being the mistress to a billionaire looked like. The only thing that didn’t fit was having a boyfriend. No, she couldn’t imagine Jason being willing to share her.

  …but what if he did? What if he thought that since he was married it was okay for his mistress to have someone at her side? After all, she and Jason couldn’t be seen out in the open, as a couple, right?

  Alice did her best to stop her mind from going there, and exploring the possibilities.

  Shut the hell up, Alice. You’re with Jason now. Fuck, no! You’re with Tristan. Tristan!

  “You okay?” The handsome, blonde reporter asked.

  Alice looked at him and took in his handsome appearance. Tristan was all she had ever wished for. He was tall, good looking, smart, and a little bit dirty-minded. And he wanted her, clearly. That was an understatement. So, why couldn’t she stop comparing him to Jason? King of Diamonds wasn’t as tall, he was dark-haired, a soon-to-be silver fox, older, not as athletic, definitely dominant.

  Shut up, Alice.

  “Here we are,” Tristan said and Alice felt despicably bad, because she had barely spoken through the entire, th
ough short ride to the Dark Alley, because her mind was on someone else.

  Alice got out of the car without saying anything, doing her best to dive into the memory of their kiss, just minutes before, and how passionate it had been. That was what she wanted, open, public affection. Alice wanted to walk down any random street with her boyfriend’s arm around her, showing the whole world that she was his, and he was hers. Tristan could give her that. He was close to perfect. If it wasn’t for that short chapter called ‘blackmail’ in his life. Alice was still wondering if she would ever be able to forget about that. A little voice in the back of her head whispered ‘no’. But she wasn’t a child anymore. She was an adult, and as such a person she knew that every human being had at least one flaw, they would make mistakes, and in order to have a healthy relationship, one had to accept some of these flaws. That was just how it was.

  Jason had his flaws, too, and Alice wasn’t thinking about the fact that he was married. She just couldn’t name any apart from that, and it frustrated her.

  “Shall we go together, or should I wait?” Tristan ripped her from her thoughts again, startling her.

  Alice did her best to pretend that that hadn’t happened and tapped her index finger on her mouth, while looking up, thinking playfully.

  “I think you should go first and request me and an alley,” she suggested, winking at the last word. “Get a table and I’ll meet you there.”

  “Sure, why not,” he shrugged – did he notice that she had been far away with her thoughts? “Here are the keys to my car, I don’t want you to stand out in the open,” he walked around and handed her the set of keys.

  “How very thoughtful,” she smiled at him.

  They weren’t standing directly in front of the alley, but a few yards further down the street, so, there was no harm in Alice grabbing him by his jacket’s collar and pulling him towards her, seducing him into giving her another one of his breathtaking kisses. All the while she did her best to not compare him to Jason. Mr. Grantham, she corrected her thoughts.

  Tristan brought one hand back into her hair again, and the other to her lower back, pressing her against him. She didn’t have to imagine what he had in store for her – at least physically – as Alice could feel his length against her stomach.