by S Cinders
No, no, no! This couldn’t be happening!
“Scott!” she cried out, not even registering that she was crying.
“Hey,” his voice was quick to comfort her. Strong arms wrapped around Alyssa and gathered her close. “It’s okay. It’s all over.”
“He hurt you,” she said over a broken sob. Carefully Alyssa reached up to touch his face. There was no knife wound, and no blood. “Thank God you’re all right.”
She hugged him tightly, never wanting to be apart from him again. It was over, finally, it was all over.
“Alyssa and Scott are here!” Mandy called out before letting them into the Brands’ penthouse apartment. Lavishly appointed and expertly decorated, their home was the envy of most billionaires in Manhattan.
“I was so scared,” Mandy prattled on as she welcomed them inside. “Was it terrible at the police station? I remember how awful it was when we had to give statements for Andrew, Shay, and Emma.”
“I’m dreading court,” Kim added from the couch in their living room.
“Your baby!” Alyssa cooed and happily sank into the couch next to Kim.
Gone was the haughty beauty that had once intimidated Kim so dreadfully.
It was with sincerity that Kim responded with a smile and said, “I’ve been dying for you to meet him. This is Auggie.”
She pulled the corner of his blanket down so Alyssa could see his little face.
After saying all of the right things about Kim’s perfect child, Alyssa turned back to the room to address Nate and Elliot.
“I can’t thank you enough—” she began.
Nate shook his head, raising a hand to stop her. “We only wish we found you sooner. I’m sorry for everything you’ve been through.”
Mandy nodded, adding, “It will be nice for you to put this all behind you.”
“And to be able to move forward knowing he can’t hurt you anymore,” Kim added. “It’s been such a crazy turn on events. I’m still reeling over the fact that Freddy is NSA. He fooled me, all right. I should have known something was off by his appearance.”
Mandy frowned. “What do you mean?”
“How many weed-smoking drunks do you find that are in such amazing physical condition?”
“Hey!” Nate called out in mock outrage. “I work out.”
“Not like Freddy,” Elliot added and then laughed when Nate scowled at him. “What? I feel like a jackass here. I’ve asked him a dozen times about his workout routine and the fucker told me that he didn’t work out because his job kept him in shape. I wondered just how heavy those coffee-bean bags could possibly be!”
“You don’t need to add anything to your workout,” Mandy insisted. “You are perfect just the way you are.”
Kim rolled her eyes. “Get a room!”
“This is my house,” Mandy replied sassily. “They are all my rooms.”
“I’m sorry about Frank,” Nate said earnestly. “I know he was a horrible man, but he was also your last living relative.”
Alyssa nodded. “I have mixed emotions about everything. Scott and I were talking. I’m going to talk to someone, a professional, just to get my head on straight. It was so chaotic that I didn’t even know Frank had caught a bullet and died until we were at the police station.”
“Thanks to Freddy, they did catch Jackson and Tyrone,” Scott added. “But I’m really sorry about your coffee shop.”
Kim smiled faintly. “I was all prepared to give it to Freddy. But now, I don’t know what to do with the property. I guess nothing needs to be decided today.”
Nate moved over to where she was sitting with Auggie on the couch and kissed her temple. “No, right now we just need to celebrate each other.”
Elliot pulled out some wine and poured everyone a glass. After they were all handed out, he raised his and said, “To family. Some by blood, others by choice.”
Alyssa raised her glass and sipped—thankful to the bottom of her heart that these people had accepted her as one of their own. She’d finally come home.
Epilogue – One Year Later
“Does this dress make me look slutty?” Alyssa asked, pulling out the ninth dress from her closet to model for her best friends, Mandy and Kim.
“Absolutely!” Kim said happily over her third glass of wine.
Mandy rolled her eyes. “Ignore her. She’s a lush these days now that she’s not nursing Auggie anymore. The dress is perfect, as were the last eight. Honestly, Alyssa, you could wear anything.”
“I am not a drunk,” Kim replied as she leaned over to pinch her sister Mandy. “I’m merely a connoisseur of fine wine. And I’ll have you know, I’ve learned on TikTok that most moms imbibe during the day. I think a few drinks with my girls at night is nothing.”
Alyssa shook her head, lips twitching. “I can’t believe you now have a million followers on the platform. Maybe Mandy’s jealous.”
Kim hooted playfully as Mandy pretended outrage. It was all in good fun and everyone knew it. In the year following the night Frank was killed, lots of things had transpired.
Alyssa decided that she was finally going to utilize that law degree. Working as a junior partner for Livingston, Cooper & Jones, she’d found a real passion for the industry. One of the things she loved most was helping other women of means, like herself, protect their fortunes and their futures.
Scott’s department at the FBI underwent several internal investigations to weed out the other bad agents. It had taken time to rebuild the White Collar Unit, but it was now stronger than ever.
Kim’s ex-husband was sentenced for life. However, because of the internal drug ring in the prisons, he ended up dead one morning in his cell. The syringe was still hanging from his arm.
Thankfully, that was one chapter that could be completely closed.
They never did rebuild the coffee shop. Brand Enterprises purchased the empty building where Kim was held prisoner, and the whole block was dedicated to the city as a halfway house for troubled youth.
Freddy was sent on a new assignment; nobody was allowed to know who, what, when, why, or when, but he promised someday he’d check up on everyone. After all, they were family now.
One of the strangest events was that Shay, Mandy’s former best friend who’d had an affair with Kim’s ex-husband, was up for parole. She’d reached out to Mandy to make amends, but Mandy wasn’t sure whether she was going. Shay had been a part of a dark time in the sisters’ lives. Only time would tell, but for now the most important thing on everyone’s mind was Alyssa’s date with Scott.
“Do you think he’s going to pop the question?” Kim asked dreamily.
“Of course he is,” Mandy answered, plowing over whatever Alyssa had been about to say. “It’s obvious that he’s nuts about her. He’s got reservations at the most expensive restaurant in the city. And he told her that he’s got a surprise for her. What else could it be?”
Alyssa tossed the dress to the side. “I can’t wear black to a proposal. That would be a bad omen, right?”
“I don’t know what I had on when Nate proposed,” Kim said with a short hiccup.
“That’s because he proposed a half a dozen times,” Mandy filled in. “He kept doing non-proposals.”
“What’s a non-proposal?” Alyssa asked.
Kim waived her hand as if to dismiss the topic. “That’s neither here nor there. I don’t think there’s a color protocol for proposals. But I could always ask on my TikTok…”
“No!” Alyssa and Mandy said simultaneously.
“It was just a suggestion,” Kim said huffily.
“What about that gold wraparound dress?” Mandy suggested. “You look stunning in it.”
Alyssa picked up the gold dress from where it had been tossed. Holding it against her body, she tilted her head to the side considering.
“You know, maybe you’re right,” she said at last.
“Of course I’m right,” Mandy insisted. It was just at this moment that the phone rang.
&nb
sp; Alyssa quickly picked up, “He’s here? Now? What time is it? You’ve got to be kidding me. I know, Stewart. It’s okay, It’s only a turn of phrase. I know you take your doorman responsibilities seriously. Just send him up.”
Kim and Mandy were laughing by the time Alyssa hung up.
“Stewart doesn’t have much of a personality, does he?” Kim teased.
“Not even a little bit,” Alyssa replied. “Scott is on his way up. What am I going to do?”
Somehow in the time it took for Scott to enter the elevator and travel up to Alyssa’s spacious apartment, the girls had managed to get Alyssa into the gold dress, place a fine gold necklace at her throat, and hang three bangle bracelets at her wrist. With her clear stilettos, flawless makeup, and satin straight hair, Alyssa Vauban looked every inch the rich and powerful woman she had grown into.
With her heart in her throat, she loved the moment that Scott saw her. His eyes widened, and he seemed stunned for a moment.
Dressed in a black suit that showed his muscular build, Scott was every inch her dream man. What was better, was they’d finally had the chance to get to know one another without a psychopath breathing down her neck.
Scott went straight to Alyssa, pulling her against his chest and kissing her temple. “You are breathtaking,” he whispered against her skin.
“You look pretty amazing yourself,” she said, not even caring about the color that was invariably staining her cheeks.
“And that’s how you greet a woman,” Kim said, causing everyone to turn and see that her camera pointed toward them.
“Please tell me you’re not filming this for TikTok,” Mandy said dryly.
“What?” Kim cajoled. “They’ll thank me someday for documenting it.”
“Or I can confiscate your phone,” Scott said, glancing over at Alyssa. It was clear that he would follow her lead.
She shook her head. “Let her film it. I don’t care if the whole wide world knows.”
He raised a brow. “You don’t care if the whole wide world knows what?”
“How much I love you.”
“Not nearly as much as I love you,” he replied.
As they kissed, Kim put the phone down, saying, “They are so damn cute.”
“They are,” Mandy agreed. “But right now, they need to get their reservation, and I need to get your drunk ass home to your husband and child.”
“I am not drunk!” Kim insisted, standing up quickly.
When the world got a little topsy-turvy, she grabbed Mandy’s arm. “Maybe a little drunk,” Kim conceded.
“You always were a lightweight,” Mandy teased.
“Are you calling me skinny?” Kim gushed, kissing Mandy on the cheek. “You’re the best sister ever!”
As dinner was wrapping up, Alyssa began to worry that perhaps she’d been mistaken in thinking that tonight was anything out of the ordinary.
While it was true they’d had an excellent meal and a fabulous time, Scott didn’t seem like he was going down on bended knee.
After paying the bill, he escorted her out of the restaurant and back toward her apartment. Alyssa tried not to be too disappointed; they didn’t have to be engaged to be happy. It was just that for some silly reason she’d thought… well it didn’t matter now.
After saying hello to Stewart, they walked back up to her apartment. Scott quickly pulled out his keys to open the door, and that’s when she saw it. White candles covered every surface, with red rose petals leading to the bedroom.
“How?” Alyssa asked in wonder, only to turn around to see Scott on bended knee.
Hands flying to her mouth, Alyssa started tearing up. It was perfect, every candle, every rose petal, and most importantly him.
“Alyssa Vauban, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
Nodding through her tears, she clung to him as Scott laughed and swept her into his arms and kissed the daylights out of her.
“You can stop filming now,” Mandy hissed to Kim, who was hiding behind the sofa with her.
“Did you say something?” Nate whispered from his hiding spot near the piano.
Just then, Auggie started to cry, waking up Charlotte, who too began to wail.
“Elliot,” Mandy hissed. “You are supposed to keep the babies quiet!”
“Ivy said she could handle it,” Elliot snapped back.
“I really don’t do babies,” said Scott’s sister Ivy from the hallway leading to the back room.
Alyssa pulled back the slightest bit, stars shining in her eyes. “Yes, but did you have to have the whole family here?”
Scott grinned. “They wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Kidnapped by the Billionaire
Billionaire’s Secret Baby Book 3
Fasten your seatbelts for a wild ride…
Shay is in trouble again… but this time it's not with the law. After attempting to make amends with her former best friend, Shay is kidnapped off the streets of Manhattan.
Her captor is the last person she expected. Will Jennings had been a childhood friend from Deepwater, TN. Now, he is a highly skilled assassin with ties to the mob, and currently, the one holding her hostage.
Jennings traded his innocence long ago to pay his mother's medical bills. They say the mob is like family but for Jennings they literally are. When he gets the hit on Shay Montgomery he can't imagine it's the same sweet girl he grew up with.
Now he will do anything in his power to protect her from the evil that is just a step behind them. But the more they are together the old feelings begin to smolder and the spark becomes a flame.
1
Shay
Step one: I admit I am powerless over my addiction and that my life has become unmanageable.
My throat was dry, my hands were shaking, and I almost dropped my water glass when I tried to take a drink. Maybe it’s best if I just fold my hands in my lap. Does that look weird? What am I talking about? I look like a June Cleaver want to be in my sensible suit and fake pearls. This was a mistake. I should never have come. I can’t do this.
* * *
Step two: I believe that a power greater than myself can restore my life and my sanity.
I’m a lunatic to think that she will ever forgive me. Shit, I fucked her sister’s husband for drugs. Self-loathing washed over me, and I wanted to get up—to run away from here. I don’t deserve to be in the same city, let alone the same room as her. I almost ruined her life. I sure as hell tried to.
* * *
Step three: I have made the decision to turn my will and life over to the care of God.
I have never been a religious person. My momma went to church when I was young, and she was always praying/cursing God for all of her mishaps. But what did I know about the big guy in the sky? He pretty much kept away from me and I sure as shit never invited him in. It was only in the darkest of moments when I was sitting in a county cell in my own urine that I finally asked if he was really there. If he cared about a meth whore like me because nobody else did. I had seen to that.
* * *
Step four: I have made a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself.
My name is Shay Montgomery, I’m from a little city called Deepwater in Tennessee. I’m a methadone addict. I have stolen money from friends and family. I have had sex with men for drug money. I drove my best friend Mandy away and treated her like shit. To make matters worse, I slept with her sister’s husband Andrew—my dealer. If that wasn’t bad enough, he murdered their parents because they couldn’t pay what they owed him. I’m not sure I would have stopped using on my own. I was picked up nearly a year ago by the local police and served a little under a year for drug possession. I’m now clean and in a twelve-step program. This is my truth.
Step five: I have admitted to God, to myself and all other human beings the exact nature of my wrongs.
And now you know why I’m here. Sitting at a café in an ill-fitting suit that I picked up at the thrift store, with a set of fake pearls
loaned to me by my roommate, Stacy. I met her at the bar that I work at. Her dark skin and kicking body have men flocking to her like flies to honey.
Shit, if I was into girls, I would put her at the top of my list. But the most important thing is that Stacy is one of the kindest people I have ever met. She doesn’t put up with my bullshit and she doesn’t tolerate drugs of any kind.
It was her idea for me to try and make amends with Mandy. I had sent letters to both Mandy and Kim when I was locked up. Not surprisingly, I never heard anything back and didn’t expect to. But Stacy was right, Mandy deserved for me to apologize to her face. We were best friends, and I shit all over it.
I noticed her out of the corner of my eye. Mandy’s handsome husband was glued to her side and glowering right at me. Mandy’s slender shape and blonde hair were so familiar to me. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face.
Mandy didn’t return it. She approached the table and didn’t sit down.
I nervously stood. “Mandy, it is good to see you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Shay, I wish I could say the same. Haven’t you done enough for my family? The only reason I’m here is that the lawyers said that it was your testimony that put Andrew away. I figured that I owed you the decency to listen to what you have to say. But now that I am here, I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want your excuses. I’m happy now. You can’t take that away from me.”
She turned on her heel to leave and I felt my panic racing up my throat.
“No, no, no! Please, Mandy, don’t leave!”
Elliot growled at me and I took a nervous step back.
Mandy turned, and I saw tears swimming in her blue eyes. Shit, I didn’t come here to hurt her.
“I wanted to tell you how sorry I am,” I started, and she actually laughed in my face.
