Filthy Rich Alpha

by Virna DePaul

  “Yes, I know. What was his name?”

  “I didn’t get a chance to ask that. Sorry, Miss Michal. Another resident was picking up a delivery and when I looked up he was gone. Do you think he was your visitor? Hold on, please. May I help you?”

  A huge wave of relief washed over her when she heard Branden give his full name.

  “That’s him. Send him up.”

  “He has a friend with him.”

  Had to be Alex. “That’s fine.”

  The fear that had her half paralyzed made it hard for her to stand. She hugged the wall, keeping her gaze on the windows, ready to drop to the floor again.

  Reflexively, she looked at the building across the street. The black netting let the sunlight through the window openings in the facade. She could see some of the steel beams that had been left in place to hold up the walls. But there were no floors.

  A gust of wind lifted an unsecured part of the black netting from the gutted structure, revealing the steel-and-glass walls of the skyscraper Branden lived in. With nothing in between, it was possible to draw a direct line from his building to hers, something she hadn’t noticed before.

  But that wasn’t what troubled her most. There were no floors in the gutted building. There’d been nothing for her stalker to stand on to point a laser beam. How would he have positioned that heart for her to see?

  Maybe he hadn’t pointed the laser from the building across the street.

  Maybe he’d pointed it from her own.

  Pausing in front of Cara’s door, Branden turned to Dexter Howe, the man who’d been watching over Cara the past few days. “Don’t let anyone in here unless I approve it.”

  “I won’t, Branden. They’ll have to get through me first.”

  With a nod, Branden knocked.

  He’d barely been keeping it together as it was, but the instant Cara opened the door, pale and obviously scared out of her mind, he wanted to kill someone. “I brought back up.”

  Her tight expression seemed to relax somewhat when she saw Howe. “Not Alex?”

  He shook his head. “Not for this kind of work.” When he closed and locked the door, she retreated several steps, her arms crossed against her chest. She was trying to hold it together, just like him, but he could see she was shaking.

  “Cara, baby—”

  “He’s crazy and he wants to hurt you, Branden. He won’t leave us alone until he does. Oh, God!”

  Her knees buckled, but Branden grabbed her arm before she fell, holding her close to him. He pulled her into his body, wrapping her clumsily in his open coat, rubbing her back.

  “Take it easy. I got you,” he whispered.

  “He was in the lobby. Just before you got here. What if—”

  God, the bastard’s games had done their job. She was terrified, and truth be told, so was he. He couldn’t believe the man had talked to her. Had gotten so close to her. He blamed himself. He should never have allowed her to leave the protection of his building. Of his arms.

  It was a mistake he wasn’t going to make again.

  “You’re safe now.” He pressed a kiss against her tangled hair. “I’m not going to let him hurt you.”

  She pulled back and grabbed his coat by the lapels, shaking him. “You’re not listening to me. He’s fucking with me, yes, but you’re the one he’s after. He wants to hurt you!”

  He covered her hands with his. “And you don’t want him to. Why?”

  She tried to pull away but he wouldn’t let her. “What do you mean? I wouldn’t want anyone to be hurt. You’re my boss and—”

  “Don’t you fucking say I’m your lover, Cara, because that’s not all I am. And it’s high time the two of us admit that to one another. You care about me. Admit it.”

  “Fine! I care about you. I don’t really want to go on a vacation, not without you. And I don’t want to quit my job. I want to spend more time with you. I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know me. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

  “Fuck yes,” he growled before pulling her up on her toes and kissing her.

  Her taste exploded on his tongue and the tight knot that had been inside his chest ever since she’d told him she was leaving finally loosened. He was still tense, still worried and furious that someone was threatening her, but having Cara in his arms calmed him in a way nothing else could.

  He ripped his mouth away from hers. “I care about you, too, Cara. More than I’ve ever cared for any woman. I don’t know where things will wind up for us, but I promise you this. We’re going to find out, and that means I’m not going to let some sick bastard play his games with us any longer.”

  “You can’t stop him! You’ve been trying to find out his identity but have come up empty. He’s smart. He—”

  “He wants to meet me. So I’m going to meet him. This is going to end.”

  “No.”

  “Cara—”

  She cupped his face. “No, Branden. We just admitted we have feelings for each other and you think I’m going to let you walk into some death trap a madman has set up for you? Absolutely not. We’ll think of another way.”

  There is no other way, he thought. He remained silent. Because she was touching him, he could feel her still trembling. He could hear the way her voice rose as she talked, as if she was becoming hysterical.

  “Shh,” he said, rubbing his palms soothingly over her back. “I’m here. We’ll figure something out, but right now I’m here.”

  “That’s right. You are.” She buried her face in his chest and muttered, “And you’re staying here. With me.”

  Chapter 25

  An hour later, Branden was lying in Cara’s bed, holding her as she slept. She’d told him everything before she’d nodded off. It wasn’t a peaceful sleep, but rather one plagued by restlessness and nightmares. For the past fifteen minutes, however, she’d been sleeping soundly.

  In the meantime, Branden had been making plans.

  She stirred in his arms, and he held his breath, hoping she’d stay asleep. When her eyes flicked open, he grimaced at the sight of the dark circles under her eyes and the fear she still couldn’t quite mask.

  “What are you thinking?” she asked, quietly.

  “That you should be sleeping, not worrying what I’m thinking. You need your rest, Cara. That’s another thing someone has to pay for. I didn’t want you leaving but you deserved vacation time. Forget Niagara Falls. When this is all over, I’m going to take you away someplace warm and exotic. How does that sound?”

  “Like a pipe dream. But wait a second.” She frowned. “How did you know I was going to Buffalo? Did you have my travel plans investigated?”

  “More than that. I was all set to be on that plane with you today. I wanted you safe, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that you’d be safest with me. Maybe I was wrong—”

  She shook her head and laid a hand on his chest. “You’re not wrong. It took me a while, but I finally realized—whatever is happening, we have to stick close to one another.”

  He cupped a hand around her neck and drew her in to kiss her, his tongue sliding hotly against hers for several moments before pulling away.

  “You were cutting it close by going into work this morning, though. You might have missed our flight,” she teased him.

  “I couldn’t help it. I needed to see that video.”

  Slowly, she pulled away and sat up, and Branden did the same. “Wait. What? You knew the video was coming? How?”

  Branden reached into his shirt pocket. He pulled out a small plastic bag holding a folded torn-open standard envelope clipped to a sheet of white paper. “This came in the mail. The return address is bogus. I checked.”

  Cara read the single sentence, which wasn’t handwritten but printed. The envelope had a printer-made label and a freebie return-address label from some charity solicitation. The sender had used a Forever stamp. With a heart.

  Tune in tomorrow morning for more hot stuff. Not Workplace Appropriate, but that’s wher
e to find it.

  “So I went in, waiting for it. Unfortunately, my fingerprints are all over this envelope and the note, but there may be others. The envelope and the stamp are self-stick, but I’m going to ask Lee to have the whole thing checked for DNA traces anyway. Hell, maybe I’ll ask Mike Gaunt. You never know.”

  “Gaunt?”

  Branden set down the envelope and shifted until he leaned back against the headboard. Then he pulled Cara into his side. “I have to level with you. He’s an FBI agent—undercover. It’s funny that you picked up on it. He’s good at covering his tracks.”

  He felt the shock vibrating through her. “That’s not an explanation.”

  “Wait for it. Dubois & Mellan has been under suspicion for stock fraud. It’s a real can of worms. And no, Max Dubois never had anything to do with the scams. But they did happen while he headed up the firm and that’s why he decided to step down and sell. The SEC is investigating…with my help.”

  “Holy cow. So you’re a—what?”

  “The CEO. I don’t have a secret identity. I’m a financier. Name it, I’ve done it. I came up the hard way. Started as a stockbroker, moved into venture capital, hedge funds—”

  “You can skip the résumé. I Googled you when you took over.”

  He grinned. “Ah right. And saw my yearbook photo. Anyway, I really did buy Dubois & Mellan and I really do own it. But I don’t like running a dirty company. So when I heard the company was for sale, I checked with Deena to see if the SEC had any concerns over the company. They did. I agreed to work with them to figure out if there was anything illegal going on. Being the owner made the perfect cover.”

  “And Mike Gaunt?”

  “The FBI sent us Mike. He’s an expert on cyber fraud, which, given Deena’s expertise, was a bonus but not a necessity. Not exactly a fun guy, but we needed a pit bull and we got one.”

  Those cold eyes and thick neck—the description fit, but it wasn’t flattering to pit bulls. Cara hadn’t ever warmed up to Mike.

  “I generally use Alex and Lee when I need information,” he continued. “Frankly, I enjoy their company more, and Deena usually works with Mike.”

  “So Deena…What’s her role in all this?”

  There was a note of dread in her voice, one he was glad to finally be able to address.

  “She’s an SEC investigator. Has been for years. She’s also my stepsister, Cara. And she recently married the love of her life.”

  “Holy shit,” she said. “I hated her guts. I was so jealous of her, imagining…” She bit her lip.

  Branden reached out and rubbed her lip until she stopped. “You have no reason to be jealous of any woman in my life.”

  She blushed, and for the first time since he’d seen her again, her eyes sparkled. “Good.” The light in her eyes dimmed somewhat. “But what does all that have to do with our stalker?”

  “Someone must have realized what we’re doing and is trying to get to me. Through you. He—and by the way, I doubt he’s acting alone, though he may want me to think so—is probably not as crazy as he acts. That’s all I can say for sure right now.”

  “So you no longer think Davies is involved?”

  He shook his head and explained what had gone down with Alex. “Davies is being hunted as we speak. I have no doubt he’ll be taken into custody soon, but unless our stalker is someone who’s working for him, I think someone else is at work here.”

  Cara’s mind was reeling.

  She’d known Branden Duke was a financial genius, incredible lover, and overall good man, but he was more than that. He was a freaking hero. She felt like she’d walked into a movie.

  But that didn’t mean she was safe and there would be a happy ending, she reminded herself. It also didn’t mean that just because Branden was a hero he needed to handle what was happening here alone.

  She’d been doing a lot of thinking over the past hour as she’d rested in Branden’s arms. And what she’d been thinking was she wanted this. To relax with him, open up to each other, and explore what could develop between them when their lives weren’t consumed by safety and professional concerns.

  But that meant they had to deal with their stalker once and for all.

  And she’d come up with a plan to do so.

  The only question was whether Branden would go along with it.

  Slowly, she pulled out of Branden’s arms and stood up. He raised a questioning brow. She pointed at her phone and laptop, which they’d brought into the bedroom with them and placed on her dresser.

  “I want to do something,” she said. “But first, I need you to call Lee.”

  As Branden listened to Cara’s plan, he had to admit it was a good one; it was a long shot, yet posed no real physical risk to either of them. But if it backfired, there would be no going back—she would have handed the enemy the means to destroy her professional reputation and personal peace of mind. The fact that she was even willing to consider it made him realize just how much he did mean to her. She’d sacrifice everything she’d worked for in life rather than risk him being harmed.

  When she was done with her explanations, he shook his head. “No. I can’t let you do it, Cara. I know how much your privacy and reputation mean to you. We’ll think of something else.”

  “There is no other way. Please, call Lee. Trust me the way you’ve always asked me to trust you. Let me prove to you and myself that I’m strong, and that I’m not going to let my fears control me any longer. That I’m not going to let someone terrorize me and stop me from finally having what I want.”

  “And what is it you want, Cara Michal?”

  She smiled wide. “I want you, Branden Duke.”

  He hesitated. Read the certainty and clarity in her gaze. Then he picked up his phone. “And I want you. I always will.” He dialed Lee’s number.

  “Lee. Are you at D&M? Good. Because I need you do something important for me. You listening?”

  After he hung up with Lee, Branden watched as Cara walked to her dresser and opened up the laptop. She pointed it so the screen faced the bed. Then she bent down and stared into the screen.

  “You want to play games?” she taunted. “Let’s play. Because you’re not in control here. You said I couldn’t have Branden? Well, you’re wrong, and I’m going to show you how wrong. You’ve been creating fake videos of us. Now you can watch us firsthand. Record us. Do what you want with the video. You’re nothing. You’ll always be nothing. And most of all, you’re no threat to us.”

  When Cara turned away from the camera, Branden stood beside her. His mouth crashed down on hers and he kissed her, deeply and passionately. His tongue found hers as he stripped off her pants, leaving her standing with her back to the laptop, her bottom covered only by silver panties.

  Decent, but barely.

  Cara tried not to focus on the fact a creep might be staring at her almost-bare ass. The fact Branden’s kiss was getting deeper and his hands were running possessively across her lower back made it easier to forget.

  He grabbed her then, and suddenly tore open the buttons on her shirt, sending them flying across the room. Then he used the shirt to pull her forward against his chest and kiss her again. He pulled back and stared at her, his expression one of pure, unadulterated, animal lust. His chest heaved as he quickly unbuttoned his own shirt and shoved down his pants, keeping his boxers on. While he undressed, she shrugged her shirt the rest of the way off, leaving her bra on.

  Less decent, but still covered.

  He spun her around so they were in the same position they’d been in in that first CGI-enhanced video, with her back against his bare chest and his hands cupping her breasts. Unlike the CGI-enhanced video, however, she was clothed enough—if the creep did end up publicizing this video, she’d be able to rely on that, at least.

  Branden growled against her neck. They may be faking it for the video, but Branden’s response to her body was real—of that she was confident. She felt his throbbing erection pressing against her lower
back. She arched her back and stretched her neck, giving access to his searching lips, teeth, and tongue.

  Each lick and nibble sent a fresh jolt of electricity shooting down her spine, all the way to her toes. He kissed a trail of hot breath and cool tongue down her neck to her collarbone. Flipping her back to him, he began to work his way down her chest.

  He raised his head, looked into her eyes, and said, “You’re mine, Cara.”

  He stroked her face, then leaned in close to her ear. “He’s had enough visual for now, don’t you think?” He tore his shirt off, then threw it, as if casually tossing it aside, but instead making sure it landed on the laptop.

  Now the creep could hear them, but not see them.

  Even as they were setting up the man, Brandon was protecting her.

  And she loved it.

  “I want you, Cara,” he said harshly.

  “I need you, Branden,” she said in response. A simple statement, but one that carried weight. That held meaning.

  He turned until he faced her laptop.

  “Nothing,” he said, repeating her earlier words. “And no one. No one will take this from us, Cara. I’ll fucking kill anyone who tries.”

  Then he strode naked to the laptop and slammed the lid down. He immediately returned to Cara, sat on the bed, and kissed her temple. Pushing back her hair, he held her gaze. “I wasn’t just playing for an audience, Cara. I meant every word I said.”

  She felt a wave of pleasure, bordering on orgasmic, at the sound of his words. Unable to stop herself, she kissed her way down his chest, stopping to lick both of his nipples before allowing her mouth to travel lower to its intended destination. He was still wearing his boxers, and she nuzzled her face against the soft cotton, causing his cock to twitch and jump violently.

  As she kissed the head of his dick through the cotton material, she ran her hand up his thigh and into the bottom of his boxers. Her fingers carefully found his testicles and she began to tug and roll them slightly between her fingers. Branden moaned as she wrapped her other hand tightly around the shaft of his cock while her mouth continued to nuzzle him.