Desired: Loving An Alpha Male

by S. K. Lessly

  “Why do you need my help?”

  “Because the people that broke in…” She trailed off, and I picked up the ball.

  “…were maybe from my life. You think I can ask around, see if I can shake some trees for you? Why don’t you go to the cops, Georgia? This is their kind of thing,”

  She sat up in her chair and put her arms on my desk. “That’s just it. I did call the cops. They did a thorough investigation and everything. They looked at the security feed from the hotel and asked me if anyone looked familiar and one person did. He wasn’t seen entering my room. He was just sitting in the lobby, but it was too much of a coincidence.”

  “Okay, did you tell the cops this?” I asked her, knowing what the answer was.

  “No, I couldn’t. Anyway, the hotel accused me of letting someone in the room, and they trashed the place because there was no forced entry. They thought I might have dropped and lost my key, or I was with some man and he went crazy. They charged me for the damage. Do you believe that? My things were destroyed, and they have the audacity to make this my fault.”

  “What do you expect me to do, Georgia?” I asked again.

  She went into her purse and pulled out a folded paper. She pushed it over to me and stood. “I don’t know what you can do. I just…” Tears started gathering in her eyes, and she looked down at her wringing hands. “I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

  I looked at the picture just as she turned to leave. When I saw the face, I sat up. “What the fuck? Is this real?”

  I looked up, and she kept moving to the door. I stood quickly and reached her just as she moved through the door. “Georgia, are you telling me this man was sitting in the lobby of the hotel you were staying?”

  She nodded.

  “Fuck!”

  I looked at the picture again and saw Manual Agosto, the bartender from Cabo.

  “I’m scared, Drake,” she said softly to me. No longer thinking about being mad at her, I pulled her into my arms and held her.

  My mind was moving a mile a minute, thinking about what I needed to do first. If this son of a bitch was in Philadelphia, then so was the other one, I assumed.

  I moved her back and looked at her. “Do you have a place to stay?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve been sleeping in my car during the day and driving around the city at night.”

  “What?! Georgia what the … Where’s that son of a bitch I saw you with outside your hotel?”

  She rolled her eyes and moved back from me. “That didn’t work out. That’s why I was at a hotel. I didn’t want to get another hotel in either of my names. I’m afraid they will find me again.”

  I stared at her, pissed as shit at the son of a bitch that she was with and the fact she was living out of her car in my city. I didn’t want to even know how long she was doing it, for fear it would push me over the edge.

  I went back to my office and locked my door. I then walked to her and grabbed her hand again. “Come on.” She came willingly, and we moved through the club to the front door. I saw my bedtime rump look at me, but I stared at her, letting her know with my eyes we were done.

  When we got outside of the club, I looked at her, asking, “Where’s your car?”

  “Around the corner.”

  “Do you have anything of value that you need in there?” I asked her, nodding at the valet guy to grab my monster.

  “No, the little bit of clothes I bought are right here in my bag.”

  I looked back at her and asked because I had to, “When did all this happen?”

  She hesitated, then answered, “I think a week ago.”

  “No, baby, when did you start sleeping in your car?”

  She hesitated again, and then said, “Three days ago.”

  “Shit, and you’re just now coming to me?”

  I turned and faced her. Looking into her teary eyes had me shook. I took a deep breath to try and calm down. I was going to end up killing someone with my bare hands, and it’s going to be Manual Agosto the moment I find this son of a bitch.

  I put my hands in her hair and moved her closer to me. I tilted her head up, so her eyes were directly on me. She looked so lost and scared, and that bothered the hell out of me. At that moment, I actually felt every bit of the fight I had to not let her close to me dissolve instantly. I said months ago that she was mine and damn it if I wasn’t going to claim what was mine starting this moment.

  My car came into view. When it got to the curb, I opened the door and told her to get inside.

  “What about my car?” she asked me.

  “Give me your keys.” She handed her keys to me, and I nodded at the bouncer at the door. He immediately approached him. I handed him the keys, telling him which car they belonged to. “Give these to Rock and have him take the car to my place. Tell him to take precautions when coming to my house and tell him to put the car keys in Lucille. I’ll get them later.”

  “Yes sir.”

  “Who is Lucille?” she asked when I got in the car.

  “My pickup truck,” I said simply and turned on my car, feeling the V-eight cylinders spark and come to life… I love my car.

  As we drove through the city, she remained quiet next to me. I wanted to ask her so many questions, but I knew whatever I said to her wouldn’t come out right. I was steaming, fuming and if I didn’t calm down soon, one of these non-driving idiots were going to get ripped apart.

  I cleared my mind and took soothing breaths before I asked, “How long have you been here?”

  I looked over at her, and she looked down at her lap. She then brought her eyes to me and said, “Three months, I guess.”

  “So you came here right after you left Cabo?”

  “Yes.”

  Yeah… seems I should have kept my mouth shut.

  So she was here all this time, and I knew nothing about it.

  I turned on the radio to my favorite rock station and as Linkin Park screamed at me about being “victimized,” I tried not to let the murderous feeling I was getting curse all through me.

  I drove to my condo on Arch St. close to I-95, and once I parked in my parking spot, I looked over and found Georgia sleep.

  I watched her for a moment, wondering how in the hell did I leave her that morning without giving her my number. I kept telling myself that it was for her sake, but right then I just didn’t know. If she wasn’t supposed to be in my life, why was she there? Why after months did I see her in my club of all places? Philly is a big city; the odds of us running into each other had to be off the charts. But there we were. I was not going to second guess it anymore. I was going to see where this went. I hoped she was in for the ride because it was going to get rough.

  I called her name, touched her arm, and she practically jumped out of her skin. “Whoa, baby. It’s just me. We’re here.”

  She stared at me for a second longer, and then gathered herself. She looked around the garage. Then as I got out, she asked, “Where are we?”

  I closed my door, and when I opened her side to help her out, I said simply, “My place.”

  She stopped, halfway out of the car. “Oh no. Drake, I can’t stay with you.”

  “Yeah, you can. Come on.” I pulled her up, and I took her hand, but she snatched it back.

  “No, you don’t understand…,” she started but I moved closer to her caging her between my car.

  “No, it’s you that doesn’t understand. First, you’re not going to some damn hotel; not while I’m breathing. Second, I’m not letting you out of my sight for a while, at least until I can assess the threat. And third, and this is the most important one, you will not spend another night in your car. Now, get the fuck out of the car, Georgia.”

  I tried to drive home my point with the fear of God in my eyes, but she just looked back at me like a deer in headlights. She blinked and again tears started forming in her eyes. I didn’t remember her being this emotional.

  “Shit, I’m sorry… It’s just... I don’t want to put you i
n danger,” she said softly.

  “Baby, if I’m helping you, I’m already putting myself in danger. I’d rather be in danger knowing where you are than not.” I wiped at her eyes. “Now, come on. I know you would love to have a nice hot bath.”

  Her eyes lit up as if I was giving her diamond earrings or something. “Oh, yes please.”

  I smiled at her. “That’s my girl… Now come on.”

  We rode the elevator to the top floor of the building. There were only two apartments on this floor, and one was owned by some old rich guy who seemed to always have a steady stream of young girls in and out of his apartment.

  When I opened my door, I let her walk in before me and she sort of just looked around in awe. I closed and locked my door, turned off my alarm and moved to the kitchen. I hadn’t been home in a while, and I wasn’t sure if I had any food in the fridge.

  My apartment had an open floor-plan. As soon as you walk in the door, you see the living room, dining areas, and kitchen. The space had bamboo flooring throughout with a nice size kitchen and island, ten-foot ceilings, and oversized floor to ceiling windows. All three bedrooms were upstairs. Going around the corner to a set of stairs is where I led her.

  “You’re apartment is…” She paused and when we reached the top of the stairs, I looked at her.

  “Surprising?” I added.

  She smiled for the first time since I’ve seen her in Cabo. “Um… Yeah okay. We can go with that.”

  “I’m not in Philly mostly, but when I am here, I like to be in something nice.”

  “I get that. You just don’t have a leather or suede sectional downstairs. You do have a very large screen TV, but you have pictures and plants and lamps… pillows even.”

  I laughed as I opened my bedroom door and moved aside so she could enter. “I had a decorator come in, so don’t give me too much credit. I just told her not to make me look like a dumb ass bachelor or make it seem too feminine, and this is what she came up with.”

  “Well, it’s very masculine. It suits you.” She then looked at my four-poster king size bed. “This suits you too.”

  I smiled “Come on. Let’s get you bathed. Are you hungry?”

  She paused, looked at me, and then touched her stomach.

  She nodded. “Yeah, I think I am.”

  I chuckled. “Okay, take as long as you want. I don’t know what’s downstairs, but if there’s nothing to make fast, I’ll order out. Chinese okay with you?”

  Georgia was no longer paying me any attention. She was looking at the huge ass tub in the corner of my bathroom.

  “Do you need any help getting undressed?” I asked.

  She looked back at me and frowned.

  You can’t blame me for asking.

  “Just show me how to work this,” she replied and moved further into the bathroom.

  This bathroom was redone to my specifications. Since I owned this condo, I made sure to make it feel like me. The walls and floor contain gray slate tiles that cover the large whirlpool tub, and the walls and floor of the large two-person walk-in shower. I had large his and her porcelain sinks that sat on top of the large vanity cabinet with chrome faucets.

  I showed her how to use the tub, and then brought her a towel and washcloth.

  “This is my lucky Eagles t-shirt, so please take care of it.”

  “Yes, sir. I will.” She shook her head and sat on the edge of the tub.

  I watched her for a minute as she ran her hands under the faucet letting the water run through her fingers. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking about, but I hoped she knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

  I finally moved on, and as I made it into the kitchen, I called Angel.

  The phone kept ringing, and then went to voicemail. I hung up and called him again. It was about 1 a.m. He was probably into someone, but, hell, I don’t give a shit.

  I was right when he answered on my third try. “What the hell is wrong with you? Can’t you get the hint that I’m busy?” The way he was breathing told me I probably just interrupted him deep in his swing.

  I smiled. “Oh, shit. Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  “Yeah, why aren’t you busy doing something else or someone else?”

  “Well, that’s the reason why I called you. Georgia came to see me.”

  Angel got quiet, and I heard him moving about. When he settled, he said, “So, yeah, why aren’t you busy doing her?”

  Yeah, don’t I wish?

  I sighed, gave up on cooking and looked at my many takeout menus. “She didn’t come for that, unfortunately. She came for my help.” I told him what she told me, the edited version, of course.

  When I was done, Angel was all business like I needed him to be. “Okay, you know we have to play this shit cool. You don’t need any bodies, understand?”

  “Of course… Not yet anyway, besides I wouldn’t do it here in the city. I have a place in mind though. But we have to find him first.”

  “Do you think he’s alone?” he asked me.

  “Not for long. I don’t know what his end game is or the game that was being played in Cabo, but I’m done with this shit. Hold on a second.” I grabbed my house phone and placed an order for shrimp fried rice, beef and broccoli, teriyaki chicken, white rice, and three egg rolls. I wasn’t sure how long she would be, but I wanted to get everything ordered so when she did come down, the food would either be here, or it would be on its way.

  “Do you have a plan to smoke him out?” he asked me when I got back on the line.

  “I thought about a plan, but I think I can find him easily. If he was just sitting around the hotel that day, he’s sitting someplace else, eating or having a beer. I’ll call my connections and will probably have a location by tomorrow.”

  “I need to talk to Pops. You know he hates freelance jobs. Besides, aren’t you still working on that Santiago family business in Miami? Eddie is chomping at the bit.”

  I grunted. “Yeah, something isn’t right with that family, Angel. Eddie has something going on behind this family’s back; I can smell it. I’ll check with my contacts tomorrow to see what they’ve found so far.”

  “Alright. Do that. In the meantime, I’ll talk to my father about your... uh… girlfriend?”

  I grunted again. “Yeah, you do that.”

  He chuckled and said, “So are you done messing with my night? I have more fucking to do.”

  “Yeah. I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  I hung up the phone and turned on the television. I had watched CNN for about thirty minutes before the food came. About fifteen minutes later, Georgia still hadn’t made it downstairs, so I went looking for her. I walked in my room, and I saw her curled up in the center of the bed with just the t-shirt on I gave her, fast asleep.

  I pulled the cover over her body and made my way back downstairs. I had a lot going on, so sleep wasn’t an option for me that night. Besides, I know me; if I had crawled in the bed with her, she would be violated for sure. Looking at her bare legs had my dick screaming to feel her again.

  I grabbed my laptop and sat at my dining room table. While I ate, I started finding everything I could on this Manual Agosto, the Santiago family and that black guy I saw Georgia with.

  By morning, I had more questions than answers. There were so many emotions flowing through me. I couldn’t think straight. I needed to prioritize. Otherwise I was going to lose my mind. As I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, I figured I’d start with her.

  When she came into view, she smiled. Damn, she still looked amazing when she woke up. I don’t know what it is about her, but damn.

  “Good morning. Sorry about yesterday.”

  I didn’t waste time. I said, getting straight to the point, “Who is Gregory Sayers to you?”

  Chapter 14

  Georgia

  I froze in my tracks and stared at him, eyes wide, hand in mid hair rake.

  This was a great time to ask for a time out to get myself together, but I don’t
think he was going to give me one. I sighed and finally moved toward him. I thought about sitting far away from him; I could see that he was pissed and honestly looked like he had been up all night.

  I should be upset that he was looking into my business, but what did I expect? I knew for a fact he felt threatened by the unknown of Greg and my implications didn’t help anything yesterday. And, wow, the murderous look in his eyes at that moment; I thought it better to not beat around the bush and just say it.

  “He’s my brother… or rather my half-brother.”

  “What? I thought you had no siblings.”

  I laughed slightly. “Yeah, me too.”

  I then explained everything; from the call I received at the airport in Cabo to me coming here, the meeting I had at the attorney’s office, the shares I own… I told him everything… Well, almost everything. When he asked me why I left, I just said we had differences that we couldn’t work out.

  “Greg doesn’t like me at all, and when he found out I knew you… he became a little crazy.”

  Drake sat up. “Crazy how?”

  Seeing the murderous look again, I started waving my hands. “Easy… not like ‘crazy’... Just … you know... ‘I don’t want that kind of thing around my father’s family’…”

  Drake grunted. “Yeah, well, baby, he needs to stop being a hypocrite. I knew I recognized him from somewhere. His father has done business with my uncle for years. As a matter of fact, his father made a deal with my family in order to pay off his gambling debt. Junior knows all about it.”

  Uh what?

  “What kind of deal?” I had asked before I realized it.

  Drake however ignored my question and asked, “So do you know how much your stock is worth?”

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t know anything about the business. I just go to the meetings because that’s what my father wanted.”

  He nodded his head. “So you found your family?”

  I gave him a weak smile. “Yeah, I thought I did. Can we just drop the topic of them?”

  “Okay… Tell me about the break-in in your hotel room.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Did they take anything of value? Or did it just look like someone went in there and just tore up the place?”