Quartet Complete Series: Billionaire Romance Box Set (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

by Michelle Love

  “Marcos, I think we should call the police,” I say.

  Kate runs to me and I hug her. “We’ll find her, angel.”

  “I’m so sorry,” she says. Her tiny body shakes as I hold her and she cries. “We will find her, won’t we, Max?”

  I nod, but fear fills me.

  Who would want to take her?

  Alexis

  Time passes and I have no idea how long I’ve been in here. Ashley looks in on me every so often. Once she said, “You’re not dead yet?”

  I guess she thinks she’ll starve me to death or I’ll die from dehydration, because she hasn’t brought me a thing. She did put a bucket by the bed for me to use the restroom in and added a small chain so I can just reach it.

  I wonder if anyone has figured out that I haven’t run off this time. If they have, I wonder how long it took them before they came to that conclusion. My idiot ways may prove to be my demise.

  Max is probably married by now. Probably went to Vegas and has Kate knocked up already. Marcos is so self-absorbed it’s doubtful he thinks much about my absence. Probably thinks I’m upset and left.

  But my car is there and all my things are there, so with a bit of checking things out he should come to the conclusion I’m missing, not gone on my own. For the love of Benji, even my contacts and glasses sit on the table next to my bed!

  Unless Ashley made it look like I left!

  I have no idea of what she did once I passed out. She could’ve staged the whole thing like I left on my own. She may be clever enough to have done that. Then no one will ever come looking for me. I wonder if Marcos told Max. If he did I wonder if Max even cares. I’ve made very bad decisions. When I do make the right one to get some help to unscrew my screwed up brain, this happens and makes it all a little too late.

  That’s the story of my life. Poor Alex, always a day late on everything. When those girls in high school asked me to go with them to the park, my first instinct was they were up to no good. I even hesitated before I agreed. My instincts grew as we got closer to the park and the girls began to get quiet. As we went down the river bank they were so quiet I had to look back to see if they were even still with me. I had a bad feeling then and should’ve run.

  I remember thinking I should just run. Something wasn’t right, I could feel it, but I was one second too late on that idea and the hitting began before I made that decision which would’ve saved me from what they did.

  The door opens and Ashley walks in. “Ashley, please,” I whisper as I have no strength to speak any louder than that. “I’ll never tell a soul, I swear, just let me go.”

  “It’s been five days,” she says. “How are you still alive? Most people die after three days with no water.”

  “Please, Ashley, let me go. I promise I’ll say I went away on my own. I do that from time to time, everyone will believe me.”

  “Maybe this bit of news will send you out of this world,” she says as she leans over me. “Maybe if you knew that Max got married to that little French slut yesterday, maybe that would make you forget about living anymore. You’ll never have him now. He doesn’t believe in divorce.”

  Tears spring up and flow over my cheeks. I try not to sob, I don’t wish to give her any satisfaction, but it comes out of me anyway. The thought he’ll never be mine fills me with a hopelessness I’ve never felt. She’s right, I don’t see why I need to hang on. I’ll be alone the rest of my life if I live. Who wants that?

  Max told me the same thing that he doesn’t believe in divorce and once he’s married that’s it. He’s married Kate and now I’m utterly alone in this world.

  Ashley leaves me again and I know I have no reason to hold onto this life. I’ve held on five days with no food or water with the constant thought of maybe if I went to Max before he married Kate and kissed him, he’d change his mind and marry me instead.

  He’s married and life as I’ve come to know it is over! Completely over!

  Max

  The waiting is killing me. The police found surveillance footage from the parking lot cameras, showing Ashley pulling a rolled up carpet out to a car. She had a Hell of a time shoving it into the backseat before she closed the door and drove off. They’re pretty sure Lexi was rolled up in it.

  An officer told us the chances Lexi’s alive are slim. The car was rented under another name and no one seems to know where Ashley is. Lexi’s parents and even Logan have come to Houston to join the search for her.

  Though numb in places, I’m in so much physical pain. It feels at times like I’m having a heart attack and yesterday I was taken to the emergency room where they said I had a sever anxiety attack and gave me some pills to chill me out.

  I’m a zombie who still feels a lot of pain. I’ve paid for ads all over the local channels and have bill boards with her picture on them and offered a two million dollar reward for her recovery, dead or alive. We all want to know, even if it’s the worst news possible.

  Logan, and Lexi’s three older brothers, Josh, Luke, and Ryan as well as her parents, Matilda and John are staying here at my mansion. They protested, but I told them I’d have it no other way. When we find her I want her to see just how people love her.

  Just like when I was lost in the ocean I cling to hope. It’s been seven days and the police are telling us this is the last day they’ll search. It’ll be up to us after that if we wish to continue, which we damn sure will. I’ll never stop looking for her and that fucking bitch, Ashley.

  That’s the other woman whose face is plastered on billboards right next to Lexi’s. Another two million dollar reward I’ve set up for her, dead or alive. I’d prefer dead to be perfectly honest. I’m afraid I’ll kill her myself if she’s found otherwise.

  My angel, Kate, has her parents here as well. They’re also worried sick. I got Hilda to hire however much extra help she needed to take care of the cooking and cleaning for this bunch.

  Something has to happen. Ashley can’t hide forever.

  The police think it could be a murder suicide and we may never find either one of them. I hope like Hell they’re wrong.

  A knock comes at my bedroom door. It’s late and I wonder who it is, everyone went to bed hours ago. “Who is it?”

  “Kate, can I come in?”

  “Yeah,” I say and pull the blanket up to cover my bare chest.

  “Max,” she says as she comes in and stands by my bed. “I had a dream and Lexi was in it. I think she’s still alive, but I don’t know how much longer she can hang on. I saw things, but the scene was too dark to see much. There was a door with light coming through it, and a silver chain holds her to a small bed.”

  “That’s nice to hear, but I don’t think it’s enough to find her, angel.”

  “No, no, Max, there’s more which I think may help,” she says as she sits on the bed. “Is there a place where two lion statues sit on a patio made of stone on either side of a large, glass door?”

  My brain isn’t working to full capacity with the anti-anxiety meds and I find myself struggling to think of such a place. “I’m not remembering any place like that.”

  “I think it’s in this town, this Houston,” she says. “Try to think hard, Max.”

  “Perhaps I should sleep off this pill I took earlier so I could stop being so anxious. Maybe then I can think better.” I give her a smile.

  “Okay, Max,” she gets up and walks to the door. “Time is limited, so try to clear your brain before it’s too late.”

  I watch her leave and already her words haunt me. I let weakness get in my way of thinking clearly. I’ll take no more pills to stop myself from being anxious. I will be strong and in control. If she’s found after it’s too late and I could’ve found her, but didn’t because I took pills to handle the pressure instead of manning up and handling what I should’ve, well I don’t know what I’ll do.

  Alexis

  My eyes open as I wake from the sweetest dream. Max and I were holding hands as we laid on lounge chairs by his swimmi
ng pool. Three children played in the water. Two boys and a girl. Light shimmered over the water and their laughter filled the air.

  I’m crying because it’s all a dream. It can never come true. I don’t have the strength to even lift my body from the bed. I haven’t used the bathroom in forever so I know my body is shutting down.

  Somehow I’m not afraid. Maybe because I don’t have the strength, or maybe because the pain of this life is nearly over. The pain of abuse, the pain of feeling so much for another person it hurts to think of losing them. The pain of the memories that never go away. It’s all going to slip away as I do.

  My mother keeps flowing in and out of my head. She’s crying and telling me to hang on, they’re coming. I know they aren’t, so it doesn’t really give me any hope. I bet they think I’ve run off and think I’ll call or show up soon.

  Surprise, I’m not.

  A knocking sound comes from behind the door. It’s far away though. Muffled shouts ring out. Some man’s voice is yelling Ashley’s name over and over as the pounding at the door continues.

  A loud bang makes me jump! I’m surprised I could even do that.

  What the Hell was that?

  I hear banging and loud voices.

  The sound of something cracking and then the voices are all shouting my name. I try to say anything at all, but I’m just too weak. There’s no spit left to swallow to clear my dry throat. I close my eyes and shout in my head that I am here.

  The sweetest voice in the world flows over my ears. “She’s behind this bookcase,” a light, sweet French voice says.

  Kate!

  They’ve found me, but my love is married to her now, and I’ll be all alone in this horrible world. Lord, if you’re going to take me do it now, please before I see his face again and my heart breaks even more than it already has.

  I’ve not the strength to keep my eyes open, yet a white light begins to glow and I feel light as a feather as it grows larger. Then a flash of white hot pain runs through me and it all goes black.

  Max

  The sun shines in my window, waking me from one of the best dreams I’ve ever had. Lexi and I were by the swimming pool, watching our three kids swim. I will find her and make that come true!

  I jump from the bed, completely clear headed and with a place in mind where she might be. The fastest shower in history I take, then I send a text to everyone here to get ready, we’re going to leave ASAP to find Lexi. The police won’t be searching anymore so we’re on our own.

  An older hotel downtown has two lion statues by the door and I bet we’ll find Ashley there. My hunch is she has Lexi with her. My phone dings and I see Kate has sent me a message. ‘221’ is all it says and I shrug and pull my T-shirt on. It’s the last article of clothing I need so I head out the door.

  Marcos, I text last and tell him to meet us at the hotel. I stop by the room I keep the guns in and grab one for each of the men. I doubt one woman like Ashley needs that many to take her down, but I’ll be damned if there’s a man left holding nothing if she aims one at him. With a black bag full of hand guns and ammo, I head to the kitchen to find Hilda. She’s busy making breakfast.

  “You may as well stop that, Hilda,” I say. “I need you to come with us. I want you to stay in the car with Lexi’s mother and Kate and her mom while I take the men into a hotel to look for Lexi.”

  “What’s in the bag, Mijo?” Hilda asks.

  “I’m not going to tell you, because if we have to use what’s in here, we’ll be called vigilantes and I want all the woman completely ignorant of what’s in this bag.”

  She winks and smiles, “K, boss!” She pulls her apron off and follows me.

  Lexi’s father and brothers along with Logan meet me at the door. “What’s this about, Max?” her father, John, asks.

  “Kate came to me last night, she had a dream about where Lexi may be. The young thing has a gift as I told you all before when I told you the story of how she found me in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. I trust her and so should all of you.”

  Lexi’s mother and Kate and her parents come in and her mother, Matilda, asks, “Do you really think this is it?”

  I nod and open the door. Load up and follow me. “Kate, will you please ride with me, we should talk before we go storming the place?”

  She nods and we all walk out to our cars. I say over my shoulder, “I want no one to go inside until I give each one of the men something. If we have to do anything illegal, I want the woman to have no part in it.” I turn to look at Hilda and toss her a set of keys to my suburban. “You take the mom’s with you, please. I’ll send Kate to you before we go in. And stay in the car, don’t get out until I send someone to get you.”

  She catches the keys and nods. “This way ladies.”

  Our convoy leaves the driveway and I feel amazingly calm, yet completely aware. I look at Kate as we pull out of the gate. “This number you sent me, what do you think it means?”

  “Maybe the room number,” she shakes her head. “I can’t be sure, but it’s there over and over, like it means something.”

  “Okay, so maybe I ask the desk clerk who’s in that room.” I say then shake my head. “They can’t tell me.”

  “Perhaps I can, after all I look so innocent and am a foreigner. I find many people tell me more than they would others,” she says, and she has a point.

  “I’d rather you not be involved, Kate,” I say as I glance at her. She’s so small and fragile, like a China doll.

  “I can help. More than anyone else, you should know that, my prince,” she says, reminding me of what she called me when she found me floating in the ocean, before she knew my name.

  I can’t help grabbing her hand and kissing it. “My little angel. I must put my trust in you. Okay, you’ll find out the name in your most excellent of ways then come tell me and I’ll see if I think it might be an alias Ashley would use.”

  With a plan set, I find myself focused and ready to find my love. I see Marcos as we pull into the side parking garage. I didn’t want to use the valet service and hope Kate can gain entrance undetected.

  She makes her way towards the front door and I see her pause as she looks at the lion statues and nods her adorable little blonde head. I smile instantly as I know this is it.

  “Okay, men,” I say as they crowd around my car. I open the black bag. “Take one each, make sure you put a clip in it and shove it in the back of your jeans and pull your shirt out to cover it. As soon as Kate lets me know the name of who’s in room number 221 we may be on our way to it to find our Lexi, or Alex, or Alexis whatever each of you call her.”

  Marcos takes the first one and I find myself surprised. “Marcos, do you know how to shoot a gun?”

  He smiles. “I grew up in Houston, bro!”

  “Okay, ‘nough said,” I say and run my eyes up and down his jeans and T-shirt ensemble which is so unlike the model he is. “You okay, man? You haven’t been keeping up the normal appearance.”

  “Hell no, I’m not okay, Max,” he says in a high voice. “My roomie and best friend is missing. I’m a wreck, dude! I haven’t been able to sleep, eat or do my work outs without bursting into tears. This shit is killing me!”

  I see Logan look away. “How about you, Logan?” I ask. “How are you holding up?”

  He clears his throat. “Best I can, I guess. I just need to see her, no matter what, you know?”

  The glisten in his eyes tells me so much about what she meant to him. Her brother, Josh, gives him a slug in the arm. “We’ll find her alive, Logan. No worries, man.”

  Lexi’s brother, Ryan, the one she told me she was the closest in age to and the closest to, says, “Alex is alive, I guarantee it. I’d feel it if she were gone. When we were young after her incident with those horrible bitches. We realized we had a special connection. About the same time they were beating her, chills ran through me and I stopped playing the basketball game I was playing at school.” He stops and laughs. “I got hit in the head with
the ball and coach took me out. I walked away even though he was yelling at me to sit back down. I ended up running from the school, straight home.”

  Josh takes over the story. “I remember that! You came in screaming for Alex and Mom told you she hadn’t come home. You yelled for me and Luke to come with you.”

  Luke steps forward. “Yeah, and we did, and you ran straight for that park. My, God! When we saw her.” He pauses as tears fill his eyes. “My baby sister, all covered in mud and only in her…”

  All three brothers look at each other and say at the same time, “Big, white panties.” They all chuckle, slightly.

  Josh says, “We tried so hard to make her feel better, to laugh. I took my shirt off and put it on her, and Luke grabbed her up, Mr. Muscles he is. He carried her home and she couldn’t speak. She was so far away it seemed no words could get to her.”

  I take in a deep breath as I listen to her brothers describe the aftermath of her horror. Soft footsteps come up behind me and I turn to see my angel. “The name of the woman in room 221 is Mrs. Randy Lawton.”

  I have to lean on my car as I hear my real name.

  How did Ashley know that?

  “It’s her, it’s Ashley.” I say and have to fight to keep my mind right and my heart beating at the right speed. My love is up there and I have to save her. “Let’s roll, men.”

  “I’m coming too,” Kate says as she follows me.

  Her father and I both say, “No!”

  We all halt the procession and look at the tiny, young woman. She smiles. “I will go with you or sneak up later, but I will go.”

  I frown. “You stay behind me at all times. Never do I want to see you, do you understand me, Kate? You stay hidden behind me.”

  “Wee, wee, I do, my prince,” she says and grabs hold of one of my belt loops. “I am your shadow.”

  I look at her father and he shrugs and says something in French to which Kate replies, “That is so right, Papa. What Kate wants, Kate gets.”