Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

Zea wished them a good afternoon and turned – and collided with Jared. She jumped back as if she had been burned and he put his hands up, his expression contrite.

  ‘Please, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.’

  She gaped at him. The men at the table looked up, and she flushed. Jared took her arm and led her away from them. Zea wanted to pull away but didn’t want to make a scene. Everything inside of her was screaming at her to run away, but Jared had managed to corner her. She couldn’t stop trembling.

  ‘Zea, I wanted to come and see you. About the reprehensible way I acted yesterday, I cannot apologize enough. I am so, so sorry. I had had too much to drink and my pride was hurt because of…well, let’s not dwell on that.’

  He seemed so genuine and yet…his whole demeanor was off, intimidating. He stood too close, looking down at her, blocking her from moving. His smile didn’t reach his eyes, and they raked over her body in a way that made her cringe.

  ‘Jared, I…’ Her voice was scratchy.

  He interrupted. ‘Zea, please, let me make it up to you, let me take you out. Tonight. And then afterward we can talk about what happened. Afterward.’

  Bile rose in her throat. ‘No. I’m sorry Jared, I think it’s best if we don’t spend any more time together. I mean it. Please.’

  He stepped even closer. ‘But we’re family, Zea.’ He was backing her into the alley, out of sight of the street, of safety. His eyes burned through her. Zea saw him reach into his jacket and felt icy coldness rush through her veins. She cast a panicked look around her, her legs wobbling. If he pulled out a weapon…all the muscles in her body tensed for an assault. His big frame was blocking the light out.

  ‘Zea, are you scared of me?’ Jared was still smiling. ‘I wouldn’t hurt you, Zea. I’m sorry about yesterday. Truly.’ The mocking tone of his voice belied his words. Zea’s throat had closed. She steeled herself and took a step around him, back out into the view of the street. Her body did not relax through, still braced for an attack.

  ‘Jared, please go.’

  Jared’s smile faded, and he stared down at her, his lip curling. He pulled a jewelry box from his jacket. ‘I wanted to give you this. It’s an heirloom of mine and David’s.’ He held out the box to her.

  ‘You are not David’s brother; I do not believe you. He would never have…’ She broke off, angry, and slapped the box away. ‘I don’t want anything from you except peace. Go, and never come back.’

  Jared sighed, shaking his head, a mocking smile on his face. ‘I thought you were worthy to wear my mother’s necklace. But apparently not.’ He tucked the box back in his jacket. ‘You disappoint me, Zea, you really do.’

  He stepped toward her and Zea had to fight her fear to stand her ground. Jared’s eyes bore into hers.

  ‘You little whore. How many men have tasted that pretty little cunt of yours? Hundreds, I bet.’

  Zea took a deep breath in, trying not to scream. And then she saw him. Leaning against the hood of his car, watching them from across the street. Flynt. She met his gaze and felt her whole body relax. He was her Protection.

  As they stared at each other, they both started to smile. Jared was talking again, but she couldn’t hear what he was saying.

  ‘Jared.’ She interrupted him, not looking away from Flynt. ‘I meant what I said. I never want to see you again, and if I do, I will go to the police. I had a doctor take a rape kit this morning, take photos. If you want to remain a free man, I suggest you leave Portland for good. I have to go back to work now, excuse me.’

  Her voice was strong, determined. Jared followed her gaze over to the police station. Flynt stared back at the older man, his expression fierce. He took a step towards them, his eyes blazing fury as he stared at Jared, but Zea put her hand up halting him.

  ‘Goodbye Jared.’ Zea’s tone was decisive, and she stepped around him, throwing another grateful smile over to Flynt as she reentered the diner. She saw him grin at her, then get in his car and drive away.

  At eleven, Zea was exhausted. Finally, the diner cleared out, and Teresa took a break at Zea’s insistence. Zea sat at the counter, sorting out cash to take to the bank. She yawned, her eyes feeling sore and heavy. She closed them and felt herself sway, sleep a temptress she would quite easily give in to right now. The door clattered. She looked up and grinned. Flynt was coming in the door. He smiled back then turned and locked the door, flicked the ‘Closed’ sign. Zea was confused.

  ‘What are you…?’

  ‘We need to talk about earlier.’

  Zea’s heart sank.

  ‘What about it?’ She avoided his eye.

  ‘What was Podesta saying to you?’

  ‘Nothing much. I – ‘

  ‘Zea. I saw your face. You were scared.’

  ‘Flynt.’ Zea looked around, and he followed her gaze.

  ‘There’s no-one here, Zea. We’re gonna talk about this.’

  Zea looked uncomfortable. ‘Flynt…’

  ‘What happened?’

  She wouldn’t look him in the eye. ‘It was really nothing. He made a pass at me, and I turned him down.’

  The lie hung there for a second before Flynt answered.

  ‘Okay.’ He reached over and put his hand over hers. ‘Zea?’ The concern in his voice, the feel of his skin on hers, made her eyes prickle – what the hell was wrong with her? She needed to grow a thicker skin. She dashed away a traitor tear with the back of her hand.

  ‘Flynt, honestly it was nothing, and I’d really like to forget it.’

  ‘Did he touch you?’

  His question made her throat close; she refilled his coffee cup and saw her hand shaking.

  ‘Flynt, please.’ Her voice was barely a whisper.

  Coming behind the counter, he pulled her into the kitchen and took her in his arms. For a second, she resisted but the smell of his clean skin and the warmth of his body against hers was too much, and she let him pull her closer.

  ‘Zea…did he…?’

  ‘He raped me. Last night, he was…he raped me. I think he drugged me, but I can’t be sure.’

  Flynt looked horrified. ‘Jesus, Zea…we need to go to the police.’

  She shook her head. ‘I can’t, Flynt. I can’t…’

  He was staring at her. ‘Whatever it is you are hiding, Zea, you can trust me with it.’ He sat her down. Zea stared into his eyes and for some unknown reason, everything she had been through flooded out of her, David, the shooting, her move to Portland, and Jared. By the time she was finished, she half-expected him to get up and walk away. She wouldn’t blame him if he did.

  ‘I’m sorry for accusing you of breaking in, Flynt. I don’t know what I was thinking.’

  He brushed a hand through her hair. ‘Sweetheart, don’t even think about that. Look, the first thing we need to do is go get you checked out…yes, look, we can go private, my family’s doctors are discreet. We need to get a rape kit. Then we need to find out exactly who this Jared Podesta is.’

  Bree was plagued with nightmares. Nightmares about being tied up in the back of Ray Grace’s car, or being back in the school and in every dream, Emory was there, telling her to run, get away from whatever pending fate was awaiting them both. She saw Emory being stabbed, being shot, bleeding; there was always so much blood.

  Bree awake, sobbing. As she calmed herself, telling herself over and over, it was just a dream, but then the reality came screaming back. Emory was somewhere, badly hurt or probably dead. Bree got up and padded to the kitchen. She started as she saw her dad standing at the window staring out.

  ‘Dad?’

  Luca turned and half-smiled. ‘Hey, kiddo.’

  She hugged him. ‘Did you hear anything?’

  He shook his head. ‘The coastguard hasn’t found anything yet, and the shipping yard people have checked every container. They found fresh blood on the edge of the jetty, a spent cartridge nearby.’

  Bree felt her heart sink and she looked at her father. ‘Dad?’

  ‘If
the DNA matches Emory’s…then yes, it looks like he shot her and she went into the water.’

  ‘Oh God, Dad…’

  Luca struggled to keep his emotions in check as he hugged his daughter. ‘I won’t believe it, Bree, not until they find her body. I’ll never believe she’s gone.’

  Bree wanted to comfort her father, but she could not find the words. After talking with him for a while longer, she went back to bed, but lay awake, brooding. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was a little after two a.m. She grabbed her cell phone and typed out a text.

  Are you awake? I know it’s late, I’m sorry.

  Jesse’s reply came back a second later. I’m awake, and it’s no problem. You okay?

  No. They found blood at the scene where Emory went missing.

  God, I’m sorry, Bree. That’s rough.

  I don’t know what to tell my dad. He’s in pieces.

  There was a longer pause between the tests this time then: I will be honest. There’s nothing anyone can say that will make him feel better. It seems cold, but you just have to get through it, go through the five stages. At least we had closure; we had Lexi’s body to bury and grieve over.

  Have you got a big family?

  There were three of us: Lexi, me and Kizzie. Kizzie didn’t go to Auburn; she had a scholarship to the Peabody Institute. She plays the cello.’

  That’s cool. Is she okay?

  Long pause. No, not really. She’s in a facility at the moment for depression; she was Lexi’s twin.

  Oh God, I’m sorry, So much damage.

  So much. How about you? Family?

  Only child.

  Ah, little princess.

  Bree chuckled to herself. Damn right. Bow down, serf.

  **genuflects** Wanna get together tomorrow?

  Bree smiled, the tightness in her chest lifting. Love too.

  Good. Meet me at the Sound Garden at noon.

  You got it. Goodnight, J, thanks for talking to me.

  Anytime, your majesty. J.

  Bree put her phone down and got under her sheets. There was still a terrible ache inside of her, but maybe, just maybe, Jesse Kline would be able to assuage that ache for a few hours.

  And it has nothing, she told herself, to do with those beautiful, shining blue eyes of his. Oh no…

  Zea sat in Flynt’s apartment as he made them both some coffee. His apartment was nothing like she imagined; no motorcycle or car parts littering the floors, no girlie magazines. All of the stereotypical bad by things were just absent. Instead, it was decorated elegantly in pale duck egg blue, rows of shelves with books on all genres, sketchpads, art materials. She wondered why he felt the need to behave as he did when today, he had shown himself to be caring, sympathetic and very much in charge, a definite grown-up.

  Flynt brought two steaming cups over to the couch and sat down with her.

  ‘I asked the doc get back to us whenever he had some information, but he couldn’t give me a time frame.’

  ‘It’s okay.’

  He touched her cheek. ‘I know, but I keep thinking, the longer we wait, the further Jared Podesta has the chance to run. My detectives are checking into him with what information they have already.’

  Zea half-smiled. ‘You have your own detectives?’

  Flynt grinned. ‘There are some perks to being a trust fund brat.’

  ‘Now come on,’ she laughed, ‘don’t give me that. You build things; my apartment block for instance.’

  Her smile faded as she recalled what had happened to her there. ‘Damn…I thought I was passed being upset about this. Her eyes filled with tears and she brushed them away with her hand.

  ‘I think Jared may have known about me and David longer than he says.’

  She was silent for a moment. ‘Thank you.’ Flynt’s cell phone buzzed and he looked at the caller i.d.

  ‘It’s the doc; that was quick.’ He answered the call, and Zea watched his face as he took in what the doctor was telling him. He thanked the doctor and ended the call.

  ‘Flynt? Does he have good news?’

  Flynt winced. He got up and stared out of the window. Zea watched him, dread building inside her.

  ‘Flynt? Please don't tell me…’

  'He didn't ejaculate. There's no DNA evidence. I'm so sorry.’

  Zea's shoulders slumped. 'No. Oh goddamn…’ Tears spilled out, and she started to sob. Flynt took her in his arms. She gulped, trying to stop the tears. 'I was so sure that it would be enough. That at least, something could have come from…’ She took a deep breath in, closing her eyes. She was back there then, back in her home, Jared forcing himself into her. 'Oh God…’

  Flynt let her cry herself out, rocking her gently, his lips on her hair. 'I'm so sorry, darlin'. I promise you; we'll get him.’

  Luca spent his fourth sleepless night alone in the apartment where Emory had lived. He had told Bree he needed some time and now that she seemed to be coping, he moved back to the apartment. Maybe this was a mistake, he told himself now, dog-tired and wiped out. All of Emory’s things were here – the few things she’d taken from her marital home - but everything reminded him. The scent of her perfume in the bathroom, on the pillows. Luca laid down on the bed and buried his face in her pillow, conjuring up a memory.

  Before Bree’s abduction, they had been alone here one night. She’d cooked – a sensational seafood linguini dish followed by a strawberry sorbet. She had been in a joyous mood that night, secretive, playful. After dinner, they’d enjoyed a drink out on the balcony. It had been a warm night and just after midnight; Emory had grinned over at him then got up and walked slowly to him. She slowly pulled open her black wrap dress to reveal underneath, not panties and a bra, but a leather harness, with leather straps that crisscrossed her curves, between her breasts, over her belly. Luca’s eyes opened wide.

  ‘That I wasn’t expecting.’

  Emory smiled shyly. ‘You like?’

  He grinned widely. ‘And how…’

  She straddled him, but as he reached for her, she took his hands and placed them down by his side. ‘I’m in charge tonight, Mr. Saffran.’

  Luca smiled. ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  She unzipped his pants and reached in to pull his cock from his underwear. It was already stiffening, and she smiled, slid from his lap and onto her knees, taking the wide crest of his cock into her mouth. Her tongue swept across the sensitive tip, tasting his pre-cum, teasing him until Luca moaned with desire. ‘God, Emory…Emory…don’t stop…’

  Emory’s mouth curved up into a smile, and she began to suck at him, gently at first then with greater intensity as he thickened and swelled in her mouth. Her hand fisted the root of him; the other massaged his sac until he was shuddering and jerking underneath her. He came in a torrent, groaning her name again and again as he shot into her warm, soft mouth and she swallowed his seed. ‘Jesus, Jesus…’

  She stood and spread her legs wide, and he clamped his hands on her round buttocks, his face seeking her sex greedily, his tongue sweeping along the soft peachy folds, lashing around her labia and clit. His teeth nipped at the sensitive bud, and he heard her gasp as his tongue plunged deep into her vagina. He stroked her clit as his tongue penetrated her, feeling it hardened and grow beneath his touch. God, this woman…she tasted of honey and salt, her musky perfume making his sense reel. His cock was responding, standing proud, and soon he could not help but stand, sweep her into his arms and carry her to their bed. He marveled at her caramel skin, the leather straps that dug into it slightly, plumping her breasts out, cutting into her fleshy hips, the pattern of them creating a frame for her navel.

  ‘My God, have you any idea how exquisite you are?’ He stood at the foot of the bed admiring her, his hand stroking his cock. ‘My darling, would you touch yourself for me?’

  Emory smiled and her hand caressed her breasts, her belly then down into her sex, her fingers stroking along the slick crevice, spreading the labia wide so he could see her. Luca’s cock grew ever thicker
as he watched her then finally when he could bear it no longer, he moved onto the bed, cover her body with his. Emory wrapped her legs around his hips, grinding her damp sex onto him.

  ‘Come inside me,’ she whispered, but he grinned wickedly.

  ‘You want this?’ He said gruffly and slid into her – but only an inch. She moaned in anticipation, and he laughed and withdrew to her groans of dismay. ‘Ask me to fuck you, Emory.’

  ‘Fuck me, Luca, fuck me hard…’

  He thrust deep into her, and she gasped as he slammed his hips hard against hers, his cock ramming so deep and thick that she came almost immediately. Luca buried his head in her neck as he came again, shooting thick, creamy cum deep into her belly…

  Luca groaned now as he remembered that night. ‘Please come back to me, baby…’ he whispered, but when he finally slept, all he dreamed of was bullets and blood and Emory, his beautiful, sensual, ethereal Emory, falling backward into the endless depths of Elliott Bay and disappearing forever.

  Clementine had heard nothing from Maximo in days, not since the night Bree was released. As Luca had taken Bree to the waiting cab, she had taken Maximo’s hands. ‘Thank you, Maximo, I mean it. I will be forever grateful.’ She looked over to Ray Grace, still snarling and trying to wriggle free of his much bigger captors. ‘What will you do with him?’

  Maximo gave her a chilly smile. ‘In the end, it is Luca’s decision. We will keep this scum somewhere he won’t ever escape from. His stay will be less than five stars; I can assure you.’

  The look in his eyes made Clem shiver a little, and he noticed. Drawing her away from everyone, he met her gaze. ‘Bella Clementine, we have had a wonderful time together. But I am a realist. You are not ready for what I need, and I do not have the time to wait around in this country. My business calls me home. You always have an open invitation to come to my home on Lake Garda, or my apartment in Rome. But for now, be with your family. They need you.’

  He kissed her cheek, and she watched him walk away, a mix of emotions swirling inside of her.