Filthy Rich Alpha - Virna DePaul Page 0,86
from him. For some reason, he wanted Branden dead.
Cara wasn’t going to let that happen.
Shaking, she put her phone down next to her on the floor and curled into a ball. She thought of Branden. How happy he’d made her, in bed and out. How kind and honorable he was despite the ridiculous amounts of money and power he had. She wasn’t a match for someone like him.
She’d always believed her father to be a coward. A good man, but a coward nonetheless.
It turned out that Cara was the biggest coward of them all.
The shrill sound of her phone ringing caused Cara to jerk awake. For a moment, she was disoriented, uncertain why she was curled up on her living room floor, her bones aching sleeping there.
Then the memories came flooding back.
It was morning. She was supposed to be leaving on vacation, but that creepy voice and heart had kept her locked in her apartment all night.
She cringed as her phone kept ringing, unsettled by the default ringtone. Not anyone she would know. She used pop songs for friends and her mother. Then she stiffened with fear.
Oh, God—was he calling her?
She stared at the phone until the ringing stopped.
Then it started again. Cara lifted her fingers and saw Branden’s number on the screen.
“Hello?” she whispered. “Branden?”
“You sound freaked. You saw it, didn’t you? Another fucking freak show starring you and me.”
“Where are you?”
“The link came up on my work computer. Where are you?”
Curled up on my floor like the pathetic coward I am.
Instead of saying that, she said, “I’m freaked, Branden. But not just because of the video. He—he talked to me. He could see me from my laptop. He hacked into my video feed.”
“What did he say?” His voice held barely controlled fury.
“Crazy crap. Threats. Then, bam, the video.” She swallowed hard, trying to calm down. “Branden—he’s outside somewhere.”
“You mean in your building?”
“No. But close to it. Maybe across the street.”
“I’m coming over.”
“No! No, you can’t. Promise me you’ll stay away, Branden.”
The line practically quivered with tense silence. “You said he made threats. He threatened me, didn’t he?”
“He’s crazy and he wants to meet with you, Branden. He wants me to set it up.”
“Then that’s what you’ll do.”
“No,” she said, forcing strength and authority into her voice. “I won’t let him hurt you. I won’t be the one he uses to try, either. Now promise me you’ll stay away.”
“I’ll be right there, Cara. Don’t open your door to anyone.”
“Branden—”
But he’d already disconnected.
He was on his way to see her.
And despite everything, despite her genuine desire to keep him safe and away from harm, she was so glad he was.
Cara crawled into a corner to wait for him. She called the doorman at the lobby desk and let him know she was expecting a visitor. She described Branden and provided his name, emphasizing that he was the only person to be allowed up.
“Yes, Miss Michal. Someone was just here, though, asking for you. A man.”
A sudden sense of dread held her motionless. “What did he look like?” Branden couldn’t possibly have gotten here that fast.
She had no idea what her stalker looked like. But any description would help.
“Ah, I can’t say exactly. Not young, not old. He was bundled up. It’s cold out.”
“Yes, I know. What was his name?”
“I didn’t get a chance to ask that. Sorry, Miss Michal. Another resident was picking up a delivery and when I looked up he was gone. Do you think he was your visitor? Hold on, please. May I help you?”
A huge wave of relief washed over her when she heard Branden give his full name.
“That’s him. Send him up.”
“He has a friend with him.”
Had to be Alex. “That’s fine.”
The fear that had her half paralyzed made it hard for her to stand. She hugged the wall, keeping her gaze on the windows, ready to drop to the floor again.
Reflexively, she looked at the building across the street. The black netting let the sunlight through the window openings in the facade. She could see some of the steel beams that had been left in place to hold up the walls. But there were no floors.
A gust of wind lifted an unsecured part of the black netting from the gutted structure, revealing the steel-and-glass walls of the skyscraper Branden lived in. With nothing in between, it was possible to draw a direct line from his building to hers, something she hadn’t noticed before.
But that wasn’t what troubled her most. There were no floors in