Beautiful Prey 2: The Storm Series (BWWM Romance) (2 page)

NATASHA

Natasha scurried from the room that was occupied by two of
the finest white men that she’d ever seen! Natasha had always thought Jack was
a handsome man, but the man that stood over his bed was nothing short of
breathtaking. He had a dark complexion for a white man and vivid green eyes.
His shiny black hair flopped in his face. He had to have been at least 6’3”
with a lean muscular body. He was striking. Gianni Storm had that whole “bad
boy” vibe going on. He was wearing all black and possessed an elegance that
told Natasha that she clearly wasn’t in his league. Yes, they were definitely
from different worlds. Thus, Natasha was instantly uncomfortable in his
presence.

Natasha did notice that Gianni Storm
was staring at her with purpose as if he had some unknown plan for her. He was
intimidating, and the weapon on her side didn’t ease her anxiety. So, she got
the hell out of there. She hadn’t planned on staying long anyway. It was late,
and she had to work the next morning. She only wanted to make sure that Victoria
was ok and to see if she needed anything.

She and Victoria had become good
friends, which was great because ever since she filed a complaint against her
former commander, friends had become scarce. She was a pariah on the
department. She’d been kicked out of a unit that she had worked extremely hard
to get into. Working narcotics was her dream. Even she had to admit that she
was an exceptional undercover officer. Most of her coworkers avoided her like
the plague, but Natasha found solace with Victoria and a few of the guys on her
team.

Natasha was thirty with seven years
on the job. Before she was accepted into Narcotics, she worked on the tactical
team in Englewood, buying and selling drugs in her district. And Englewood was
no walk in the park! It was a neighborhood that was flooded with gangs, guns,
and drugs. Neighborhoods like Englewood were not foreign to Natasha, however.
After all, she was raised in Altgeld Gardens, one of the many dysfunctional
housing projects of Chicago. Therefore, she had witnessed several drug deals
and violence of all kinds. Because of her experience, Natasha had built a name
for herself as an undercover, which got her an invitation to join Narcotics.

Natasha took her job very seriously.
After all, it was all that she knew. Like a lot of young girls raised in the
projects, Natasha’s first boyfriend was a drug dealer. She was eighteen. Her
naivety led her to believe that Kevin Bailey was just a decent man trying to
survive. After a while, she noticed that he was happily profiting from the
misery and addiction of others.  One day, the thug showed his true colors.
He got pissed when Natasha wouldn’t stash his drugs in her panties when he was
pulled over by the police. He beat her severely, after the cops made their random
traffic stop. Unfortunately, she was pregnant at the time. The beating prompted
a miscarriage that left her infertile. Natasha’s early mistakes cost her the
family that she desired. She’d never be a mother and what man would want a
barren woman?

 Natasha’s determination to
cleanse the streets of drugs was sparked by her years growing up in the filthy
bowels of one of Chicago’s many poverty stricken neighborhoods. Her junkie, but
fanatically religious, aunt that raised her and her toxic relationship with
Kevin was also great influence.

Unfortunately, Natasha had been
forced out of a mission that she’d had an immense passion for, simply because
she decided to take action by letting a drunk and out of control egomaniac
commander know that it was not ok to fondle her breasts at a department holiday
party. She was naive, yet again, because she didn’t expect for the entire
department to turn on her. She had no intentions of filing a lawsuit, but she
was given no choice. She was under attack. Every so-called private statement
that she’d given to Internal Affairs concerning her complaint was leaked. Not
only leaked but misrepresented.

They leaked outright lies! They made
Natasha look like a lying manipulative viper that only complained to gain
leverage over the “poor misunderstood” commander. Natasha had absolutely no
choice but to fight back, if she wanted to keep her job. So she hired a lawyer.
The entire process terrified her. After all, she was still working for this
commander since the department didn’t even contemplate moving him from
Narcotics. They attacked Natasha’s character in a way that she had never, ever
expected. Sometimes she wished that she’d followed her first instinct the night
of the party; act like nothing happened. Natasha felt like the biggest coward
in the world. But the next day she couldn’t look at herself in the mirror. It
definitely was not an easy decision, but she simply had no choice. She needed
to attempt to regain her self-respect. In the end, she was the one that got
dumped out of Narcotics, not the commander; which is how she ended up in a unit
that required her to negotiate the price of a blow–job: Vice.

Well, at least she had found a friend
in Victoria. She’d watched Victoria expertly step into her role as a
prostitute. Natasha studied Victoria’s signature stomp and the way she would
lean into vehicles and hypnotize johns with her sexuality. She listened to
Victoria’s alluring voice through the microphone in her earring. Victoria was
walking seduction and Natasha had learned from the best. Victoria had welcomed
her with open arms, and they’d become friends. So when Victoria was kidnapped
by Harold Malone, a monster that had brutally tortured and murdered two dozen
women including his own mother, Natasha was terrified for her. She had absolutely
no problem risking her life and putting her job on the line to get Victoria
back alive.

As Natasha made her way out of the
hospital and headed for the visitor’s lot, she silently thanked God that she
had made it to Victoria before that maniac was able to plunge his knife into
her again. Her friend had been through hell and back only to get shot by a
different maniac a few months later. Victoria was such a beautiful person, and
she couldn’t catch a break. Luckily the bullet was a through and through wound.
Yet, poor Jack, who was shot alongside her, wasn’t so lucky. He was shot in the
chest. Everyone hoped for a good word from the doctor now that the bullet had
been removed during surgery.

Natasha hopped in her car and
attempted to leave her thoughts from the past in the past. She leaned her head
against the headrest and closed her eyes. The gorgeous face and vibrant green
eyes of Gianni Storm invaded her thoughts.

JACK

Jack wondered if his eyelids were taped shut as he fought to open
eyelids that were so heavy. He finally won the battle of opening his eyes and
immediately wished he hadn’t. The light in the room was like a spear through
his skull. Jack quickly closed his eyes, trying to shut out the light.

“Open your eyes lazy,” came from a
familiar male voice.

Jack struggled to open his eyes
again, to see his cousin Gianni leaning over him.

Groggily, Jack mumbled, “I must be
dying. What else could get you back on American soil?”

 “Dying? Please! That idiot
missed every vital organ in your body. Couldn’t shoot worth a damn,” Gianni
said with a crazy accent that was maybe a mixture between French and Italian.
“Now, on the other hand, that pretty wife of yours is an excellent shot.”

 Jack instantly thought of
Victoria. He raised his head and frantically looked around.

Yet, Gianni assured him, “She’s fine.
She’s sleeping.”

When Jack saw Victoria sleeping
soundly in the other bed, he sighed and returned his head to the pillow.

Gianni told him with a smirk, “She’s
beautiful. What’s it like to have your wife save your sorry ass?” 

“Fuck you, Gianni. She’s a cop. She’s
no ordinary woman. You should be so lucky,” Jack grunted, feeling the pain of
his wound.

Gianni stood and walked toward the
door. Jack watched him peculiarly.

“Yeah, well, you look ok to me. I’m
going back to Paris,” he said over his shoulder.

“Get your ass back here!” Jack
fussed.

Gianni chuckled, before walking back
to Jack’s bed.

 “I’ve missed you cousin. How’s
the nightclub business?”

 “Business is good. But now that
I see that you’re not dying. Let’s talk about something important. Tell me
about Natasha Walker.”

Jack narrowed his eyes at Gianni.
“Not your type,” he answered simply.

Gianni tilted his head. “What’s my
type?”

Jack looked his cousin straight in
the eye. “Petite French submissives that don’t speak. Not a woman that’ll shoot
your spoiled ass.”

Before Gianni could respond, Victoria
stirred in bed and averted their attention. They both watched as she lifted her
head from the pillow. Jack noticed the way Gianni looked at her, and he didn’t
like it. He punched his arm causing him to turn back to Jack.

 “Stop looking at my wife like
that.” Jack warned.

Gianni laughed. “Or what? You gonna
throw your bedpan at me?”

Victoria ignored the exchange between
the cousins and jumped from the bed, too quickly for Jack’s comfort, and ran to
his bed.

“Baby! Thank God you’re awake. How do
you feel? I’ll get the doctor.”

Gianni touched her elbow to calm her.

 “I spoke to the doctor.” 

Victoria turned to Gianni, narrowing
her eyes. She was getting ready to chastise him for breaking his promise, but
he raised his hands in defense.

“The doctor said that he’d be fine.
The bullet didn’t hit any vital organs. He just left, and I was preparing to
wake you, but Jack woke up and began to taunt me,” he said pointing to Jack.

Victoria looked at Jack sternly. Jack
couldn’t help but admire the charm that his cousin possessed that had
successfully transferred the blame to him.

“Okay, thanks for sitting with him...
Gianni, right?”

Gianni nodded and turned to Jack.

 “I’m going to the apartment.
I’ll check on you in the morning.”

Jack nodded and thought that it was
funny that Gianni modestly referred to the enormous downtown penthouse that he
owned, but hadn’t slept in in ten years, as an apartment.

As Gianni left the hospital room,
Victoria ran her fingers through Jack’s dark hair and kissed his forehead.

“I love you so much,” she whispered
with tears in her eyes.

“I love you too, Vic. You’ve been taking
care of my baby?” 

Before Victoria could answer,
memories came flooding back to Jack. Suddenly, he attempted to lift himself
from the bed. “You were shot!”

 His eyes frantically searched
her body. Victoria gently pushed against his shoulder to calm him. “Shh. It’s
just a scratch. I’m fine and the baby’s fine.”

Jack relaxed against the pillow,
visibly relieved. “Victoria, you saved my life,” he whispered.

Victoria shook her head and looked
lovingly at Jack. “No. Baby, I saved my life, because I can’t live without
you.”

She leaned in and kissed his lips.
Jack’s heart swelled. He was more in love with his wife than he thought
possible.

VICTORIA

Jack closed his eyes and slowly dozed off. Victoria was
relieved that everything would be fine. She covered him with a blanket and
walked out of the room in search of Jack’s doctor. She needed to hear for
herself that he was okay. She spotted his nurse, who confirmed that Jack would
be fine and that the doctor would be back in the morning to speak with her. With
that, Victoria decided to go back to Jack’s room and rest. Her back was killing
her from the extra weight she carried.

Even though Victoria was exhausted,
the blonde woman leaning over her husband put Victoria on high alert. She was
rubbing Jack’s face and whispering in his ear.

Jack was clearly asleep.

Victoria was livid! “Bitch! Really?”

Victoria wasn’t in the mood to deal
with Caroline. She was tired and hormonal. Caroline’s head whipped around. She
looked Victoria up and down like she was a non–factor. The tramp actually had
the nerve to grunt as if Victoria was getting on her nerves. Victoria quietly
walked over to the bed that she’d abandoned and pulled her gun out of her
purse. She stalked toward the bitch standing over her husband. Caroline noticed
the weapon and her expression quickly changed from smug to fear. Caroline’s
fear didn’t deter Victoria in the least. She stalked over to Caroline and
grabbed her by the throat. When she opened her mouth to protest, Victoria
pressed the barrel of her nine millimeter against Caroline’s temple.

Victoria spoke in a voice so calm
that it was scary. “You want my husband?”

Caroline didn’t answer, so Victoria
continued.

“He doesn’t want you! Do you hear me?
He doesn’t want anything to do with you, you desperate ass slut!”

Caroline’s eyes widened with fear as
Victoria continued her rant.

“Don’t let my polite behavior from
our previous encounters fool you. I will
end
you. Don’t fuck with me!
I’m angry and hormonal!”

Victoria tightened her grip on
Caroline’s throat, causing her to gasp for air.

“Do you understand me, you ignorant
racist bitch?”

When Caroline nodded, Victoria
released her throat. Caroline instantly fell to her knees.

Victoria stood over Caroline and
watched her attempt to catch her breath.

Victoria continued to use a quiet yet
very threatening tone in order not to wake Jack. “Get. The. Fuck. Out!”

Caroline tucked her cosmetically
altered tail between her legs and ran from the room. Victoria exhaled a breath
that she was holding. She was thankful that she didn’t have to kill Caroline,
but she would have.

Hormones were a bitch.

Victoria was rubbing her injured arm
when she heard a soft chuckle. She turned toward Jack, who was awake and
clearly amused by Victoria’s behavior.

“Bad ass Victoria is too sexy for
me,” he mused.

He had a sexy grin on his face that
caused Victoria’s mood to instantly transform from fury to love. Victoria loved
him dearly. She didn’t care that some people disapproved of their racial
differences, because she loved him enough to fight the world. And, her
declaration to him still held true; he didn’t even have to love her because she
loved him enough to make them work. His love for their unborn child was
undeniable. This was her family, and she’d do anything to protect them. She’d
die for them.

Jack had put his life and freedom at
risk to rescue her from a serial killer. He’d assisted her team by finding her
when the department wouldn’t. She would always love him for that.

Even her team took a huge risk by
putting together an unauthorized rescue mission. Working for a department that
deals in politics and protocol could have put them in danger of unemployment,
or worse, criminal charges being filed against them after that unauthorized
mission. Not to mention, they could’ve gotten killed. Yet, the department
wanted all the credit for the rescue, so Victoria’s team was safe. She loved
her team. They’d given her the chance to marry the man that she loved and to
bring their child into this world. The way they fought for her reminded her
that, you’re only as good as your team. They were a family,  albeit a
dysfunctional family, but a family none the less. She thought of pretty, sweet,
soft spoken, Natasha taking Harold Malone down with very precise shooting.

Victoria would be forever grateful to
her entire team. However, the bond that she and Natasha formed would be
forever, and unbreakable.