7 Degrees of Alpha (a collection of seven new BWWM, Alpha Male Romances) (27 page)

“So what’s your plan to clean this shit up?” Andrew asked.

Spencer shrugged. “What do you expect me to do? I mean, I tried to help her and when I knew I couldn’t, I told her to find someone else that could. I sent her in the right direction; that’s all I was able to do for the girl. I wouldn’t go near this with a ten-foot poll, and anyone that represents her from here on would be committing career suicide. Do you know Michaels is Downs’ attorney? That’s why I’m trying to warn you, Pierce. I know you are good, but going up against Michaels
and
the Downs’? I mean, can your reputation withstand this? It’s really fucked up. Look, man, take my advice and let this go. I heard Michaels gave her a chance to save face and make this situation better for all parties. Just advise her to take the deal and be done with this.”

“Oh, so, I should just let her give up the rights to her child to Downs? I don’t fucking think so.” Andrew stood. “I want everything you have on this case sent to Bertha within the hour. It shouldn’t be much since you haven’t done shit but fuck a good person.”

Spencer rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Yeah, I wish.”

Andrew’s features frowned and Spencer wisely pushed himself against the window behind him. He inquired quickly, “So, you’re taking her case? You’re doing it pro bono?”

Andrew ignored him and added, “Don’t let me have to come back here if I don’t have all the information I need in my hand in the next fifty-six minutes.”

Spencer’s meaty neck shook as he nodded. “Oh, you’ll have everything you need.”

Andrew moved to the office door, then turned and said, “Oh, and Spencer, if I find out you were involved in this shit deeper than what you told me, I will break your fucking neck, understand?”

Spencer replied, nodding his head quickly, “Perfectly.”

Forty minutes later, Bertha, his assistant, bounded into his office with a slim folder in her hand and slammed it on his desk.

“What’s the meaning of this? I hear you’re doing work for free? What’s in it for you?”

Bertha Swan had been Andrew’s assistant for years.  She’d been with him and seen him through a lot of difficult issues in his life.  She and Andrew’s relationship was different.  They were more like brother and sister than employee and employer. Bertha was the utmost professional at doing her job, however.  She had Andrew running like a well-oiled machine. However, when they were alone, she had no problems lighting into him like she was doing now.

When Andrew first met Bertha, he was astonished at how her name didn’t match her physical appearance at all, but it fit her loud voice and big personality. Bertha was a very attractive woman with light brown skin and long hair that she always kept in a tight ponytail or bun.  She was tall; about as tall as Andrew with her heels on. She had a figure that any woman would kill to have.  

Andrew took the folder that she’d slammed on the desk and opened it.  The first thing he saw was a picture of Nyla and a beautiful light-brown skinned little girl with light brown, curly hair.

Bertha folded her arms over her breasts. “When do you think you’ll have time to do pro bono work?”

“I’ll make it work,” he told her as he kept his eyes on the photo. 

He could see the resemblance between mother and child, but he didn’t see Robert anywhere in the little girl’s features. As his eyes studied the picture, he still felt that passionate magnetic pull toward Nyla. He also felt the happiness radiating from her eyes just by looking at this picture.

Unfucking believable.

“Earth to Andrew.”

Andrew pulled his attention from the woman in the picture and looked at the angry one before him.

“Can you please explain to me when you started back working on child custody cases?”

“Since right now,” he replied, finally removing the picture in order to start reading the file.

“So it’s true?” she asked him.

Andrew looked up puzzled. “What’s true?”

“That you have lost your god damn mind!”

“No, Bertha, I haven’t.” he breathed exasperatedly. “This is just something I have to do.  It’s a sensitive case, and she needs me.”

“Oh,
she
needs you?” Bertha challenged.

Andrew realized the implication of what he said and looked up into Bertha’s questioning brown eyes.

Andrew leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath.  Another job Bertha had was keeping him in line when he was teetering on the crazy and insane. Their relationship gave her the means to call him on his shit without reproach. She knew all of his secrets, even the dark ones. He tried to run her off like he did the others when he lost his wife, but Bertha hadn’t budged. She stayed by his side no matter what happened, and he loved her for it.

Andrew didn’t reply to her. His eyes simply conveyed what his mouth didn’t. The softening of Bertha’s face told him that she got it.

She sat down in one of the chairs facing his desk. “Tell me,” she said simply.

So he did.  He told her everything, from the moment he saw Nyla a month ago, how he continued to go to the diner every morning just to see her, and how he’d been unable to think of anything else but her. He described the connection he felt with her and how he’d barely summoned the control to keep himself from claiming her.

Bertha watched her boss talk about this woman with a fire in his eyes she hadn’t seen in a very long time.  She was just as shocked by his behavior as he was. Bertha knew a lot about his marriage to the one woman Andrew believed was his lifeline. When he lost her suddenly, he lost himself too. He claimed he would never be the same again but as she sat before him, that clearly wasn’t true.

Bertha asked, “Do you believe she had no idea Robert was married?

Without hesitation, Andrew nodded. “I do.  You don’t know her, Bertha.  I can see Robert taking advantage of her completely, making her think she was special and only using her for shit only knows what.”

Bertha rolled her eyes. “Oh, I know what, and if you’d like, I can tell you so you’ll know too.”

Andrew put his hands up. “Ah, no thank you. It was a figure of speech.”

Bertha smiled and shook her head. “You know this is going to be a fight, right?”

Andrew nodded, bringing his steeple fingers to his chin, “Yes, I know it is.  It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Yes, but will she be able to?” Bertha said pointedly, and he paused a bit. He knew he could protect her and knew he would do anything it took to do it.

“I’ll protect her.  She won’t be a casualty here and neither will her daughter. I can handle this.”

Bertha scoffed. “You can handle this?
Please
. You couldn’t handle lame ass Spencer telling you the shit that he heard about her without you choking him out. If this ever went to

court-”

“This wouldn’t make it to court.”

“Yeah, but think about it. What would happen on the off chance it did? There would be bodies left in your wake all because someone implicated something about her that you didn’t like.”

Bertha could see the rage fueling within him, threatening to come out that very moment. His eyes suddenly took on a different form and quickly changed colors before they went back to their natural state.

Bertha wasn’t afraid of Andrew; she was more afraid of what he may do if he ever lost control.

“Andrew, I know you know what you’re doing. My concern is the fact that you have deeper feelings for this woman, more than you clearly had with Mikaliah, I really think you need to take a pause here.”

Andrew frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

She sighed. “Just hear me out, okay? You almost lost it three times because of this woman. Two times you almost killed three people in cold blood, and even though they all probably would have deserved it, no one would understand. She has a hold on you. You haven’t let the darkness consume you in a very long time. If you even saw someone bump into her by accident, you’d probably lose your damn mind. That’s emotionally involved, Andrew. You’re too close to this. You need to step back and give this to someone that you trust.”

Andrew tried his best to remain calm. Bertha was only telling him what he knew deep down to be true.

“And who do think I should illicit help from?” he asked.

Bertha smiled and folded her arms over her chest. “Baby, the fact that you’ve asked that question tells me you are not playing with a full deck.” She stood. “Look, you are the best at this very thing. Playing dirty is your specialty, so I know you can make sure Downs doesn’t hurt your girl or put his greedy little hands on that precious baby. I also know you will make Michaels eat shit and die. But you could do even more damage by getting the help of a certain woman that you know to make sure Michaels and Downs get exactly what they deserve.”

Andrew couldn’t help the shit-eating grin that suddenly appeared as he understood exactly what Bertha was implying.

“Yeah, I think you have a point. Get her on the line will you?”

Bertha smiled. “With pleasure.”

“Lori, I’m not in the fucking mood,” Andrew barked as he removed Lori’s hand from unzipping his pants.

They were sitting on the couch in his office. He was nursing a scotch, and Lori was trying her best to get Andrew aroused.

Lori would typically wait until after work hours, and after his cock-blocking assistant left for the day, to see him. Andrew worked late the majority of the time. Other than meeting him at the diner in the mornings, this was the only other time she got to see him. If she wanted to get to him, get some from him, she had to go to him.

She knew A.P. never minded her unexpected, late night visits to his office. It didn’t matter what he was doing, the minute she walked into his office, he was on her, ripping at her clothes, trying to get to her. She loved his hunger and insatiable nature. He was a fantastic lover. She did want more from him besides sex, but she would also take whatever she could get. He was just
that
good.

However, tonight he wasn’t biting. She’d arrived at his office wearing a trench coat, heels and nothing else, and yet he hadn’t touched her.

Lori frowned and leaned away from him. She knew something was going on with him. No matter the man’s mood, he was always put together. His blonde hair was always neatly in place. He kept his suit jacket on while he worked in his office most of the time.  If he did take off his jacket, or his tie, his shirt would remain neatly tucked into his pants. However, when she walked into his office, Andrew’s jacket was strewn across one of his chairs facing his desk. His tie was gone, and his shirt was hanging loosely around his hips, completely unbuttoned. His hair was tousled from the continuous raking of his hands through his locks, which made him walking sex and had her dripping with need.

Yes, something just wasn’t right. A.P was the epitome of control, but right at this very moment, she noticed, for the first time, that control was nonexistent. He was tense and distracted. He needed to relax and get refocused. This was her chance. She would prove to him that she could be the woman he’d been looking for. She would do whatever it took to make him see. Whatever it took, she was willing to do it to make him hers.

She slowly caressed him with her eyes, admiring the sheer perfection that was his body. Lori raked her nails down the ridges of his t-shirt, feeling the deep valleys between his chest muscles and the eight-pack abs that she marveled at every time they made love.

She also felt a deep rumble underneath her hand right before a vice-style grip encircled her wrist.

“What did I just say?” Andrew quipped.

She snatched her wrist away. “A.P., what’s going on with you? Why are you like this? Why don’t you let me help you? We haven’t fucked in days.” Lori purred and smiled, opening her coat to him, “Let me give you what you need.”

Andrew looked over at her but didn’t reply.
Damn, it’s been that long?

“I told you,” he replied tersely. “I’m not in the mood.”

And he wasn’t. No, he’d been going out of his mind thinking about someone else entirely.

Now that he’d taken on Nyla’s case, he’d been working nonstop. He hadn’t been to the diner in a few days and he’d missed her the afternoon that he told her to come to his office. He was pulled away for an emergency meeting for one of his cases and had to let Bertha take care of her. He was pissed as hell but tried to convince himself that it was no big deal that he hadn’t seen her, but he knew it was a lie.

He was going out of his mind. He hadn’t been able to concentrate fully for days. He’d been extra aggressive, cold and heartless to everyone around him, coworkers and clients alike. And, even though his clients and bosses loved how he was behaving, he didn’t. 

For the past few hours, he’d tried to focus on work. He needed to prepare for court in the morning, and he was having a hell of a time completing his tasks. He needed a distraction, and as if on cue, he saw his office door open and Lori glided in wearing nothing but her coat and red heels.

Lori was hot as hell, and she was right; any other time, his cock would’ve been massaging her pussy right this very moment. But he lied when he told her he wasn’t in the mood. He was, he just wasn’t in the mood for her. He
wanted
to be in between a woman’s thighs, feeding his sexual urges and tension. Sex had always been his way of relaxing, and since he was always tense, he had sex a lot. Andrew didn’t ease into any woman’s pussy, though. He was selective, and most times, Lori was who he went to when he wanted meaningless sex. But since that day at the diner, since he touched
her
, all he wanted was
Nyla’s
sweetness glistening all over his dick and no one else’s.

Frustrated, Lori stood, wrapping her coat around her naked body. “This is bullshit. I could be doing better things with my time than wasting it on you.”

Andrew rested his head against the couch and closed his eyes. “Then go do it.”

Pissed, Lori crossed her arms in front of her. “Are you serious?”

“Oh, as a heart attack.”

“If I leave, I’m not coming back.”

“Have a good night,” he countered before he brought his glass to his lips.

“As a matter of fact, I’ve been asked to go to the Caribbean for the week,” she told him, trying her best to get the response from him she desired.

“Oh yeah? Have a safe trip,” he mumbled.

Lori stared at him as confusion, frustration and disbelief filled her. Her frown deepened as she spat, “You are such a fucking asshole!”

He scoffed. “Yeah, so I’ve been told.”

“Argh!” she screamed, taking off one of her shoes and throwing it at him.

Andrew jumped up, dodging the collision, and had to quickly stop himself from ripping her apart.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” he snapped.

She pointed her manicured finger at him. “Is this how you’re going to treat me? Like I’m nothing to you? After everything we’ve been through, after what I put up with, this is how you’re going to treat me. Like I don’t matter?”

She moved closer, nose flaring, eyes but slits underneath her brows. “Do you have any idea what you’re turning down? Do you think you’re the only show in town? That men aren’t knocking at my door?”

“Do you think I give a shit?” Andrew raged, apathetic of subtlety. “Lori, you and I aren’t together. We will never be together. I’ve told you this countless times, and every time you’ve assured me that you understood.”

“Yeah, well, what did you expect? I thought you would change your mind.”

He shook his head. “Oh, please, you know damn well there was no way in hell I was changing my mind. First, we are not compatible. Do you think I want an evil, unemotional woman for a wife? Do you think I want to start a family with someone like that?”

She snorted. “Are you kidding me? As evil and heartless as you are, do you expect
me
to believe that
you
want a family? You want kids?” She laughed bitterly. “Get real. You aren’t capable of that shit. Umph.... I don’t see how your wife put up with your shit, but lucky for her, she doesn’t have to anymore since she’d dead.”

Lori folded her arms, satisfied that she was able to dish as much venom as she could, but she quickly started backing up from him as she realized she’d gone too far.

Andrew could feel his entire body convulse with suppressed rage. The tension in his jaw tightened as he saw nothing but red. He knew that he was on the brink of fucking losing it!

“Get the fuck out,” he demanded.

“Andrew…” she started, realizing what she had done.

“Out!” he boomed, sending him spiraling out of control. If she didn’t leave now, she wouldn’t be able to on her own.

Lori jumped clear out of her skin from the sound that permeated from this charged animal. She knew she’d gone too far, but she didn’t expect him to react this way. She thought about trying to apologize again, but the look that suddenly appeared on his face made her skin grow cold.

It was too late; she needed to leave now. Lori hobbled quickly to grab her purse and shoe and made it out of the door just in time to hear a large crash behind her.