Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  ‘It’s all over now, Emory,’ he said softly and smiling widely, pulled the trigger…

  EVERGREEN

  An Alpha Billionaire Romance

  Part #4: Jesse

  By Michelle Love

  #4: Jesse

  They all heard it. The single gunshot. Not the fierce rattle of the weapons Maximo’s men carried. Luca howled; he knew what that gunshot was. The end of everything. The end of Emory. God. no…

  ‘We don’t know it’s her,’ Bree said, trying to get her arms around her father. Clem clung to both her daughter and Luca; Maximo had his hand on Clem’s shoulder. Maximo’s security guards’ radio crackled.

  ‘We’ve got him, boss.’

  ‘What about Miss Dutta?’

  Clem looked at Maximo gratefully, and he gave her a half-smile. The guard repeated the question into his radio.

  ‘No sign.’

  Luca moaned as Bree looked distraught. Maximo’s jaw clenched. ‘Is Grace alive?’

  ‘They’re bringing him now, sir.’

  Maximo and Bree shared a look. Max cut his eyes to Bree’s father; then he nodded to Bree. She understood. Keep him away from Ray Grace. As they waited for the men to bring Ray Grace to them, Clem came to stand by him.

  ‘Thank you, Maximo. For everything, I’m sorry about…’

  ‘Please. This is not the time to talk about us.’ He had lowered his voice. ‘We don’t know if Emory is safe yet.’

  Clem nodded, but he could see the hurt in her eyes, and he felt remorseful. When she had called, and begged him for his help, he hadn’t hesitated, but the fact remained: Maximo Neri did not get too involved, even with the delectable Clementine. He’d fallen in love once before – only once – and he’d lost her the same way it looked like Luca Saffran had lost his Emory – violently. Only in Maximo’s case, it had been his brother who murdered the love of Maximo’s life.

  A shout and then they all saw the security team dragging an overweight middle-aged man with them. Maximo nodded to his own bodyguard, who stepped between Luca and Ray Grace. In the end, it took four men to hold Luca back.

  ‘Where is she? Where’s Emory?’

  Ray Grace smiled nastily. ‘You’ll never see her again, Saffran. She was never yours, to begin with; I just took back what was mine.’

  Luca spat at him. Where is she?’

  ‘Dead,’ Ray snarled at him. ‘I put a bullet in her gut, and now she’s sinking to the bottom of the Bay. She’s gone.’

  Luca roared and leaped for him. The guards pulled him, held him as he raged in his absolute grief. Clem was holding a hysterically sobbing Bree; her own face creased with distress. Ray Grace started laughing.

  Maximo raised his hand and dealt Ray a shattering blow across the head. Ray staggered and cursed. Maximo got in his face. ‘Mister Saffran wants to rip you limb from limb, figlio di puttana. Shall I let him have you?’

  Ray Grace quelled in the face of Maximo’s anger and the murderous rage on Luca Saffran’s face. Luca was fighting against the men holding him back. Maximo turned to him.

  ‘Luca…I’m giving you the choice. If you want him dead, there are ways. But then he gets the easy way out. If your Emory is, as he claims, dead, he should face the full weight of the law. It will not be hard to find incontrovertible evidence of his guilt. But this stronzo might be lying. She could be out there, somewhere hiding out from him. If he did shoot her…we can call the coastguard. But as I say, it is your right, your choice.’

  Luca’s face hardened, and he calmed enough to squint at Maximo as if seeing him properly for the first time. ‘Who are you?’

  Maximo smiled. ‘I’m a friend of Clementine’s. Maximo Neri. Believe it or not, we have met before.’ He held his hand out.

  Luca took it, calm now, but his eyes still shone with grief, with anger. ‘Why are you here?’

  ‘Clem asked me to help.’

  Luca looked at his ex-wife, still shell-shocked, still holding his sobbing daughter. ‘You didn’t think I could handle this?’

  ‘I was scared you couldn’t think straight with what was at risk,’ she said gently, ‘I wanted someone clear-headed but with the same resources available. It never hurts to have friends, Luca.’

  Clem flushed a little, but neither Luca or Maximo noticed. Maximo nodded his head at a groggy Ray. ‘If you don’t want to make up your mind tonight, we can arrange to have him held somewhere.’

  Luca gave a brisk nod. ‘Yes. For now, I just want to find Emory.’

  Maximo nodded. ‘I have a guy I can call. We’ll sweep the entire coast, the entire city if we have to. We’ll find your Emory.’

  ***

  Flynt Newlan felt someone poking at him, and swatted the hand away, groaning.

  ‘Get up, moron. If Dad sees you here, looking like shit, he’ll go into one of his moods.’

  Flynt opened his eyes. His half-sister Hannah made an amused face at him. ‘To what do we owe this honor? You haven’t been home for weeks.’

  Flynt sighed. Hannah obviously wasn’t going to let him sleep off his hangover. He didn’t remember driving back to the home – the mansion – that Hannah still shared with their mom and Flynt’s stepdad – Hannah’s father. Then again, he had left Zea’s place in such a rage after his argument with Zea and Podesta. Jesus. He was better off away from that whole situation.

  Hannah narrowed her eyes at him. His half-sister was only five years younger than his thirty-two, but to him, she would always be his kid sister, instead of the successful P.R. maven she was becoming.

  He shifted over on the couch to let her sit beside him. ‘What’s up, bro? You look pissed.’

  ‘Maybe cos a brat just woke me up?’

  She poked him, and he grinned. ‘I’m okay, Hannahbanana. Just woman trouble.’

  Hannah scoffed. ‘You?’

  Flynt shrugged, and she looked at him, amazement in her eyes. ‘You’ve fallen for someone.’

  Flynt blew out his cheeks. ‘Yup. Can’t lie. It’s just a damn annoyance. She is a damn annoyance.’

  ‘Wanna talk about it?’

  Flynt looked at his sister and considered. ‘Actually, I do.’

  Hannah made her brother some eggs while he showered and then as they ate, he told her about Zea, minus the details of their physical trysts, of course. Hannah listened, sipping her black coffee, and waited until he finished.

  ‘Huh.’

  Flynt’s eyebrows shot up. ‘’Huh’?’

  ‘So, she got scared, accused you of breaking in. Ever think she might be traumatized? PTSD and all that? Then you go and storm out.’

  ‘She accused me of attacking her!’ Flynt was outraged that his sister was on Zea’s side. Hannah was quiet for a long moment.

  ‘Flynt, she’s confused, probably all over the place. The way to prove her wrong, to possibly have a future, is to be the guy who is steady, the guy she can rely on. I bet she’s sorry she accused you.’

  Flynt sighed. ‘I don’t know. I don’t know if it’s worth it. Life is so much more complicated when feelings are involved.’

  ‘Dude, you’re thirty-two. Grow up. No-one’s buying your bad-boy shtick anymore. It’s just sad.’ But she said it with a smile on her face, and he couldn’t help but grin back.

  ‘I guess you’re right. Man, when did you get to be so smart?’

  ‘Five seconds after I was born. There I was, covered in unspeakable goo, and then pow! Brainiac. Go see your girl.’

  Zea drove to the diner, barely registering where she was going. A migraine banged around her head, even the aspirin she’d thrown back had no effect. Glancing in the rear-view mirror, she grimaced. Her eyes were puffy, her skin wan. She looked stricken and defeated.

  At the diner, she hesitated before leaving the car. So, tempting to just take off, she thought, leave all this crap behind.

  The night before had been the worst night of her life. Even worse than finding out her beloved David was a multiple murderer, of children no less, and that he too was dead. Last ni
ght Jared Podesta had taken something from her. Something deep in her soul.

  After he had finished, he fell asleep on top of her, making it impossible to move. She tried to ease out, but Jared kept his thick, heavy arm locked around her. On his arm, now, she saw it. A fading bruise. She knew instantly where it had come from. Terror set in then – this man beside her She had cried herself to sleep. This morning he had gone.

  She had crawled out of her bed and into the shower, scrubbing at herself before realizing she was washing away all the evidence. Not that she could have gone to the police anyway…God. Jared had known that too – reporting his crime would expose her. Bastard.

  She had never felt as alone as she did that morning.

  Teresa looked at Zea’s face, her eyes and said nothing, just hugged her. All morning, she kept glancing up, checking on Zea silently and Zea was grateful for her friend’s discretion. She pondered telling Teresa everything just so she could talk about what had happened but then decided against it. She found herself becoming angry at David; he was the one who had changed everything, sent her life into this tailspin. How could you have done it, David?

  Much to her chagrin, she was also hoping that Flynt would come by; she wanted to apologize to him for going off on him. If she was honest, it wasn’t the only reason. Flynt Newlan had gotten under her skin and the fact that he behaved like James Dean on a good day…she felt a connection, something deeper than sex.

  She asked Teresa about him, casually, or so she thought. ‘So, what’s Flynt Newlan’s story? I thought he was an ex-jailbird, but then he tells me he owns my building, actually the whole block.’

  Teresa nodded. ‘I keep forgetting; you’re not from around here. The Newlans are huge in Portland, I mean, massive. They fund colleges and schools, own big swathes of the city. Freddie Newlan, Flynt’s father, was a property magnate and he loved this city. Flynt isn’t a businessman, but he does love to build stuff with his own hands. But, yeah, he’s worth billions.’

  Zea shook her head. ‘Of all the people…’

  Teresa laughed. ‘I know, and Flynt doesn’t help with his reputation. He doesn’t get involved, he takes what he wants and never promises anything. But there’s a good guy underneath all of that.’

  Zea smiled. ‘How come you and him…?’

  Teresa made a face. ‘Apart from the fact he’s like my little brother, he’s not my type. I like bald with a beard and a bike.’

  Zea laughed, the weight lifting slightly from her.

  ‘He likes you,’ Teresa went on, nudging her. ‘Never seen him look at a woman the way he looks at you. Anyway, table five’s waiting on me so…’

  She left Zea alone in the kitchen, thinking about what Teresa had just told her. She sighed. ‘Well, I screwed that up then.’ She cleaned up her workstation absentmindedly. Could my life be any more of a mess?

  She pushed the thought away and got to work.

  Bree Saffran was going crazy. After refusing to stay in the hospital overnight, she had gone home with her mother and had lain awake all night. Luca had come home with them, and she could hear him and her mother talking long into the night. Emory was gone, probably dead and it was because of her, Bree, again. Yeah, yeah, she knew what they all said – it was David Azano and Ray Grace who had committed the crimes, she wasn’t responsible for their actions - but Bree felt that weight. She couldn’t get Ray Grace’s sneering face out of her head.

  I put a bullet in her gut and now she’s sinking to the bottom of the Bay. She’s gone.

  Bree moaned, trying to get the image of Emory being shot out of her mind. It replayed over and over in her mind. Now, as she showered, mid-morning, she felt desperate to get out of the house, away from everyone and everything. Grieve in private.

  ‘I’m going out,’ she told her parents a half hour later. Her father looked shattered; her mother drained and pale. Clem stood and hugged her daughter.

  ‘I wish you would take protection with you, but looking at your face, I know you won’t. Go somewhere public, and park outside if you have to.’

  Normal, Bree would roll her eyes at her mother, but Clem was clearly trying not to curb her independence and Bree appreciated it. ‘I’ll be careful, I promise, Mom.’

  Clem nodded, and Luca tried to smile at his daughter. ‘Love you, boo.’

  She went to hug him. ‘Don’t give up hope, Dad.’

  The coffeehouse near Pike Place was reasonably empty for a Saturday. Bree ordered a vanilla latte and grabbed a seat on one of the couches in the back. She dragged her book from her bag and hunkered down, giving out her best ‘do not disturb’ vibes. In the city, she'd sought out a bookstore, one of the large, anonymous ones she rarely frequented; today she didn't want to speak to anyone, or be noticed, recognized.

  For an hour or two, it worked. She lost herself in the book, forgot where she was and just read. Only the persistent nagging image of Emory lingered at the back of her mind, distracting her every few seconds. Eventually, she put her book down and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose. A headache pounded at her temples. Bree suddenly felt like she could scream, her chest tightened and hot tears forced themselves out of her closed eyelids. Bree wasn’t typically a crier, but as the panic attack built, she found she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t stop the tears. ‘Stop it, stop it, stop it,’ she whispered, aware that people would start to stare.

  ‘Breathe in deep through your nose and hold it, that’s good, then breathe right out, even longer than you think you have air for…then in again…’

  She followed the directions of the soft male voice speaking to her and after a minute or two, felt the panic attack start to abate. She slowly opened her eyes.

  Her saviour was sitting across from her now, his bright blue eyes on her, his light brown hair falling to his shoulders. He looked vaguely familiar, but right at this moment, she didn’t care about that.

  ‘Keep breathing deep,’ he said, ‘It’s better than valium, I promise.’

  Bree did as she was told and five minutes later, she smiled hesitantly at the man across from her. ‘Thank you, you’re very kind. I’m Bree.’

  ‘Jessie. Jessie Kline.’

  Bree started. ‘Hey…you’re Lexi’s brother.’

  Jesse nodded, his eyes clouding. ‘Yeah.’

  ‘I’m so sorry about Lexi,’ Bree said, her heart pounding with sadness. Lexi had been her age when David Azano had murdered her at Auburn. ‘She was a lovely person, really bright. And funny too, I remember.’

  Jesse smiled. ‘I’m glad you remembered that; not a lot of people do. They remember the cute cheerleader, the straight A student but to me, she was the funniest person I ever knew.’

  Bree smiled at him. ‘Yes, she was, really funny. And kind too, I remember one day, she came to see me after I had a bad day in one class. It was just after my mom and dad had decided to get divorced and even though it was definitely for the best, I guess it backed up on me that day. I got into an argument with one of the professors. Lexi came to find me afterward, sat with me for a while. Guess that kindness runs in the family.’

  Jesse grinned, and Bree’s insides did a little dance. His smile was to die for. ‘Hey, listen, do you mind if I join you for a while? Can I get you another latte?’

  Bree smiled. ‘Yes, you can to the first question but I’m buying the coffee – it’s the least I could do.’

  Much later as evening began to fall, they walked down to the waterfront and to one of the seafood restaurants there. The waitress dumped the bowl full of shellfish, red potatoes, and corn onto the table as they sipped their cold sodas. Bree was happy to see that Jesse loved food as much as she did.

  ‘So,’ she said, crunching into a buttery piece of corn, ‘I assume you were at Auburn before us? What do you do now?’

  ‘Photography,’ he said, ‘Just started my own business. Dad wanted me to go into the family business, but I balked. Running an airline isn’t my thing.’

  Bree nodded thoughtfully. ‘Nah, me either. Fl
ying planes, what a drag.’

  Jesse grinned at her tone. ‘Now, see, if it had been flying planes then I might have considered it, but it’s more the running of the airline. Yawn.’

  ‘How old are you if you don’t mind me asking.’

  ‘Twenty-six. You?’

  ‘Nineteen. Grandad.’

  ‘Fetus.’ They both laughed, and Bree sighed.

  ‘Thanks for today, I really mean it. It’s been a weird twenty-four hours, and with not knowing about Emory, it just all got to me.’

  Jesse’s eyes were full of empathy. ‘Anytime. God, how you’re even standing is beyond me.’

  Bree suddenly felt shy. ‘I won’t be cowed by anyone.’

  ‘Good for you.’

  He walked her back to her car. ‘Bree, can we do this again? Soon? You may think I helped you but trust me, you helped me just as much. I’d like to see you again.’

  Bree flushed and grinned to cover her embarrassment. ‘Give me your cell phone.’

  She programmed her own number in, then sent a text to her own phone. ‘Soon.’

  Jesse grinned and kissed her cheek. ‘Very soon.’

  Portland

  As evening fell, Zea was taking a tray of food to one of the tables outside, the young men with the party flirting with her and making her laugh. For a second, she felt the weight on her chest lift, enjoying the attention. One of the young men slipped his cell number onto her tray, and she grinned. They thanked her for the food and fell on the burgers and fries as if they hadn’t eaten for a week.