The police called them, asked them what the hell they were doing. Again, Emory learned that Dante’s money could buy anything.
All they had to do was wait.
Meanwhile, Emory told Dante that whatever happened, she would be going back to teach at Auburn, and before that she would attending the charity concert that Kizzie Kline was performing at. He was nervous at first then, when she allowed him to contact the head and offer security, he relented.
The night of the concert, feeling very aware of the two hulking bodyguards at her side, she hugged Stephen Harris and her colleagues who had survived the horror. Being back in the building was strange too. The office where David had attacked her, and where the police had killed him had been gutted (ha, she thought, me too) and repainted and was now a quiet reading room. Dante caught up with them and stopped her security to talk with them.
Every place someone had died was marked in a discreet but beautiful way, honoring them. Nowhere was David’s name, nowhere was Nick Petersen mentioned. Emory thought it ironic – here was she trying to erase Ray’s name. Proof here – it did work. The school was open again and functioning. It hadn’t been cowed. And neither am I, she thought grimly.
‘Hey, Ms.…um,’ she turned and saw Ethan Fonseca smiling at her.
‘Ethan, I think you can call me Emory after everything we’ve been through.’ She hugged him. ‘I heard you arranged this all.’
‘Kinda,’ he said shyly. ‘Kizzie and me, well, we’re close.’ Emory grinned at him.
‘I get it.’
Ethan laughed. ‘Look, she’s getting ready, or I’d introduce you. We’ll be starting soon.’
‘Hey, before you go, had Kizzie heard from Jesse? And Bree?’
Ethan’s smile faded, and he nodded. ‘Bree’s a mess, but they’re safe at least. All I know is that they are in – ‘
‘No. Don’t tell me,’ Emory said. ‘The fewer people that know, the better. Just…if you speak to them, tell them I love them.’
‘I will, thanks, Ms.…Emory.’
When the music began, Emory almost forgot everything else. Kizzie Kline, her cello between her knees was an emotional player, and the music poured from her instrument, sweet highs, and sensual lows. Emory leaned back against Dante, and he put his arms around her.
The whole room was entranced along with her, and she barely noticed when Dante told he was going to talk to security again. Overprotective, she said and smiled wryly. Was there such a thing anymore?
So lost in the music was she that it was only after her phone vibrated against her hip that Emory realized someone was calling her. She eased the phone out of her pocket and glanced at the screen.
Immediately her heart began to pound. Ray. She slipped from the concert hall out into the corridor and pressed accept.
‘Bitch.’
She gave a low humorless chuckle. ‘And hello to you, you murdering sack of shit.’
‘Who the hell do you think you are?’
This time, Emory laughed out loud, startling some people at the other end of the hallway. ‘Who do I think I am? You cocksucking motherfucker, you killed Luca and Tatiana. You shot me, and you’re asking who I think I am?’
She could hear his breathing, heavy and angry. Good, he was on edge.
‘Let’s finish this, Ray. You and me.’
‘Yes, let’s. You want to see your boyfriend again?’
No. She pushed the thought of Dante being with Ray away. He was safe. He was with her security guards…but now she could see them at the other end of the hall and Dante wasn’t with them.
Ray laughed. ‘See? Don’t play me for a fool, little girl. Remember when you were in the hospital the first time? After you’d left me? I took your key, Emory, I took the key to the cottage you were staying in and made copies. It’s been a very comfortable stay and very discreet, tucked away in this little corner. Shame on school security. You would have thought they would have learned their lesson but no. Not once did they search here.’
Emory felt terror build in her. No, please… ‘Seems your Dante Harper was more thorough. Came to check himself just a few minutes ago, in fact.’
Blank terror. ‘You touch him, I’ll…?’
‘What, Emory? You know how to end this. Come here. Now. Lose your bodyguard, and I’ll let him go. One of you will die tonight, Em. It’s up to you.’
Emory didn’t hesitate. Her security guards were almost at her. ‘I’m going to use the bathroom, I’ll be just a second.’
She counted on them not knowing which room was the bathroom. She slipped into the staff classroom where all her colleagues had died and pushed open the window. At the last moment, she had a thought, tapped out a message, left it unsent on the screen and left her phone. Then she climbed out of the window and dropped to the grass below. All she could think of was getting to Dante, not caring now if she lived or died.
She scooted across the schoolyard and onto the grounds, heading trough the darkness to the small cottage. Why hadn’t she thought of it? Now, it was so obvious but God… Her breath was coming in panicked gasps.
Please, hang on Dante, I’m coming…
Inside the school, her security team was starting to get antsy. One of them was about to walk down to the room she was in when someone called his name. He turned – and Dante Harper, his boss, spoke to him.
‘Where’s Emory?’
The two security guards looked at him then each other. ‘Bathroom, boss.’ One of them pointed down the corridor. Dante looked alarmed.
‘Bathroom’s back there.’ He started to run, down toward the room, and when he got into the room, he saw the window open and Emory’s phone on the desk. He picked it up and saw the message:
The cottage
Dante knew instantly that it was happening. Ray was here.
And Emory was delivering herself straight into his deadly trap.
Something inside of her knew that when she walked through this door, Dante wouldn’t be there and now, as she walked into the small cottage and faced her would-be-killer, she realized that she had never believed it, that she had used it as an excuse. She wanted to be face to face with this scumbag, wanted them to be one on one.
‘I suppose you think that aberration of an interview was funny?’
Ray stepped into her eye-line and she suddenly realized how diminished he appeared to her. Small. Rat-like. Disgusting. She was also surprised he wasn’t holding a gun. He saw her eyes flick to his hand and he grinned. ‘Seems you’re impervious to gunshot and besides, I want to feel your blood on my hands.’ From his pocket, he pulled a knife and waved it at her.
‘Do you think I’ll just take it like a good girl? That knife won’t be ending up in me tonight, Raymond.’
He laughed, but she didn’t crack. He stared at her. ‘You really believe that don’t you?’
She tugged the bottom of her t-shirt up, baring her belly. ‘See these scars? Survival. That’s what they stand for. And I’m going to keep surviving, Ray, because you are weak, pathetic man. A toddler, who shakes his baby fists in the air when he doesn’t get what he wants.’
Ray was staring at her bare skin, bloodlust in his eyes. ‘I’m going to add to those scars right now, Emory.’
She dropped her shirt as he advanced but stood her ground. ‘Try it, motherfucker, and see what you get.’
Ray grabbed her as she brought the flat of her hand up. She smashed it with all her strength against the bottom of his nose as the knife nicked her skin. Ray staggered back, roaring as his nose exploded with blood, but Emory wasn’t finished. She drew her leg back and smashed her foot into his groin.
‘Seriously? You gonna let a girl beat you? Didn’t expect that, did you?’ She ripped the knife from his hand and held under his chin just as Dante and the security guards burst into the room. Emory, half-crazed with anger, didn’t let go of the knife. Ray whimpered.
Dante crept forward. ‘Baby?’
‘Dante, back off.’
He did as she asked
as Ray shook his head, panicked now Emory bent down so that she could look Ray in the eye. ‘This is for Luca.’ And she rammed the knife into his throat.
Emory stood as Ray gurgled his last, his blood pumping from him as his hands flailed uselessly at his torn throat. She took a deep breath in and turned to Dante. She noted with satisfaction the look in the guards’ eyes – admiration.
‘You got some balls,’ one of them said, and she laughed.
Dante looked as if he were in shock. Emory pressed her lips against his. ‘I love you. That’s all that matters now.’
And she took his hand and led him out of the room.
Four months later…
Emory looked at the judge as he came into the courtroom and felt nervous. The jury was already in, waiting expectantly. Dante reached over and took her hand, and she smiled over at him. He traced his thumb over the platinum band on her ring finger, and she could see the love in his eyes. On her other side, Zea Azano-Newlan and her handsome husband waited to hear the verdict.
‘Would the jury foreperson please read the verdict?’
It seemed to Emory that the whole place was holding its breath as the female foreperson stood. She looked over to where Nick Petersen stood in the dock, then across the aisle to where Bree, Jesse, Kizzie and Ethan sat. Bree smiled at her and mouthed at her ‘Love you.’ Emory grinned back.
‘We the jury in the case of Washington versus Nicolas Petersen find the defendant guilty on all charges.’
Bedlam. So many cheering people as Nick Petersen was led away, cowering. Dante held Emory in his arms and kissed her passionately, not caring that they were in a courtroom. Emory gazed up at him with shining eyes.
‘Dante Harper…it’s finally over.’
‘You bet your sweet ass it is, Mrs., Harper,’ and she laughed along with him. Zea tapped her shoulder, her burgeoning belly bumping Emory’s hip. Emory chuckled as Zea rolled her eyes.
‘We’re all going to find a bar and get wasted to celebrate. Well, sadly not me, but at least you’ll have a sober person to take you all home afterward. Coming?’
Emory sighed happily. ‘Try and keep us away…’
And as she walked out of the courtroom, Emory finally knew she was free.
The End
The End
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A Billionaire’s Treasure
An Alpha Billionaire Romance
Complete Series
1-5
By Michelle Love
A Billionaire’s Treasure
An Alpha Billionaire Romance
Book 1
By Michelle Love
When he first laid eyes on her he knew she was the one. Her brown eyes, wavy hair, and plump lips painted a matte wine red. What first caught his eye was the smirk on her face when the teacher called out everyone’s name and she didn’t reply. As he watched her he wondered how she could be bold enough to sit in on someone else’s class.
He walked to the middle of the class with his hands behind his back and smiled. You could hear the silent whistles and occasional “omg’s” coming from the female students. All except for her, that was new for this charming older man. She didn’t even move her eyes up from her bag to see what was going on. The older man was caught off guard being as though he was always the center of everyone’s attention when he walked into the room. A woman has never not taken an interest in him, so this random student not giving him the time of day made him drawn to her and only her.
“Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Arsen Lockhart and here’s how I became a billionaire novelist”, the man announced before the class. As soon as the word “novelist” slipped out it was like something clicked inside of her brain. Her head popped up immediately and she began paying attention.
Lola Anderson. She was the epitome of stubbornness and ruination. Her only goal was to become a novelist so she never had time for relationships or even friendships. Besides one, that is. Lola has a best friend named Arabella Spencer and they’ve had an unbreakable bond since middle school. Lola was currently skipping her eight o’clock math class to spend time with Arabella and never expected that there would be a seminar. Who knew that this one day would be the start of something interesting.
They caught eye contact from across the room and from the moment he saw her he knew he had to have her. She bit down on her lip as she watched the much older man walk around the classroom. It was really a coincidence that on the day she skipped her class a great opportunity like this came about. There had to be a reason the universe pulled them together.
Lola
I began to feel very drawn to Arsen as he started his presentation. Despite being in college, no other guy had that certain type of confidence that he did. I examined the way he walked with his back straight and chin up, the way he spoke slowly making sure every word was articulate, and the way his eye contact burned holes straight through anyone’s head. He was the perfect guy, if I wanted one.
I quickly shook the thought of lust and started to take notes. He went into detail about how to market your novels for the age group that you want to sell to and that’s really where I struggled with my work, really trying to make them want my book in their home. He also owns a line of hotels across the country named after himself, The Lockhart. I wasn’t interested in any of that, though, the fact that this man was a novelist was really attractive to me. He told us about his daily routine and how strict the time period is for his workers, it showed how ruthless he was when it came to his work. He was stern and didn’t play with his work, a man who knew what he wanted and got it. What is this feeling? I fanned myself lightly and continued taking notes.
A half hour went by and the presentation was over. When Arsen went around to hand out his business card for whenever we needed to ‘contact him’, his smile melted the hearts of all of the female students. I fell victim of this feeling but I would never let that be known. When he handed me the card we made eye contact and there was this tingling feeling throughout my body. He winked and I was taken aback, feeling attracted but confused. I guess he noticed because he chuckled and moved on to the next row of students.
“What was that?” Arabella asked smiling. “He was totally just flirting with you”
I rolled my eyes and pulled my bag over my shoulder. “You’re over-analyzing things, Bella”.
“You like him!” Her eyes widened with excitement as she stared at me.
I raised an eyebrow trying to mask my nervousness and stood up from my seat. “I need coffee”, I forced out and left the room quickly.
I’m not sure how a simple gesture could get me to crack like that but it was strange, and I’ve never felt that before. I rushed out the class and straight to the coffee shop to clear my mind. I started to think about Arsen again as I waited in line. His suit was so nice, form fitting without a single piece of lint. His dark hair and piercing gray eyes.
“Hello! What can I get for you?” I heard faintly in my head. That confused me but I ignored it. “Excuse me!!”
I snapped back into reality and realized the barista was trying to get my attention. I laughed softly “Sorry about that, one large cup of vanilla hazelnut coffee please”.
The barista put in my order then told me my price. As I looked through my bag for my wallet I heard a familiar voice.
“I’ve got it, and add another large coffee, black” I saw a man extend his arm handing the barista a black card. Her eyes lit up at the sight of him and my body tensed up. All of my feelings from just 10 minutes ago came rushing back when I turned to see Arsen standing next to me with a smirk on his face.
; “You didn’t.” I spoke lightly then cleared my throat. “You didn’t have too”
“I wanted to, so I did” He chuckled and took his coffee from the barista and I did the same. “Let’s talk”
My eyes widened and he chuckled again and walked away to a table in the corner. Taking a deep breath, I followed him to the table and sat in front of him.
“You’re not afraid?” I asked.
“Of?” He furrowed his eyebrows.
“Being out in public without some sort of bodyguard or protection. You know... being a billionaire and all” I took a sip of my coffee and almost moaned at the warm liquid rushing down through my chest.
“I have nothing to be scared of…” He trailed off not knowing my name.
“Lola” I simply stated and stuck my hand out to shake his. He grabbed my hand and placed a kiss on it. I heard a girl gasp from the table behind us and I rolled my eyes.
“Too much?” He asked referring to the kiss.
I shook my head in disagreement. “Girls here are just annoying sometimes, but why did you want to speak with me?”
He smiled and took a sip of his coffee. He licked his lips and that made my stomach full of butterflies. “I saw you taking notes and I wanted to ask you what you thought about my seminar?”
Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Page 32
