The Alpha King's Obsession

5. The Alpha's Proposition

Lilian’s POV

I didn’t sleep.

Not a wink. My skin felt too tight for my body, itching with a restless energy I couldn’t shake. Every time my eyes closed, I conjured his. Those burning, amber-gold eyes tracking me from the shadows of the alley. I felt the phantom pressure of his hand on mine, the heat of his body pressing me against the brick wall.

And then there were the smells. Another problem I’ve had for years, but it seemed it’d grown worse since last night. My nose wouldn’t stop working overtime. Even now, buried under my duvet, I could smell the stale scent of the city, the laundry detergent on my sheets, and faint, lingering traces of…ozone and rain.

It was weird and annoying.

By the time the sun goes through the cheap blinds of my bedroom window, I was exhausted yet wired, my senses dialed up to eleven.

I dragged myself out of bed with monumental effort and shuffled into the kitchen, my head pounding with a dull ache behind my eyes.

My roommate, Kelly, was already there, nursing a mug of coffee and her wide and accusing eyes landed on me the moment I walked in.

“You’re alive!” she exclaimed, slamming her mug down a little too hard. “Do you have any idea how freaked out I was last night?”

I winced, the sound of the ceramic hitting the table echoing like a gunshot in my sensitive ears. “I know, Kells. I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” She stood up and crossed her arms, an unconscious habit she had whenever she was really bothered by something. “Lil, you vanished! One minute you were heading to the bathroom, and the next, you were gone. I texted you ten times. I thought you were kidnapped or…or worse. I was about to call the hospitals.”

I could smell her anxiety. It wasn’t just a figure of speech, the air around her practically tasted acrid, like burnt sugar and nerves. It made my stomach turn.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said, rubbing my temples to block out the sensory overload. “I just…I felt sick. Suddenly. And…and there was this guy. He was being creepy near the exit. I just panicked and hailed a cab. I passed out the second I got home.”

The fell from my tongue, even though lying to her was the last thing I wanted to do. And, well, it wasn’t a complete lie. Alexander was creepy. In a devastatingly handsome, billionaire-stalker kind of way.

Kelly softened almost instantly, the sharp scent of her worry fading into something milder. “A guy? Did he hurt you?”

“No,” I assured her quickly. “He just…spooked me. I’m fine. Really.”

She sighed and brushed a strand of strawberry-blonde hair out of her face. “Well next time, at least text me before you bolt. I was imagining you in a ditch somewhere.” She turned toward the window, her brow furrowing again. “Speaking of creepy guys…”

“What?” I moved to the coffee pot and poured a cup with shaking hands.

“Why is there a tank parked outside out building?”

My entire body went still. He wouldn’t. “A what?”

“Okay, not a tank. But it’s a massive black SUV with tinted windows that probably costs more than our entire block. And there’s a guy standing next to it who looks like he eats rocks for breakfast. He’s been staring at our lobby door for twenty minutes.”

I felt my stomach dropping to my feet. A low, involuntary vibration started in my chest, almost like a growl, before I clamped my mouth shut to suppress it.

What the hell is wrong with me?

I abandoned the coffee and rushed to the window, peering through the slats of the blinds. Sure enough, a sleek, menacing black beast of a car was idling on the curb. Leaning against it, arms crossed over a chest the size of a barrel, was a man with a buzz cut and a scar on his face.

He looked like a soldier. Or like a predator waiting for a rabbit to break cover.

My phone buzzed on the table, vibrating against the wood, and it startled me enough to jump before I checked the screen. Unknown Number.

My heart beat a wild rhythm inside my chest, a thump-thump, thump-thump, thump, so loud I wondered if Kelly could hear. I knew who it was. I didn’t know how I knew, but a strange instinct settled in my gut, a certainty that felt…ancient.

Plus, the whole stalking thing he had going on.

I picked it up, holding my breath. “Hello?”

“You’re late,” a deep voice answered in a rumble.

Alexander.

The sound of his voice didn’t just reach my ears. It resonated in my bones. It was commanding, rough, and somehow calm all at once. My skin prickled, the fine hairs on my arms standing up as if he were in the room with me.

“How did you get this number?” My grip on the phone tightened, so much so I was afraid I’d actually break it. And I really couldn’t afford a new one. “I never gave it to you. You don’t know me, remember? We established this in the alley. Stop stalking me!”

“That’s River outside,” he said, completely ignoring me. “He’s my head of security and he’s there to escort you.”

“Escort me to where? The police station? Because I’m about to call them. You can’t just send goons to my house! This is harassment!”

“To my office, Lilian. We have a meeting. 10 AM. You have fifteen minutes.”

“And I threw your your card away!” My voice rang so loud in our tiny apartment that Kelly was now staring at me with her mouth slightly open. I turned away from her, trying to lower my voice, but the anger inside me felt hot, like a fire burning under my skin.

“I think my answer was pretty damn clear!” I hissed into the phone.

“Yeah. You did throw the card, but you didn’t say no,” he countered, his voice dropping an octave, becoming silkier, darker. It triggered a strange urge in me, half wanting to fight him, half wanting to listen. That last thought was so preposterous I was seconds away from slamming my head against the wall.

“And I happen to know,” he continued, “that your landlord, Mr Henderson, slipped an eviction notice under your door two days ago. I also know that if you don’t pay at least part of your tuition, you’re out of the program.”

I went cold. The heat vanished, replaced by ice.

“How the hell do you know all this?” My voice was barely above a whisper.

He didn’t grace me with a response to my question. “Just come, Lilian. I gave you my word I’d never bother you again if you say no to what I’m offering. But you have to listen to me first.”

“And I already told you,” I snapped, “I don’t give a damn about your word. I don’t trust a single thing you say.”

“Then trust the desperation in your bank account,” his response was ruthless. “River is waiting. Don’t make him come up there, Lilian. He isn’t as patient as I am.”

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone, my breath coming in short, sharp gasps. My senses were swimming, threatening to drown me. The scent off Kelly’s coffee, the hum of the refrigerator, the distant sound of traffic, and my own freaking erratic heartbeat. It was all too much.

“Lil?” Kelly’s voice was small. “Who was that? And why is the terminator outside?”

I took a big, calming breath as I looked over at the overdue bills stuck to our fridge with magnets. I looked at the eviction notice sitting on the counter. I looked at Kelly, who was like a sister to me after all those years at the foster home we’ve spent together and who worked just as hard as I did and didn’t deserve to be homeless because I was too proud to listen to a crazy billionaire.

“A job interview,” I lied, forcing the words out past the lump in my throat. “A really aggressive one.”

My mind made up, I didn’t give myself time to second-guess my decision as I grabbed my coat, the thin, threadbare one he had insulted, and shoved my feet into my boots.

“If I’m not back in two hours,” I told her, grabbing the canister of pepper spray from the key bowl and shoving it into my pocket, “call the cops.”

Kelly opened her mouth to say something, probably ask me what the hell was going on, but I didn’t give her a chance to question me. I wasn’t ready for that yet.

River didn’t say a word when I walked out of the building. His hard stare was fixed on something behind me as he opened the back door of the SUV.

Before I got in, though, his eyes shifted to me and he sniffed the air near me. His nose wrinkled, his eyes widening slightly as he looked at me. It was almost the same look Alexander had given me. Like I was a puzzle they couldn’t solve.

“Get in,” the goon grunted.

I gritted my teeth and climbed into the leather interior, clutching my bag to my chest like a shield.

The drive to Manhattan was silent and suffocating. I spent the entire time staring out the window, trying to convince myself I wasn’t making a mistake. He was just a rich guy. A rich, creepy, stalker guy. With an insanely handsome face I wanted to punch. I could handle him. I had pepper spray.

When we reached the DeLuca Corporation building, it was exactly what I expected. A glass needle piercing the sky that screamed money and power.

River escorted me to the top floor without even pausing and asking for an ID at the security desk. He just walked through, and the guards scrambled to open the huge glass doors.

The elevator ride was nauseatingly fast. I’d thought I was ready to confront my stalker again when I’d left the apartment, but no, my hands were getting clammy and my breathing had turned shallow. Before I could spiral into a full-blown panic attack, the doors pinged and I saw that I wasn’t in a lobby of some sort. I was stepping directly into an office the size of my entire building.

Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the New York City skyline, the carpet looked plush enough to sleep on, and the furniture was dark leather and chrome, sharp and modern.

But the man standing behind the desk was the only thing I saw.

Alexander was wearing a charcoal suit today, tailored to perfection, straining against shoulders that were far to broad for a boardroom. He was staring out the window, his hands clasped behind his back. He looked every bit the king he’d claimed to be, overlooking his kingdom.

The elevator dinged, signaling our arrival and my impending doom, and he turned slightly. I could have sworn a tiny smirk was playing on his lips before he fully turned.

The air in the room instantly got heavier, charged with that same static electricity that zapped me in the alley.

“You came,” was all he said.

“I’m broke, not stupid,” I replied, staying near the door and trying to keep my voice steady. I kept my hand in my pocket, wrapped around the pepper spray. “But let’s get one thing straight. I’m here for the pitch. Nothing else. We are strangers, Mr. DeLuca. And this, “I gestured to the fancy office. “doesn’t change that.”

He simply just watched me, his gold eyes tracking my every movement. “Sit.”

“I prefer to stand.”

He narrowed his eyes, a muscle in his jaw ticking, but he didn’t push it. He walked around the desk and leaned against the edge of it, crossing his ankles. He looked like…like…like a wolf lounging before a kill.

“Three million dollars.”

I chocked on my own spit as what he’d just said registered to me. My brain short-circuited.

“Excuse me?”

“Three million dollars,” he repeated, his voice devoid of any emotion. “Tax-free. Deposited into an account of your choice. In exchange for six months of your life.”

I stared at as the room seemed to spin around me. Three million dollars. That wasn’t just tuition money. That was life money. That was freedom.

“You want to pay a woman you don’t even know three million dollars?” I hated how my voice trembled. “For what? s*x?”

His eyes flashed, the gold brightening like molten lava, and a low, terrifying rumble sounded in his chest.

“No,” he growled out. “I don’t pay for s*x Lilian. And if I wanted you in my bed, I wouldn’t need to pay you to get you there.”

I felt heat rising to my cheeks. Damn this man and his infuriating arrogance…

“Then what? If not s*x, what is it? Drugs? Smuggling? Do I have to kill someone?”

“Marriage,” he simply stated and the silence that followed was deafening.

“A contract marriage,” he continued, standing up and stalking toward me. “Six months. You wear my ring. You live in my house. You attend events on my arm. You pretend to be my devoted, loving…Luna.”

“There’s that word again,” I said, shaking my head and not moving an inch as he slowly approached me. “Why me? You don’t know anything about me. I could be a serial killer. I could be crazy. Why pick a random girl?”

“Because I don’t want a model.” He stopped inches from me and the heat radiating off him was immense. “I want you.”

He reached out, his hand hovering near my face and I flinched. But he didn’t touch me. He just let his fingers trace the air near my cheek, as if he could feel the static too.

“You don’t even know me,” I tried again, looking up at him as I barely managed to hold my ground against the sheer force of his presence.

“I know you aren’t afraid of me,” he said softly. “And I know you need protection.”

My brows twitched in confusion. “Protect me from what? I don’t need protection from anyone but you.”

He hesitated, his hand dropping, and a shadow passed over his face.

“There are people…bad people…who look for women like you. Women with no family. No connections.” He leaned in, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. “Marry me, Lilian. And no one will touch you again. Not the debt collectors. Not the landlord. Not the men in the shadows. You will be under the protection of the DeLuca family.”

He held out his hand. It was large, scarred, and utterly dangerous.

“Three million dollars. Protection. And in six months, you are free. Do we have a deal?”

I looked at his hand. Taking it felt like signing a deal with the devil. A devil I didn’t know at all, and who was talking nonsense about men in shadows. A devil who smelled like rain and felt like fire.

But three million dollars…

Screw not being for sale.

I took a deep breath, the scent of him filling my lungs.

“Where do I sign?”