Evergreen: An Alpha Billionaire Romance

by Michelle Love

  Three men looked at me as I came into the balcony area. One came to me right away and said, “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Sneaking in here?”

  “No, I’m not sneaking, I’m looking for Lucas Montgomery. Have you seen him?” I asked as I peered around.

  “He was up here a little while ago. He took a woman down to dance. He might be down there somewhere,” the man told me then took a step back to allow me access to the balcony.

  I could see the entire downstairs area and that’s when I saw the blonde woman fighting with Lucas in a dark corner. He was holding the side of his head as she pointed around and it looked as if he was confused.

  Finally, he started walking away from her and coming toward the stairs to come up to the balcony. She was following him and trying to hang onto him but he was looking very determined to get away from her.

  I saw her reach into her purse and in a flash of gold, she hit him on the side of the head with what looked like a set of brass knuckles. He stumbled a little and shook his head. She pulled back to hit him again as he was looking on the wrong side of him for who had hit him.

  But he regained enough balance to move forward and she missed him the second time. I waited for him to come up to me as he was effectively losing the woman as he made his way to the staircase. Then the door I had come in opened up and a large man was looking at my bare feet.

  He made a few quick strides and had me in his arms quickly. “You’re going back out the way you came, lady!”

  I struggled and yelled, “I’m with Lucas Montgomery! Put me down!”

  He didn’t do what I asked, though. Instead, he took me all the way out and all the way to my car before he placed my feet on the ground. “This is not a place for you to park, miss. Get in the car and get the hell out of this area. Now!”

  “But, I need to wait for Lucas!”

  He opened the car door I had left unlocked with my keys in the ignition and crammed me back into my car. “Leave this area now or I’m getting the police.”

  So I decided to just do as he said. I didn’t see Danny anywhere to get him to corroborate my attachment to Lucas so I decided it would be best just to go out to his estate and wait for him to show up.

  As I drove back to the front parking area to leave the club, I saw that blonde bitch in the red dress coming out and making her way to the car Torrence and Cecelia were in.

  Something just went insane inside of me and I threw the car into park and jumped out of it, racing to the woman who had no idea I was coming for her, I shrieked, “I know what you’re doing! You’ll never get away with it!”

  Then I saw Torrence getting out of the little blue car and he shouted, “We have to get her before she tells Lucas!”

  Suddenly the blonde woman, Torrence, and Cecelia were coming toward me, and Torrence had what looked like a bat in his hands. So I turned tail and ran back to my car and squealed past them, out of the parking lot. But Torrence managed to get one hit to my car with the bat. It broke my right headlight and now I was down to only one and I was driving as fast as I could.

  In the rearview mirror, I saw them all getting back into the car and I was their new target for the night. It was me who could end their whole scheme and they were hauling ass in a car that was much faster than my little four-cylinder job.

  It took no time at all for them to catch up to me. Then a gunshot made me jump and I couldn’t believe what I saw when I looked into the rearview mirror. Cecelia was leaned out of it, holding a handgun.

  I was fucked!

  Chapter 4

  Lucas

  My head hurt like a son of a bitch and I had argued with that little tramp, Veronica, as I was sure she was the one who hit me but she insisted she hadn’t. She told me there was some man who came out of the crowd and did it. She said she saw him and proceeded to pull me through the crowd to find him.

  Something wasn’t right and I could feel it. And all I could think about was getting to Sloan. As we got to a remote corner of the club, Veronica stopped leading me to the supposed man who had hit me and turned around. “Let’s just get out of here. I can’t find him. Come on. We can take my car.”

  With a frown, I said, “No. I’m going home. Without you.”

  I pulled away from her and found her hanging onto me like some kind of a freak as she shouted, “No! You’re coming with me!”

  Ignoring her, I easily kept walking then I finally felt her hand leave my arm. But only seconds later I was punched in the side of the head again. I looked back quickly and saw no one. The punch seemed way too hard to have come from her but I wasn’t going to take any chances. I ducked a bit and hurried to get to the stairs and away from the crazy woman.

  My head was pounding from the two shots to it and I was stumbling most likely from the over consumption of the alcohol and the two hard blows. But I finally made it up the stairs and went to the exit door.

  Three guys were hanging near it and one of them reached out and touched my arm. “Hey, you’re Lucas Montgomery, right?”

  “Yes,” I said but shook him off and tried to keep walking.

  “There was a woman looking for you,” he said, making me stop.

  “Black wig?” I asked.

  He nodded. “But a bouncer carried her back out of here.”

  I pointed at the door not far from me. “Through there?”

  He nodded and I hurried out the door and down the stairs. As I pushed open the exit door, I saw the car we’d taken to the club but I didn’t see Danny. As I tried to open the door, I found it was locked.

  “Fuck!”

  I took my phone out and called Danny but it went straight to voicemail. I didn’t feel like waiting around to find out what the fuck Danny had done so I called a cab, pissed as hell at how the entire night was going. Then I called Sloan and found I was still blocked. An idea popped into my head and when the cabbie got there, I asked if I could use his personal cell phone. After giving him a hundred for his trouble, he gave it to me and I tapped in her number.

  It rang and after the second ring, she answered. “Sloan Whitlock here. I’m in a situation and can’t talk right now.”

  I heard a gunshot then she screamed, “Shit!”

  There was a series of bumps and rumbles then the phone went dead. My heart stopped. What the hell was going on?

  I gave the cab driver Sloan’s address and prayed that whatever was happening to her I’d find her on the way to her house. Then I thought I had better call the police too. I did hear gunfire and that should make it a top priority.

  To be sure it was taken care of, I called Detective Allen. He sounded worried as he answered his cell, “Detective Allen, here.” I could hear jostling and then the sound of car keys jangling then the sound of his engine starting up.

  “This is Lucas Mont-“

  “Montgomery! Where are you?” he asked as I heard his tires peeling out of wherever it was he was leaving in a hurry.

  “I’m on my way to Sloan Whitlock’s apartment. I think she’s in trouble, I heard a gunshot when I called her but I lost the call.”

  “She called me, I’m on my way to her. I need you to go to the police station and stay there. I’ll call the dispatcher and tell her to put you in my office until I have this all dealt with,” he said as I heard more squealing tires.

  “What’s going on?” I asked as I couldn’t even think straight.

  “I can’t talk. I have to drive. I have to get to her. I’ll bring her to my office if she isn’t hurt.” He ended the call.

  I didn’t know what to think or how to make things better. “Take me to the police station instead,” I told the cabbie. Then I saw a police car careening down the road that intersected the one we were traveling down. “Follow that car!”

  “The police car, sir?” the cab driver asked. “Are you sure?”

  I took out another hundred and dropped it on the seat next to him. “Yes, and if you can manage to stay close to him, I’ll give you another when we get to where he
’s going.”

  The cabbie floored it and my phone rang. It was Danny. “Boss!” he said as I answered the phone.

  “Danny, where the fuck are you?” I growled at him.

  “Someone grabbed me. It took me a while but I got away. It was a couple of guys and I’m pretty messed up, Lucas. But I’m alive. I need to go to the hospital, though. I have a stab wound in my left side and another on my arm where I was trying to fend them off.”

  “What the fuck is going on?” I shouted. “Fuck! Do you have an ambulance coming for you?”

  “I’m in the car. I’m going to drive myself. Sorry about the blood, Lucas. I promise to clean it up,” he said but his voice was weak. I knew the man was strong as an ox but blood loss is stronger than any man.

  “Pull over and call the ambulance, Danny. Do it!” I told him.

  He made a little sigh then said, “I’ll pull into this parking lot. I’ll lock the car up and take the keys with me. I’ll come back and get the car as soon as they let me out.”

  “God damn it, man!” I snapped. “Don’t worry about that fucking car! I have tons of them. Call the ambulance then your wife and tell that mean bitch to get up there so she can be with you. Let me know what hospital they take you too so I can come up there as soon I have this other shit dealt with.”

  “Do I hear a siren, Lucas?”

  “You do. I’ll tell you all about it once I know what the fuck it’s about. Now make the call, Danny.” I ended the call before he could stall anymore.

  Whoever was doing all of this was going too far. Going after my girl, my driver, and I think there was someone in that club after me. I never thought anyone would go to this length to ruin me. And why all the other people in my life.

  I knew I needed to make one more phone call to let Torrence know what was happening. So I made that call and found him not answering me which was not like him at all. Before I could put the phone back in my pocket, it rang.

  It was Torrence. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

  “Someone stabbed Danny,” I said, hastily. “There seems to be someone after Sloan too. I think someone was after me at Club 9. And I’d like to know where my security is.”

  “Just calm down, Lucas,” he said with a slightly aggravated tone which pissed me off even more.

  “Calm down?” I shrieked at him. “You have no idea what’s happening. Sloan is on the run from someone. She called the police and they’re on their way to help her.”

  “They are?” he asked then I heard the phone make a clicking noise and I couldn’t hear a thing. I knew he had put his phone on mute. Then there was another click when he came back on. “I need you to get somewhere secure. Maybe the person who’s been after you has gone off the deep end. Your office is the most secure place I can think of. You need to get over there as quickly as you can. I’ll come to you.”

  “No, I have to find Sloan. I’ll be fine. I need you to try to find out who the hell is chasing her. I also need you to find out who the hell grabbed my driver and stabbed him.”

  “Danny was stabbed?” Torrence asked and I could tell he was speaking between gritted teeth.

  “Yes, once in the side and on his arm. He’s called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. Whatever this person wants from me, I need to know before anyone else gets hurt. If something happens to Sloan, I’ll stop at nothing to make sure whoever is doing this meets their end,” I said, seething with anger.

  “Look, I know you’re mad, Lucas. But you need to do what I’m telling you to. Go to your office,” he said and then I heard a sneeze. A female sneeze.

  “Who’s with you?” I asked.

  “No one,” he said and his answer made me more than a little suspicious.

  “I’ll call you later,” I said and ended that call before he could say anything else.

  I knew something wasn’t right. And I knew I had to get to Sloan. So we continued to follow the detective and I sat back and let my brain go to work on what the hell was happening and how I could stop it all before someone got killed.

  My cell rang again and I saw it was from Danny’s phone so I answered it, “How are you, buddy?”

  It was his wife and she was screaming at the top of her lungs, “What the hell have you gotten my husband into? He’s being taken into surgery and I swear to you Lucas Montgomery, I’ll own everything you have if he dies for being involved with you!”

  “Surgery?” I asked as my heart sank with the news.

  “Yes!” she shrieked like a banshee. “What kind of shit are you into that has the people around you in danger? Shit! That poor young woman who you merely looked at in that club was nearly kidnapped just for that, Danny told me! So you better straighten your shit out or it’ll be me who you have to worry about and I won’t hide it. I’ll just show up with a gun and blow your head off to stop anything else from happening to my husband. Do you hear me, Montgomery?”

  “Fuck! Who didn’t?” I told her. “I’m trying to take care of it. I’m going to tell the detective to keep an officer with Danny until this is settled. Make sure only a uniformed officer is guarding him and check the man’s badge and make sure the name matches his ID. We can take no chances.”

  Her voice went soft as I could hear tears in her voice as she said, “Lucas, if anything happens to him, it will kill me. Please find out who’s doing this and make it stop. I’m begging you.”

  “I will, I promise,” I told her then ended the call.

  The lights from the police car pulled to the side of the road and stopped. “Pull up right behind him,” I told the cabbie.

  “What is there’s shooting?” he asked with a quivering voice.

  “Then duck,” I said. “I’ll pay for any damages that might occur to your cab.”

  “Fuck the cab! What about damages to me?” he said.

  “You too,” I told him as he pulled to a stop behind the vehicle and I got out of the car.

  Only Sloan’s car was in front of the police car and she was bailing out and falling into Detective Allen’s arms as she sobbed. My whole body tingled with shock as I saw blood pouring down her arm.

  Chapter 5

  Sloan

  I had no idea I had been shot until I felt the blood trickling down my arm. I was sure it was just a flesh wound as there was no pain until I saw the blood, that is.

  Once my eyes took in the red line making its way to my hand, which gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles were white, I felt a burning sensation near my shoulder.

  Thankfully, not long after that, Torrence took a sharp left for some reason and I was left alone. I pulled over and started crying like a baby until the police car came up behind me. When I saw it was Detective Allen, I got out of the car and fell into his arms.

  Then I heard a man’s voice and looked up to find Lucas standing there. “Baby,” he said.

  I pulled out of the detective’s arms and fell into Lucas’ and cried out, “It’s Torrence, Cecelia, and the little tramp you were with who were after me!”

  Lucas’ arms tightened around me as I heard the detective say, “I’m calling an ambulance for her. And I’ll get a team looking for Torrence.”

  “The car is blue,” I said as I turned my head away from Lucas’ chest.

  Lucas shushed me and his hand ran over the wig and he pulled it off then pulled the stocking cap off me and used his fingers to comb my hair. “It’s okay now, baby. I have you now.”

  “Lucas, I know who it is. I know who’s behind the whole thing,” I said through choked sobs.

  “Good, baby. Let’s get you to the hospital and taken care of then you can tell me and the detective everything,” he said then picked me up and held me like a baby as I cried on his shoulder.

  “I’ve never been more afraid,” I said.

  His lips pressed against the side of my head. “I know, baby. You hush now. Just rest. No one will ever hurt you again.”

  I tried to move my arm to run it around his neck but pain radiated all the way down i
t and I shrieked with the pain. “Fuck!”

  “Keep it still, Sloan. You’ve been shot. You need to keep it still,” he said with such a soothing tone it made me feel better.

  “I’m sorry, Lucas,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for not giving you a chance to explain things to me. Can you ever forgive me?”

  “I already have. Do you think you can forgive me for bringing all this down on you, merely because I stared at you in that club one night?” he asked with a chuckle that shook his chest.

  “I already have,” I said. “I missed you more than I knew was possible.”

  “Me too, baby,” he whispered. “Promise me never to run off on me again.”

  “Never,” I said. “Does that mean you still want me? And our agreement?”

  “No,” he said.

  My heart stopped and my body started to ache. He didn’t want me anymore. He may have forgiven me but he didn’t want me anymore!

  I couldn’t speak as the ambulance pulled up and the paramedics had me on a stretcher in no time and in the back of the ambulance as Lucas stood there and watched with such sadness on his face it made me cry again. Not that I had stopped entirely.

  He came to the doors and leaned in. “I’ll take your car to the hospital. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Can’t you come with me?” I asked as one of the paramedics put a huge needle into the vein on top of my hand, making me wince with the pain.

  “Is he your husband or some other relative?” she asked me.

  “No,” I said as I looked at him.

  “No one but family is allowed, sorry,” she said.

  “I’ll take your car, Sloan,” he told me. “And don’t worry, I’ll get to you.”

  I closed my eyes as some medicine she’d put into the IV she’d just attached took me over. “Okay.”

  Suddenly, nothing mattered. I guess the medicine was a mixture of pain reliever and calming agent. Whatever it was, I was feeling very relaxed. Finally, I was calm and the crying stopped.