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Chapter 4
Alpha
“Jasmineishere,boss,” Hector announced from the door to his office, and Alpha nodded to let her in, leaning back in his chair.
Jasmine, one of his newest sentinels and one of his best informers, entered the office with a serious look on her attractive face. He’d found her two years ago on the street outside one of his clubs, unconscious after getting beaten up by her father who’d been pimping her out, and he’d dropped her off at SLF to recover. She’d come to him afterward, wanting to work for him, and he’d taken her up. She was street smart, foxy, and had a non-threatening air about her, all of which made her the perfect set of eyes anywhere he wanted them.
“Boss,” she said in the way of greeting, taking a seat in the chair Zephyr had left. “There’s been another kill.”
Fuck.
“Who?” He couldn’t keep the gruffness out of his voice.
“A new girl, Mandy,” Jasmine informed him quietly. “She’d started working downtown last week. I told her to get in with AV, but she was wary.”
“Anything on her?”
Jasmine hesitated, before opening the bag she carried with her and taking out a black envelope. “I found this on my car outside her crime scene. The cops had arrived and there was a crowd so I don’t know who left it.”
Alpha took the envelope and placed it on the desk, giving her his undivided attention. “What’s the word on the street?”
“Girls are scared,” she admitted. “They all agree it’s a man, with the way they’ve been butchered. Most of the victims have been girls who wanted an out. Some of them had already put measures in place, some were about to quit. It’s keeping them in the profession out of fear, whether they want to be or not.”
He hated that. There was nothing that pissed him off more than someone putting a woman where she didn’t want to be.
“We’re getting flooded with registration requests.”
That was good for business and bad for the city, but he didn’t voice that.
“That’s all I got for now. I’ll check in next week. Hopefully, he doesn't hit before then. I'll also get an update from the department, see if the cops have anything new that can help us.”
Alpha gave her a nod. “Tell me if you need one of the guys with you.”
“It’s better if I work alone. Girls won’t talk to me with a guy lingering in the background.”
He understood that. Didn’t mean he had to like it.
She started to get up but hesitated. “The girl who was in here just before me, Zephyr?”
She knew her? He waited for her to continue, his curiosity even more piqued. Jasmine wasn’t one to gaff. If it wasn’t about work, she was usually on her way.
She hesitated again. “She need money?”
“No,” Alpha told her, still waiting for her to get to the point. “How do you know her?”
“I met her at SLF. Her sister works there, and she volunteers. She gave me this,” Jasmine touched her short, styled hair that concealed half of her facial tattoo, swallowing, emotion visible in her dark eyes. “Told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. My pa never let me cut it... it helped with the customers, he always told me. And that day, she just... chopped it. Made me feel beautiful for the first time. Clean. New. She gave me something that day, and I owe her. If she needs money or something, I’d like to help her out.”
Damn.After so many years of seeing the ugliness, nothing really moved him anymore. But listening to the little was his rainbow had changed this woman's life without possibly even realizing, earning herself an ally who would bat for her with a man like him, he was a bit moved. Alpha sat there, processing everything Jasmine was saying about the woman who had essentially proposed to him, making him even more curious. Would she do that to him too? Change his life, make him feel new about himself, earn his loyalty to the point he would look out for her? Could she? He was intrigued, and nothing really intrigued him anymore.
He contemplated Jasmine's words, wondering if maybe talking about her asinine idea would make it make more sense, before finally speaking. “She wants to marry me.”
“Oh.” Jasmine’s eyes widened before a little smile curled her lips. “No offense, Alpha, but you need a wife.”
“Excuse me?”
Jasmine leaned back. “If this was a fairytale, you’d have been the beast in the tower all alone, with your staff and your dogs, biting anyone who came close. I’ve seen the worst of people, and I didn’t know men like you existed until you saved me. You deserve something good, not to be alone up in that house of yours.”
Is that what everyone thought?
