Alpha Billionaire

by Deborah Garland

  “Okay.” He backed off.

  “Thank you,” she said, looking unsure of what to do, her body wanted him, he could feel it.

  Her damn head was taking over, though. Her heart and her emotions had been leading her for years, fooling her about Jonathan. No wonder she was damn confused. When she spun away, he felt the wallop of a wrecking ball hitting his chest. Turning around, he gasped at all his shit strewn across the parking lot.

  You’re back in New York, asshole.

  Tristan Hart, COO of The Sterling could not fall apart in front of an audience. He snapped together and quickly undid the damage, picking everything up. Only his phone was missing. Son of a bitch!

  A shadow crossed him and he looked up to see a waif of a woman holding his phone. “You’re Tris?” she asked.

  Hearing that name on dry land sickened him. “Yeah. Can I have my phone?”

  “You’re rich, huh?” She twisted his lifeline to the world carelessly around in her fingers.

  He looked at her to get a read on what she really wanted. A shine caught his attention. A gold fire pin. Shit.

  Own yourself. Now.

  “My name is Tristan.”

  “Oh.” She shifted on her heels. “I saw you last night. Heard you really.”

  Last night felt like a million years ago. “Can you narrow it down please and tell me what you want?” He stared anxiously at his phone still in her hands.

  “You told Jon you had enough money to toss him overboard and make it look like an accident. He was bothering that woman you were with all week.”

  He bizarrely thought he’d been invisible. It had felt so good to fly under the radar with Laney. Only he hadn’t, had he? “It was a heated moment. I wasn’t serious. Jon had roughed her up.”

  The woman folded her arms and looked shaken. “He roughs up a lot of girls.”

  Tristan’s fists jammed closed and his throat swelled up. His father’s maltreatment of his mother, while it’d never been physical, was a scar that never healed. Any mistreatment of women infuriated Tristan.

  It pained him, looking at this poor woman who clearly had been a victim. Just how far had Jonathan gone, though? “I’m sorry. Most men on the cruise aren’t like that,” he said, knowing at least he’d never forced anyone.

  “I don’t know what to do. It had to be my fault. I went with him willingly. He just got...”

  Christ, Laney had said the same thing. Tristan’s love crisis at the moment seemed small and pathetic in comparison to what happened to this woman. “He didn’t, did he?”

  “No. But I think it was because I started screaming.”

  Disgusting.

  No woman should experience something like that. Ever. “I’m very sorry,” he said with heart. “I have a Town Car coming to pick me up. Can I give you a lift somewhere?”

  Her eyes widened and she stepped back. Still clutching his phone, she said, “I complained to the cruise people. They brushed me off. They wouldn’t even watch my video.” She took her own phone out.

  “Video?” He held his breath.

  “Yeah, I managed to record what he was doing. It’s not crazy hardcore stuff. But he clearly gets rough with me and I had to say no over and over.” In the middle of chaos, she had the mind to grab her phone. Smart.

  “I don’t suppose I can have a copy of that video?” Tristan asked, expecting a no. “You saw how he roughed up a woman I care about. They work together. I have to get her away from him. I can use that and maybe he’ll think twice about hurting someone else.”

  His beeping Town Car knifed through the crowd. “Shit, that’s my driver.”

  “You have a driver?” she asked, giving him a pretentious once-over.

  He exhaled. “I can pay you for the video.”

  She glanced over his shoulder eyeing the shiny Lincoln coming toward them. “I bet you can. But no. What’s your email address?”

  Tristan yanked out a business card and exhaled as she typed into her phone.

  “Mr. Hart!” Tom, his driver, found him. “You weren’t in the other pickup lot.”

  “Sorry. I had to find someone.” Tristan had been looking for a fling, but he found Laney and himself. “What’s your name?” he asked the woman when she finally handed over his phone.

  “It’s Darla.” She also handed him back his business card. “I sent it.”

  “Keep my card. If you need anything, you call me. Please. Or come find me.” He hauled his travel bag up and into Tom’s eager hands. “Are you sure I can’t drop you off anywhere?”

  She shook her head and snagged her luggage. “No. After being on the boat for seven days in a cabin that felt like a cave, I can’t be trapped in a small space right now. I want to walk for a while.”

  “Thank you, Darla.” Tristan held out his hand.

  “You’re welcome,” she said, shaking it with a firm grip that told him, she’d be okay walking for a while. “And good luck.”

  “With what?”

  “Getting that woman.” She pulled her coat closed hiding the pin and stalked away.

  “Sir, your brother is waiting for you at the hotel.” Tom stood with the backseat door open.

  “I bet he is.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Laney

  Laney paced on the sidewalk for almost an hour. Her toes had been chilled to the bone, now they were painfully numb. Even her eyes felt like icicles in the sockets.

  “It really is a castle,” she murmured to herself, breathing into a cashmere scarf while staring at The Sterling. She’d always found it beautiful with its old-world charm. Knowing inside lived the man of her dreams, her prince, the castle reference made sense.

  In the five days since she’d left the cruise, she’d gotten swallowed into the throes of the Christmas rush. Jonathan hadn’t been back to the office, using all his vacation time before Brock snatched it away. The holiday came and went and thanks to the food coma and Nana bragging about how well her eBay business had been doing, it’d all passed in a calm blur.

  Laney was glad Nana found a hobby that didn’t include pushing her to get married. She never would have spilled how she’d spent the week before Christmas, blushing every time she thought of Tristan. The safety of her and Nana’s Madison, New Jersey Tudor home and her old bed, finally convinced Laney she was safe.

  Her strength had returned and she was ready to see and talk to Tristan. The cruise was a sordid way to start a...whatever he’d been expecting from her that day on the pier.

  Time for a fresh start. Meet as the people they really were. Tristan, in a gorgeous suit, she suspected, and her in her favorite wool dress, tucked behind her little coat wearing her shiny snow boots. Freezing her ass off.

  The idea of meeting the real Tristan, the mysterious COO of The Sterling gave her a thrill. He’d shown her quite a glimpse of that guy. Everyone acted a little different on vacation. She’d eaten a little more, checked her phone a little less.

  As she glided across Fifth Avenue, her heart pounded as The Sterling got closer and closer. Her mind knitted together all the blueprints and room keys she and Tristan had played with. It would be a spectacular redesign.

  A caricature of a doorman, complete with cap and long mustard-colored coat and shiny brass buttons, opened the door for her. In the center of a lower floor rising up, a story-book Christmas tree took her breath away. Now, that she’d love to decorate. With Tristan. Maybe next year?

  The grand lobby with its marble floors leading to several open tiers was the signature design of The Sterling. At each level, sat all those tired-looking wing chairs in rather unpleasant fabrics.

  Holy crap, she’d have a ball redesigning this place. Tristan was so right-on to want to keep it.

  “Luke, honey.” A woman’s voice called out. It’d been faint, but since all of Laney’s senses were on high alert, she caught it. “We’re over here.”

  A man with broad shoulders and golden hair like a crown strutted to the stairs leading to the tiers. Smirking, he strai
ghtened his tie and jogged down a few stairs to one of the tiers. Laney’s gaze followed him, thrilled to get a close-up glance at New York’s CEO playboy.

  Her brain only had another second to watch Luke when caramel hair and a curvy smile caught her eye. Tristan stood up from one of the seating areas. He looked fantastic in a dark blue suit that could have been painted on him, it was cut so well. And...glasses? He wore dark-rimmed glasses. Her Superman in disguise. Who was this man? She didn’t know that guy. Or, did she?

  The man she loved was in there, somewhere. She wanted every version of him.

  Using a wide round column to shield herself, Laney took in the scene. The intimate gathering at two Queen Anne chairs and two wing chairs around a marble and brass coffee table looked cozy.

  Lots of legs. Laney had to process the players. The man with reddish blond hair had to be Grayson Hart, the baby. Man, he was yummy, too. Even if he looked a little bored.

  The woman with silver shoulder-length hair dripping with elegance and grace had to be their mother. The Hart brothers were having drinks with their mommy. Laney wanted to cry at the sweet scene. She’d never thought of having children, but now she wanted three sons.

  She choked up, but also realized Tristan may not be ready to introduce her to his whole family. Saying ‘I love you’ and ‘will you meet my mother’ were two different levels of commitment.

  She’d come all this way and just wanted to see him. Tell him, she was ready. To start something with him. One small step. Maybe take one kiss and give him back to his family.

  He abruptly stood and faced the stairs. Oh crap. Had he spotted her? Walking briskly, he waved his brothers and mother off and reached the railing leading to her level.

  Then Laney saw the woman.

  Short hair, fire-engine red, spiky, and cool. On the nape of her neck. A tattoo.

  Beth.

  What? No.

  Immediately tears welled up. Laney had waited too long. How stupid to think Tristan would stop his life for a boring textile designer he met on a cruise filled with vacation flingers.

  Stupid. She was so stupid.

  Beth clutched several glossy shopping bags and swayed effortlessly toward Tristan. Like she belonged there. Bitterness flooded through Laney, but she couldn’t turn away. Hidden neatly behind a fern tree, thankfully not doused in lights, Laney watched Tristan meet Beth on the steps. He took her bags like the gentleman Laney knew he was, and with his free hand resting gently on her back, he brought Beth to his family.

  “Oh Tristan,” Laney said, smothering a sob.

  But after only a few nods from his brothers, and a curt flick of his mother’s jaw, Tristan steered Beth away. Laney choked a small laugh when all the heads came together over the coffee table, clearly discussing their disapproval.

  Laney sighed and after one more glance at the beautiful hotel she’d never set foot in again, she descended the last of the marble steps and let the revolving door propel her back into the cold December night.

  Tristan

  TRISTAN GRUMBLED UNAPPRECIATIVELY at the frosty reception Beth had gotten from his family, especially his mother. What did he expect, though? He’d spent the last hour talking about Laney, giving them all hope that he’d found the one. Beth’s visit had been unexpected, but Tristan was glad to see her one last time. Tell her in person.

  “When do you plan to go get your girl?” Beth asked once they were in the elevator.

  “In a few days. She asked for time. I don’t want to push her.” It’d gotten unbearable to be in his hotel. The lobby that had once seemed okay, now looked like absolute shit.

  Like him.

  Laney had seen the beauty beneath the flaws in his hotel and knew how to make it shine.

  Like him.

  Beth’s cackling drew him back. “What?” he asked, folding his arms.

  “Don’t tell anyone I told you, but girls like to be pursued. It’s a dead art.”

  “Yeah, because girls call the cops.”

  “Or go on Twitter.”

  He liked laughing with Beth and how she’d been so supportive of him finding love again.

  “What about you?” He eyed the top panel to read what floor they were passing.

  “I have my work for now.”

  “Eventually the job won’t fill the loneliness.” He would never let his work come between him and Laney.

  The elevator reached Beth’s floor and they walked quietly to her door. He was confident he’d be able to let her go with just a hug. But when the moment was upon him, the idea of holding anyone other than Laney felt wrong.

  He slapped a brave smile on his face and handed Beth her shopping bags.

  “Are we done being friends?” she asked with one of her pouts.

  How sad to think she’d continue their trysts indefinitely had he chosen to remain on the path he’d been on. He’d never been so happy to break down on the side of the road and have Laney there with a tow-truck to pick his ass up off the curb.

  “I think it’s time we face the hard truth. We decided to live separate lives years ago. It should stay that way. I have a lot to prove to Laney.” He loved that she knew about Beth and the cruise. His past wasn’t a pile of skeletons threatening to fall out of his closet. “She deserves all of me.”

  Beth smiled. “I remember what that was like. It was pretty fantastic.”

  “It was.” Tristan nodded. Because he’d been in love before, he had the capability of giving a woman everything, his heart, his soul.

  “I have an early flight tomorrow,” Beth said, leaning her head against the hotel door. Code for, this is it.

  It had to be, though. “Sleep well and take care of yourself,” he said, inching backward to give her space.

  “You too, Tristan.” She smiled and disappeared behind the door.

  Feeling great, Tristan turned for the elevator. Luke stood a few doors away leaning against the peeling wallpaper with his legs crossed at the ankles.

  “Really? No goodbye bang?” Luke pushed off the wall. “That cruise woman must have gotten to you.”

  “Laney. Her name is Laney,” Tristan huffed. “After you meet her, you’ll see why.”

  “I cannot wait to meet the woman who inspired you to walk away from a ten-billion-dollar deal.” Luke’s eyes were soft, though, when he said, “You’re sure about this?”

  “If that damn cruise taught me anything, it’s to take what I want, when I want it.” He wanted Laney. Now. No more waiting.

  “You’re not playing fair. Ambushing her at work.”

  All’s fair in love and Laney. “I thought you’d be proud of the devious strategy I came up with.”

  Luke threw his arm around Tristan’s neck until he was in a headlock. “That’s me. Not you. You’re Mr. Nice Guy,” he said, giving him a painful noogie.

  Breaking free, Tristan adjusted his glasses, and said, “You don’t know the man I am when I’m in love. I’m pretty ferocious.”

  Tristan wasn’t going to hide in the shadows anymore. Time to be the alpha on dry land and get the girl.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Laney

  Confronting Jonathan was a shit-show Laney wished she could avoid. She needed to get this awkward conversation behind her, sooner rather than later. In the gut-wrenching week since the cruise and Jonathan’s return to the office, he barely looked at her.

  She’d reached a breaking point and needed to clear all the ugliness away. Then she could talk to Brock about quitting. That was the plan. At least as far as her career.

  Tristan was another story. He had every right to be with Beth or anyone. He’d laid it on the line to her and she walked away. Or so he thought.

  Laney stepped inside Jonathan’s office without knocking, pushing thoughts of Tristan away. Looking at her boss, though, the entire cruise came screaming back at her. “Hey, can we talk for a moment?”

  “I’m busy, Hathaway.” He kept his back to her and anger hummed off his skin.

  “I’m sure.” A h
ornet’s nest would have felt friendlier. “We’re on the same team.”

  “Hmph,” he said, roughly swiping at his touchscreen monitor.

  Relieved to have a few seconds before he turned around, she noticed a thinning circle on the back of his head. Dark curls had been covering a secret. Oh, how she once loved those soft waves falling into his green eyes and brushing against his shirt collar.

  The idea of a perfect Jonathan had fallen spectacularly overboard.

  “I just need you and me to be okay.” She needed to get out of that company in one piece with her reputation and dignity intact.

  “I think you made it clear how you want things to be between us, Laney.” He swung around and pierced her with a vicious glare.

  “Why do you go on those cruises, anyway?” She knew why Tristan had gone, asking Jonathan seemed logical.

  “Women go there to get laid. There’re no head games.”

  “Sounds like you had a good thing going.” Laney scanned his office. Piles of her fabrics, the samples he’d hawked to design firms were everywhere. She was everywhere in that office. Yet, he never saw her. “Why were you ready to commit assault just to be with that blonde?” Talking about people from the cruise in a word felt...surreal. “She was worth taking that risk?”

  “I heard Cass was unbelievable.” Jonathan wiped his brow. “Your boyfriend’s been with her enough.”

  Her throat closed up and she tasted bile on her tongue. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “I should hope not.” He scratched his head. “After everything I told you about him, if you let him into your life, you’re dumber than I thought.”

  Laney narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know. Tristan was honest with me from the start. I fell into his bed with my eyes wide open. And it was fantastic. He didn’t have to hold me down.” A voice inside her warned, um, you’re talking to your boss.

  “You need to leave.” The angry jerk from the boat emerged and grabbed her arm.

  Fear flashed before her eyes and kicked her into overdrive. She clawed out of his grimy hold. Seething, she shoved him into his guest chair stacked with all her samples. When they tumbled to the floor, Laney got her sanity back.