Hunting Ember (Pride of Alphas #1) - Milly Taiden Page 0,6

competition of a lifetime was starting. Thinking that she hadn’t had sex with anyone but her vibrator in over a year didn’t give her nausea. But burning a batch of cupcakes on air? That made her want to toss her cookies — literally.

That is why Ember never saw it, the falling open-faced light fixture coming down from the ceiling.

The huge metal box collided with her head, making her fall to the concrete floor before Ember even knew what happened.

Chapter Four

Kai

The business had been in the family for generations, but it had only recently acquired its biggest client yet: F&D Network.

The Food & Drink Network was the channel with all of the best cooking shows, or so his mother and sister-in-law had gushed when Kai and Lee had met with the executives. It had been a game-changer. It had moved Mason Security from strip malls and office buildings to the big leagues.

Along with his brother and father, Kai took over the entire F&D property’s protection, from state of the art surveillance equipment to a small army of security guards. It was a big contract that would see the family through for the next few generations, and then some. It was that much of a financial win.

His father was mostly retired, only choosing to pop in when he got bored with golfing or traveling. With baby number three on the way, Lee had taken the backseat. He dealt with their smaller contracts, orchestrating the business side of things with their administrative assistant. That left Kai as top dog. He ran the F&D Network contract like it was his birthright: with a no-nonsense attitude and very little margin for error.

There was no way he was going to mess this up for the family.

It meant that all three of Lee’s kids could have a good home and padded college funds.

It meant that maybe, if Kai ever got so lucky as to meet his own mate, he could have his dream house built, filled to the rafters with little lion cubs.

Kai sipped his coffee as he scanned the bank of screens while also going over all of the studio’s events for the day. He had already had the morning briefing with the crew, but he liked to stay on top of things. After another quick scan of the cameras over his employee’s head, Kai completed his rounds of the property. It was an excellent way to ensure that all of his guards were at their posts and doing their jobs.

There was no “three-strikes” policy with Mason Security. If you fucked up once, you were out on your ass. Most security guards understood this. They knew they were getting a good deal with their employer. The pay was good, the health insurance decent, and even though Kai knew he was the hardass boss, he knew how to make his employees loyal.

He fully used his alpha attributes to lead the company. And why not? He had the skills, so he would use them to his benefit.

The golf cart in which he did his rounds whirred noisily as he drove by each lot. It wasn’t even nine am yet, but the place was hopping. There were all kinds of people milling about, from personal assistants, to writers, to directors.

The network’s executives would be locked away in their offices, not caring what happened on the lots so long as money-making shows were being produced.

It was a much different scene than the mall security Kai was used to. He didn’t have to bust teens for shoplifting clunky necklaces from Hot Topic, or moms, hopped up on prescribed methamphetamines, stuffing stolen thongs in their over-sized designer bags.

The stakes were higher here, especially when celebrities came to the studio.

The next day would see an uptake in security when three of the world’s best-known chefs started filming a cooking competition. Kai didn’t know their names; thus, he was far from thinking they were celebrities. The concept of celebrity had changed into something he didn’t quite understand. How someone could be famous because they filmed themselves doing mundane things was beyond him. He blamed the internet.

His grumpy man musings were interrupted as one of his guards’ voices blasted from the walkie talkie sitting in his back pocket.

“Kai, something happened over on lot 5, the reality television set where that new baking challenge is taking place today. Mind heading over?”

Kai grumbled. He hated reality television. Especially the kinds where it was all a bunch of rich people talking about drama that made no sense to