AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“The pretty little betasitter is all alone? We can’t have that. I’ll join you.” I blinked up at Alphonse Dubois, who was wearing a too-tight pair of Hawaiian-print swimming trunks, a stack of gold chains over a hairy barrel chest, and… nothing else. I peeked at the ground. Well, he had on leather flip-flops. As I scrambled for something to say, he lowered himself onto the cushioned bench next to me.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that. I was just heading out.”
“No, I know you must be lonely. You and me, we’re not like these others. Billionaires, so spoiled they don’t know how to wipe their asses without a butler and a maid holding the roll.”He laughed, like he'd told a great joke. I tried to laugh as well, then took a breath to excuse myself, but Alphonse slid closer.
I wasn’t stuck in the corner—there was another way out—but I felt trapped. Suddenly, my coffee tasted bitter and rancid. He waved at the waiter to bring him some, and I took the opportunity to scoot away slightly. The alpha’s presence felt like a threat, but his smell… between the rocking of the boat and the cloud of funk that was now roiling around me, I worried I might get to see what perfectly scrambled eggs looked like the second time.
I held my breath, a closed-mouthed smile pasted on, while Alphonse drank his coffee and stared at me. It made my skin itch.
“So, what’s your angle, sweet thing?” His mid-Atlantic accent had faded somewhat. Now it had a hint of Jersey Shore.
My eyes met his bloodshot ones, and I swallowed hard. “What do you mean?”
He rubbed a hand over his stubbled chin. “What are you on this boat for?”
“For a job,” I said quietly. “For money.”
“Yeah. Yeah, I get that. But sniffin’ around Giovanni? That won’t do you any good. He’s been through the wringer. He knows about women like you.”
“Like me?”
“Omegas, looking for a sugar daddy.” My cheeks flamed, and he snickered at my obvious shock. “You could bathe in that perfume you’ve got on, but it still can’t cover up your delicious little scent. What’s your game, little girl?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’ll excuse me…”
“I’m not judging you. I get it.” His meaty hand gripped my arm as he leaned close, speaking low. “Listen, sweets, I don’t know why you would get on a yacht this close to your heat, but if Grantham won’t help you out, I’ll make sure you don't have to suffer alone, eh? Just keep it our secret.”
“You… I’m not—” I spluttered, trying to pull away, but he tightened his grip. My stomach lurched. “Let me go.”
But he didn’t. Rain was right; my tai chi wasn’t going to help me now. And I had left my pepper spray in my room.
I only had one way to defend myself. One weapon. So I inhaled as much of his musky, hot cabbage smell as I could, and used it.
Chapter7
Grumpy
“What the hell is shedoinghere?” I said aloud, not for the first time, as I read the report Storm had sent that morning. The words on the built-in screen on the mahogany tabletop mocked me.
…engaged to be married to Tarquin Gotto-Cambert, heir of Cambert Comestibles, reported to the Georgetown police as missing this morning… tracked her phone signal to your location… parents are demanding her return…
The words blurred. I’d already ordered Storm to inform both her parents and the police that she had been brought on board as a temporary employee, and sent copies of the contract she’d signed to allay the authorities’ suspicions, as well as the video of her embarking the boat.
Video. I had promised myself I would stay away from her, but I needed to see her. Make sure she was well.
Apologize for being such an unbelievable asshole the night before.
No, that wasn’t happening. I had to stay pissed at her, or keep her angry at me, or I’d be in her room again in minutes, trying to see what the vivid dreams that had kept me up in more ways than one last night would feel like in the real world. How she would feel, wrapped around me.
Slamming the door on the way out of my private office, I stalked to the security room down the hall. “Sir?” My head of security greeted me as I walked in. “You said to keep an eye on Dubois. See if he made inappropriate advances to any of the au pairs on board?”
“Yes?” I snapped out, glad of the distraction. This was what I needed to focus on, not the alpha chaser. Alphonse Dubois, who I knew in my gut was a con artist. Possibly worse.It seemed too much to hope for, but I prayed he would slip up in the traditional way of unworthy grooms. “Is he in one of their rooms? I’ll make sure Lore sees—”
“No,” the man said, pointing to a screen. “He’s in the smaller dining room with one, but he hasn’t made his move. Although… Yes, here we go. He’s touching her.” I leaned over the monitor and saw him.
And Soleil.
I couldn’t see her face, but his was a study in lust. His eyes dropped to her chest, his tongue moving over his lips as if he planned to kiss her.
