Read Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control Online

Authors: Marie Rochelle

Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Erotica, #Romantic, #Romance, #Multicultural, #Paranormal, #Vampires, #Multicultural & Interracial

Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control (2 page)

BOOK: Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control
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Reaching across the table, she squeezed her friend’s hand. “Sahara, stop and calm down before you show something you shouldn’t. You can’t draw any more attention to yourself.”

She felt Sahara grasp her a little tighter until all of the tension left her best friend’s body, and the crazed look disappeared from her eyes. She kept holding Sahara’s hand until she was positive it was okay to let go.

Something is wrong
. She had never seen her best friend get this irate before.

Easing her hand away, Raya slid back in her seat and relaxed. She would get to the bottom of what was going on before their lunch was over. “What’s going on with you today? Please don’t tell me nothing because I can tell there is.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, there is something off about you. Are you really doing okay? Is everything truly as good between you and Jax as you’re telling me? If there is anything bothering you, let me know. We’re still best friends although we don’t hang out like we used to before you got married.”

Sahara glanced away from her and shrugged her shoulders. It was a move she used to do when they were younger. Sahara usually did it when she was torn between telling her the entire truth or just part of it.

“I don’t know what is up with me lately. Jax thinks it might be my body changing because of my growing powers, but it feels like something else,” her best friend admitted, looking back at her.

“Do you regret allowing Jax to turn you?” Raya asked, secretly wondering if Sahara wanted her old life back now. “I mean, I understand about you being a
Unique
woman and everything, but you could have told him no.”

“Of course not,” Sahara instantly answered. “Just thinking about how Jax could have died because of me still tears me up a little, but he didn’t. I love him with every single ounce of my body. He’s everything to me. I don’t see how any other man could have given me what Jax does. He’s truly the man I waited for my entire life. You will feel the same way when your mate comes along.”

“My…what?” Raya sputtered, shocked by Sahara’s choice of words. “My vampire mate, I don’t think so. I have a hard enough time dealing with human men. I don’t need or want a century-year-old, non-human male telling me I was born to be his because of a birthmark.”

“I never thought I would be with Jax, but look at me now. I swear it isn’t as bad as you think. Jax is almost exactly the same as a human male, only certain things make him different. You never know who is out there waiting to win over your heart, Raya,” her best friend pointed out. “He might capture your heart like Jax did with me.”

How in the hell did the conversation get turned from her worrying about Sahara to her having a vampire of her very own? God, this was just too much for her to handle right now.

“Nope, not for me,” she said, shaking her head. “I can’t see myself living forever. I’m going to grow older and die like humans are supposed to do.”

Sighing, Sahara brushed her hair off her neck, making Raya notice how fast her best friend’s hair had grown since becoming a vampire. Her hair wasn’t the only thing that had drastically changed. Even her singing voice had more of a sultry quality to it when she performed.

“I remember hearing Sabrina saying almost exactly the same words, and now she’s married and head over heels in love with Zander with a baby on the way.”

“You and Sabrina are both very lucky to have men who adore you. I think it’s amazing. I don’t want you to
ever
worry if I have any kind of issues with Jax or Zander, because I don’t. However, all I want to do is fix my family’s business, which my brother almost ruined by stealing money from it to pay off his gambling debts.

“If he hadn’t been family I’d have tossed his ass into jail, but I still need him to tell me who the buyer was for my company. I’ve looked everywhere for the paperwork, but I can’t find any trail leading back to this fake corporation.”

Some days, Raya wondered if their family name was always going to be the punch line in a joke around town, or if she could bring it back to the top. Cedric wasn’t helping her move in the right direction by constantly jumping around from job to job after she let him off the hook for the money. She dug into her bank account and paid the money back to the company.

She loved her brother. He had been an excellent older brother until he got involved with the wrong woman. She got him hooked on gambling months after getting involved with him, and things went downhill fast for him soon afterwards.

After going to rehab and getting help for his gambling issues, Cedric got released and hadn’t been back to the poker table. However, after working at several different low-paying jobs, he finally paid her all of her money back. She had secretly hoped he would go back to college and finish getting his degree, but he hadn’t done it.

Now, he was involved in another idea that he probably wouldn’t stick with for longer than three weeks. Raya wondered if her brother was ever going to grow up. Would there ever be a time that he started acting like the oldest instead of her?

“How is Cedric doing?” Sahara asked, surprising her. “I wanted to go with you to the rehab clinic to see him, but Jax almost put me on permanent lockdown when he found out about my plans. He didn’t want his mate going there. Honestly, he didn’t like the idea of you going to see your brother, either. That’s why at the last minute he suggested Thorsten to go with you.”

Rolling her eyes, Raya tried not to say anything bad about Sahara’s extended family, but the cocky Thorsten Irizarry wasn’t a man with whom she wanted to spend any of her time. He was, without a doubt, the most egotistical man she ever had the bad luck of coming across.

She didn’t need him to accompany her to Cedric’s rehab clinic. She wasn’t going to get hurt by walking through the front door. It wasn’t a place filled with criminals, but a place for people who had uncontrollable addictions like her brother.

Besides, Cedric did his weeks and got released with glowing praise from the counselors. Now all he had to do was stay away from the woman who had hooked him on making bets and he should do fine.

She wasn’t sure if he had enough willpower to keep Gabby out of his life. She had a way of wrapping her brother around her little finger since the day they met. She would never understand how someone as smart as her brother fell for such a liar like the exotic dancer. It took a while before Raya realized she couldn’t waste her time worrying about her big brother. She had her own problems to deal with, and Sahara had just mentioned one of them.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but what is Thorsten’s deal? Every time I turn around he is there in my face, watching me. It’s weird. Like the time I woke up in the hospital and I found him just sitting there. He had this odd look in his eyes. His expression scared the shit out of me. I almost yelled for help until I remembered he was Jax’s cousin.”

“Please let me apologize again for Thorsten’s behavior. I would have been there for you, but Jax and I had to answer questions about Mr. Edwards. Knowing we couldn’t go, Thorsten volunteered to stay with you until we could get there. Did he say something to you?” she asked. “Is that why you’re nervous about him?”

Raya shook her head. “No, not that I remember, but I had the hardest time staying awake. I just couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open. It was like I had been drugged or something.”

Sahara reached for her glass of water and took a sip, then placed it back down. “I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe the hospital was giving you some medications through your IV or something.”

“You’re probably right,” she agreed. “Have you picked out your last backup dancer for your upcoming tour? Are you still planning to visit fifteen cities?”

Sahara shook her head. “No, I knocked them down to only ten. My husband wasn’t happy he couldn’t attend the last five towns because of some new projects involving Alpha Male Incorporated. However, I did finally pick out my last backup dancer and Mariah is amazing. She’s going to fit in perfectly with the rest of the girls.”

Sahara changed her concerts dates because of a conflict with Jax’s work schedule?

Raya couldn’t believe Sahara gave in so easily. She loved performing as Coco. Her girlfriend would never cancel because of a conflict with Jax’s work schedule. She always tried to give her loyal fans what they wanted if it was possible. Something wasn’t right, but she wouldn’t force the issue. Sahara would tell her when she was good and ready.

“Is the last concert still going to be here in Los Angeles? Without a doubt, you will be performing to a sold out crowd and I plan on having a seat in the front row.”

Sahara grinned at her. “Yes, it is. I had to fight Jax on that one, but he finally gave in. He’s still
so
protective. For some reason, he still believes I need him to be my bodyguard. He thinks he’s giving me the freedom I want, but it isn’t true. I thought dating a human man was nerve wracking but I recognized rather fast being married to a vampire is on a totally different level.”

“I think it’s kind of cute how he still checks out the places before he allows you to go inside. His concern shows how much he adores you and maybe it’s because of the
Unique
woman curse that Jax still wants to have you by his side at all times,” Raya suggested.

Her best friend stared at her with slight confusion. “I need to clear up some things with you. First, I don’t consider being Jax’s mate any kind of curse at all. Also, I might complain about his ways, but I love how my husband wants to watch over me all of the time. I’ve never felt so cared for by anyone. Sometimes I get chills thinking about how we share this everlasting love. I know when you find ‘the one’ you won’t let him go, either.”

Raya loved her friend like a sister, but finding never ending love wasn’t even a thought in her mind. She was fine with the way her life was going for the moment. She wasn’t about to change anything to please her or anyone else.

“Sahara, the only love I have in my life is my job. I can’t see anything past my goals right now and I shouldn’t. You know how it is when you love something. You want to be wrapped up in it as much as you can.”

“Girl, you sound so much like me before Jax. I thought all I wanted was my music and nothing else, but I didn’t know how wrong I was until he kissed me.”

She thought about pointing out they were two different people, but she didn’t want to get into an argument with Sahara. She wasn’t able to get out to lunch with her friend much anymore. So, the time they did spend together was very precious to her. She had to make the best of it.

“How are Zander and Sabrina doing?” she asked. She hadn’t seen either one of them since their wedding.

Sahara’s face lit up with pleasure. “Sabrina is doing great. She’s about ready to have the baby any day. I swear Zander is never away from her side most days unless she orders him out of the room. They are
so
cute.”

“How many months is she?”

“Can you believe she’s almost nine?” Sahara answered. “It seems like yesterday she and Zander got married and now they are about to become parents.”

Raya was excited for Sabrina and her upcoming bundle of joy. They had become closer since she was asked to be a bridesmaid in the wedding. Sabrina had a quiet sweetness about her that she found very relaxing. It was like every time you looked into her light brown eyes all of your problems melted away.

“Does Sabrina being pregnant make your biological clock tick even louder?”

“I can’t lie and say that it doesn’t,” Sahara admitted. “I would love to have a tiny version of Jax running around the house, but he’s worried I’d give up my career entirely to be a parent. He thinks I would do that for him and he doesn’t want me to choose between the two.”

“Tell him that you are more than—” Raya stopped talking when her phone started vibrating on the table. “Let me get this.” Picking it up, she read the text and tossed it back down on the table, cursing under her breath. She couldn’t even get an hour for lunch without him bothering her.

“Hell, I hate that asshole. I swear when I lay eyes on him I’m going to slap the taste out of his mouth,” she snapped. “How can anyone like him be a success in business with an attitude like his?”

“Raya, what’s wrong?” Sahara asked with a worried expression etched across her face.

“The jerk my brother almost let take over our hedge fund won’t stop harassing me. He keeps emailing me, texting me from this shell of a company. I hired the best computer techs I could find to locate this guy, but his firewalls are too damn good.

“I can’t get everything back in order at work with him buzzing around like a bothersome mosquito. I need to swat him away for once and all. This man is making it hard for me to do anything but take what he is dishing out.”

“I hate to see you on edge like this.” Sahara sighed. “How about you come over for dinner tonight? My Uncle Frank is back in town for a few days. I know he would love to see you.”

The dinner invitation was nice. She would love to see Frank, but she didn’t have the free time. “I wish I could, but I can’t. I have to find out who is checking into our financial statements and put an end to it as soon as possible.” Her days at the office seemed to be grow longer and longer until she actually thought about staying there at night sometimes.

“Raya, I know a way to deal with one of your problems,” Sahara told her. “I think Zander might be able to help you find out more about this guy. You know he owns a security business. A few guys who work for him have an extensive knowledge in computers. I bet one of them could trace the texts for you.”

Happiness raced through Raya’s body at Sahara’s wonderful suggestion. Why hadn’t she thought about it before? Zander really might be able to give her the help she required, which would take a lot of stress off her shoulders.

“Sahara, I can’t believe I didn’t think about this before you,” she said. “I’ll be at the office all this week until at least six o’clock. Zander can send someone by because I’ll take all the help I can get. Let me know how much it will cost.”

Sahara waved a hand in her direction. “Don’t worry about money. I know Zander will be glad to help you since he considers you part of the family already. He wouldn’t charge you anything to do this.”

BOOK: Alpha Male Incorporated: Take Control
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