Dominion (Alpha Domain #1) (5 page)

Which was when I remembered that I was already risking everything just by telling her how I felt, so I might as well go for broke. I took my finger from her lips and moved my hand to gently caress her cheek, watching as her eyebrows drew together with confusion.

“I’m in love with you, Amber,” I whispered before leaning in and pressing my lips against hers.

For the briefest moment, elation swept through my entire being when it clicked in my mind that she didn’t immediately push me away. There was a split second where I felt her lips just barely move against mine and it sent my heart soaring, right before it came crashing down and lodged in my gut when she pushed me back and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Get out, Allen,” she said shakily.

“But—Amber, please just—”

“Get out or I’ll scream and wake up mom and dad.”

I was thrown by her reaction, unable to do much else than exactly what she told me to. I stood up and looked down at her, my heart clenching painfully as I noticed she couldn’t even bring herself to look at me.

I wasn’t stupid—I understood that she was probably freaked out because of our relation by marriage more than anything else. I suppose I just thought of it differently than she did. So before I fled from the room, I had one final thing to say.

“Deny it all you want, it won’t make my feelings for you any less real.”

“
T
hat was
the last thing I said to her before she stopped acknowledging me entirely. Not for lack of trying on my part, but every time I spoke to her after that, she just glared right through me. Eventually I stopped going to see her because I could tell how angry it made her. Then I moved to the city and the rest is history.”

John was slowly nodding and a smile slowly started spreading across his lips. I frowned at the sight of it, wondering what part of that story he thought was something to smile at.

“You magnificent idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

John laughed. “Nothing, man. Thank you for telling me the whole story, it all makes sense now. And I can totally work with this.”

“You—What do you mean?”

John smirked. “I can talk her into this. As long as you’re cool with the idea, of course.”

“You mean the idea of… sharing her.”

“Yep. So how about it? Want to be in a polyamorous relationship with your stepsister and your best friend slash business partner?”

“She’ll never agree to it,” I said, shaking my head.

“Leave that part to me. Do I have your permission or not?”

My first instinct was to say no, but what did I really have left to lose? Her respect for me was already gone, I couldn’t dig the hole much deeper. I had spoken to Arnold already and my plan to anonymously pay off Chris’s debt was going to be put in motion soon, then she would be out of danger.

What was the worst that could happen? She’d reject John? I couldn’t bring myself to give a fuck about that possibility.

But did I honestly think I was capable of sharing a woman with him? He’d made a good point when he said neither of us had time for relationships of our own. That was definitely true. It seemed like such a good idea in theory to share a woman with John. At least I knew that when I couldn’t be there, John would take care of her.

I just couldn’t manage to shake the nagging feeling that I’d wind up becoming dangerously jealous if this actually wound up happening.

Then again, I couldn’t even bring myself to believe it was really possible. So why dismiss the idea before even giving it a shot?

“One thing.”

“Shoot.”

I looked at John very seriously. “I need you to promise me that if, by some chance she does agree to this and one of us winds up being uncomfortable—”

“Neither of us have her. Already on the same page, bro.”

I blinked in surprise, then smiled when I realized that even though he wanted Amber, John was ultimately more concerned about keeping our friendship intact. It was enough to put my mind at ease, so I sat back in the chair and threw my hands up in defeat.

“Why the fuck not then? Give it a shot.”

John grinned and stood up. “I’ll call you later. Wish me luck.”

He didn’t even give me a chance to respond before he bolted from the room, obviously excited about the prospect of this possibly working out. I wasn’t at all convinced that it would, but I said a silent prayer that I was wrong.

I missed Amber more than I wanted to admit. I’d do anything to get her back in my life.

Including letting my best friend fuck her.

Why can’t my life be even slightly normal?

“
T
his is going
to be even easier than I thought,” I mumbled to myself as I watched Amber and Chris walk into the same office building that they went into yesterday.

Once they were both inside, I pulled my car into an empty spot and made my way across the street, waving an apology to the drivers who honked at me for jaywalking. I lingered behind the small wall of the bus stop as I waited for Amber to wander back out while Chris went in for his meeting.

After ten minutes of waiting, I saw her long, blonde hair as she stepped out into the sun and shielded her eyes with her hand. I opened my newspaper and stepped out, my steps heavy as I subtly watched her to make damn sure that our paths would intertwine.

I grinned to myself as she stopped right in my path and I lifted the paper higher, giving me the perfect excuse to barrel directly into her.

“Oh, shit!” she exclaimed as she lost her balance.

I dropped the paper to the ground and wrapped my arm around her waist, hauling her up against my chest to keep her from falling to the pavement. Her breathing was erratic as she looked up at me with wide eyes and I smiled down at her when I saw the recognition flash in them.

“You again,” she breathed, still slightly stunned. “John, right?”

“That’s right,” I said, flashing her my most charming smile. “Amber, isn’t it?”

I could see the moment my smile got to her—her pupils dilated just a fraction and her tongue darted out to wet her lips. The desire to kiss her now was strong, but I somehow managed to resist it as I pulled her up and placed her back on her feet.

“Yeah, it’s Amber. Thanks for catching me,” she said with a slightly forced laugh, still visibly frazzled from having my body so close to hers.

“There’s no need to thank me, I probably should apologize. It was my fault, after all.”

She shook her head and waved me off. “No, it was me. I wasn’t paying attention. Pedestrian traffic in this city seems to be more dangerous than the street traffic.”

“You learn fast,” I noted with a laugh.

“I do. So—twice in two days. You work around here or something?”

“Or something,” I said with a shrug, directing my eyes to bore into hers. “How about you?”

“Me? Oh, no. I don’t even live here,” she said with a laugh, obviously a little pleased that someone had mistaken her for a resident. “Not yet anyways.”

“Moving here soon? Well, that’s good news for me. Maybe I’ll get to run into you again.”

I could tell my flirting was getting to her, but was a little disappointed to see that it was also making her slightly uncomfortable.

“I don’t know about that. My boyfriend—”

“Oh, shit,” I said, holding up my hands. “I’m sorry, I forgot that you were spoken for.”

The flash of irritation in her eyes was exactly what I wanted to see.

“I’m
not
‘spoken for’.
God!
What is it with men acting like women are nothing more than property?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Our gazes clashed again and the silence was thick with electricity. Nervous anticipation was pulsing through my veins and I nearly started bouncing up and down on the balls of my feet as I waited for her to respond.

She let out a long sigh and nodded. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, I’m just having a weird day.”

“Perhaps it’d be less weird if you stopped lurking outside of buildings you don’t work at.”

The joke brightened her mood and she smiled. “I’m not
lurking
. I’m waiting. There’s a big difference.”

“Waiting for what? Christmas?”

Amber howled with laughter, doubling over and clenching her stomach as her body shook with mirth. I didn’t think the joke was particularly funny, but it only served as another reminder that she probably didn’t get much joy from her relationship with Chris. I’d been watching them enough to see that despite all the cuddling and pet names, she seemed incredibly unhappy.

“Oh god,” she breathed out after she managed to calm herself down. “You’re funny. No, I’m not waiting for Christmas, you weirdo. My boyfriend is inside for a job interview.”

That news was alarming, to put it mildly.

“Oh yeah?” I asked casually. “Which office? I’ve got some friends in this building.”

She furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure. Yesterday he met with a guy named Mario and I guess he impressed him because he’s meeting Mario’s boss today. I think he said his name was… Dan? Damien?”

Oh fucking hell
.

“Dante Sanchez?”

Her eyes lit up and she pointed at me. “Yeah, that’s it! You know him?”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I mumbled as I dug my phone out of my pocket.

This was way worse than we thought.

“
I
can’t believe
I’m going along with this.”

“What’s that, boss?”

I turned startled eyes to Derek, having forgotten he was even in the room with me. “Nothing. Just talking to myself.”

“You’re not going crazy, are you? I don’t know if I can handle working for crazy.”

“Too soon to tell.”

“That’s reassuring.”

I snorted and shook my head, glancing at the clock and realizing it was time to make my callback to Arnold to find out just how deep Chris’s hole was and arrange a payoff.

“Get out of here, Derek. I need to make a call.”

He saluted me before he left the room and I rolled my eyes as his retreating form. I lifted the landline from its cradle and dialed Arnold’s number, waiting for him to pick up.

“Hey, man. Got your intel.”

“Wonderful. How much does he owe?”

“Nada. He’s paid in full as of today.”

Well,
that
was unexpected.

I could feel myself frowning as I asked, “How much did he owe?”

“He was sixty deep until this morning. Dante is meeting with him right now, actually.”

“What the
fuck
?” I asked incredulously. “How the hell did that little worm manage to scrape together sixty large?”

There was a shuffle on the other end and I could just picture Arnold sitting in front of the ‘borrowed’ file, shifting through the intel the Sanchez family had on Chris and the details of his loan.

“He didn’t pay with cash, Allen.”

“
P
ick up
, you son of a bitch,” I growled into the phone.

“I’m going to go—”

“No!” I bit out, grabbing Amber’s hand loosely and hoping it wouldn’t frighten her. “Please stay. I’ll be just a second.”

She frowned and pulled her hand away, crossing her arms over her chest as she demanded, “What’s going on? There’s something you’re not telling me.”

“You’re right. There’s a
lot
I’m not telling you. There’s a lot Chris hasn’t told you either.”

Amber reared back, her eyes going wide with a mixture of surprise and fear.

“How do you know his name?”

So much for luring her back with seduction. The only hope I had now was to tell her the truth and hope that she didn’t run away screaming.

I ended the call when it went to Allen’s voicemail for the third time and turned to her with a look of deadly seriousness.

“Amber, please listen to me. I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need you to
listen
.”

She still looked afraid, but she hesitantly nodded. “I’m listening.”

“I have reason to believe you’re in a lot of danger right now. I need you to come with me.”

Okay, I probably should have eased into that. She jerked back, looking down at my body closely, probably searching for a concealed weapon. Of course, I
did
have a gun on me, but she wasn’t going to find it.

Not with her eyes at least.

“Amber, I’m not trying to scare you.”

“Well you’re doing a damn good job of it,” she said with a disbelieving snort. “What the hell are you talking about? What danger? Are you a cop?”

“No, I’m not a cop and I’ll explain everything, I swear,” I told her, holding up my hands. “I won’t hurt you, but I need to get you the hell away from this building before someone comes out to fetch you.”

The cell phone rang and I nearly shouted with joy. I answered it, not even having a chance to speak before Allen’s voice confirmed my suspicions.

“He’s selling Amber to them!” he shouted and I pulled the phone away from my ear.

“Who is that?” Amber screeched.

Allen’s voice lowered significantly. “Is… She’s with you?”

“Yes, she’s here. You’re sure?”

“Positive. Arnold said Dante is meeting with Chris this morning to exchange Amber for his debt. You need to get her the hell out of there.”

“I’m on it.”

“By any means necessary.”

The line went dead and I glanced back to Amber, who was rightfully looking like she was torn between demanding an explanation and flat out running for her life. But the indecision tripped her up and I took advantage of it.

“We have to go.
Now
. I’ll explain on the way,” I said as I grabbed her wrist and started to drag her to my car.

“Wait a minute—
Wait!
” she shouted as she tried to free herself from my grip. I managed to drag her a good thirty feet away from the building before she smartened up and kicked me in the back of the shin.

“Fuck!”

“Stop!” she shouted, drawing the attention of multiple pedestrians around us. “Tell me
now
. What’s happening?”

I opened my mouth to give her the short-form version when my eyes drifted off in the distance, landing on Chris, Mario, and Dante stepping out of the building and looking around for Amber.

“Your boyfriend is selling you into human trafficking,” I whispered as I covered her mouth with my hand, muffling her outraged cry of denial. “You have to believe me. If I let those men take you, you’ll never be freed.”

I turned her around, hand still covering her lips and her eyes widened at the sight of Dante screaming at Chris as he frantically combed the streets for his girlfriend. Whether she believed me or not, she could tell something was very amiss about the scene before her, and I felt her nod against my hand.

“But—I don’t know you.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to take you to someone you
do
know. Someone you can trust.”

Her eyes darted between the increasingly angry men on the street searching for her and me a few times, mentally weighing her options. After a long moment of waiting with bated breath, she finally nodded again.

“Alright. We need to move. My car’s over there,” I told her, pointing to the blue sedan parked across the street. “We’ll run for it on my count.”

She nodded and got down low, following my example as Mario started making his way down the street searching for her. When I got to three, we both took off running— quickly getting to the car but not without the added attention from the car horns as they honked at us.

Mario and Chris shouted as they caught sight of Amber as she hastily got into the passenger side. I turned the ignition and pulled the car into the street as the three men ran after us, running a red light to avoid getting caught and thanking every god that would listen that a cop wasn’t around.

“This car looks familiar,” Amber noted as she looked for a safe place to put the tablet that had been sitting on her seat.

“It should,” I said with a chuckle, glancing at her confused frown for a second before I added, “It’s been parked outside the building you’re staying in for two days.”

I
was pacing back
and forth, my cell phone clutched firmly in my hand when I finally got a text message from John.

‘
Bringing her back now. Ten minutes.
’

I sighed heavily, thankful that she was safe from the Sanchez family at least for the moment. I continued to pace while I tried to figure out a way of getting her out of this situation without revealing myself.

If they knew Amber was my stepsister, they’d use her against me. There was no doubt in my mind and even Arnold had made a similar statement.

“I don’t know what this girl is to you, but it would be in your best interest to not let anyone find out.”

Yeah, no shit. The Sanchez family and my team had an incredibly shaky truce with the mutual agreement to stay off each other’s turf, but it had been nearing the breaking point for months now. All it would take on either of our parts to break the truce was one wrong move.

And bringing Amber back to our base was probably the move that was going to turn into an all-out war.

“Bring it the fuck on.”