Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
My stomach churned, and a bead of sweat rolled down my temple. That was so strange. I had a bad feeling about this sudden news and Ava’s abrupt ending of our conversation. Especially since Ethan had threatened me today.
I needed to find Ava. I had to talk to her face to face. Since I could track her location using my phone, I found out that she was at Espen Mall on the other side of town.
I stood staring down at my phone for so long that Rose came back out of the restaurant to make sure I was okay.
“I’m sorry, I can’t have dinner with you,” I said. “There’s something I have to do.”
Rose saw the determination in my eyes. “Let me go with you,” she said.
I opened my mouth to protest but remembered that there were safety in numbers. Which reminded me.
“Let me message Alexander to see if I can use his bodyguard, Richie, just in case,” I told Rose.
Only thirty seconds after I sent the message, Alexander called me.
“I can protect you better than Richie can,” Alexander said. “I’ll meet you in the hotel lobby in five minutes.”
Without waiting for me to reply, he hung up. But his response had made me smile despite how nervous I felt.
Seven minutes later, Alexander held the back door open for me as Richard held the passenger door and helped Rose get into the car.
“Step on it,” I told Alexander’s new driver.
“You got it,” he said and began to drive through the dark night.
“Where are we going?” Alexander asked.
Rose turned around in her seat and gave me a quizzical look.
“To find Ava,” I answered, not wanting to go into any more detail in front of Rose. “I need to talk to her, and I was able to find where she was using my phone.”
“How?” he asked and tilted his head to the side.
“About a month ago, Ava and I turned on the location for each other’s phones for emergencies,” I answered.
Alexander’s eyes narrowed. “Why haven’t you turned on your location for me? Shouldn’t I know where you are?” he asked, and a smile pulled on the corners of his mouth. “Aren’t I important enough to know where you are?”
But I could see a serious look behind the joking mask he tried to cover it behind.
I rolled my eyes. When did Alexander get so careful?
He gave me a searching look and raised his eyebrows. It seemed like he was waiting for me to respond.
I sighed and held my hand up for his phone. “You’re right,” I said. “It would be a good idea for you to have my location…for emergencies.”
“Right, I’ll only use it for emergencies only,” he said and winked.
A smug smile crossed his face as he handed me his cell phone to install the tracking app.
When our fingers grazed, I drew in a sharp breath, and Alexander’s eyes darkened with desire.
*Olivia*
Quickly, I connected my phone to Alexander’s app and did the same with his. When I gave him his phone back, he was still wearing that smug smile on his face.
“I’m glad that I have tangible proof that I am important to you,”
Alexander said as he slid his phone back into his pocket.
I noticed that Richard and Rose exchanged a loaded look from upfront. It wasn’t fair that they were already bonding. They only just met.
Alexander leaned back in his seat and loosened his black tie slightly. With his dark ruffled hair, loose tie, and slightly wrinkled shirt, he looked…sexy.
Immediately, I averted my eyes so that he didn’t notice my ogling.
Since I had told Richard to step on it, he followed my instructions perfectly. Maybe even a little too well. Richard was weaving through cars like a professional race car driver. He went twenty-five miles over the speed limit and almost ran two red lights.
He turned what would usually be a forty-five minute drive into a fifteen minute one.
When Richard pulled up to Espen Mall, my stomach was turning from his crazy driving, but I was grateful that he had gotten us here so quickly.
I needed to find Ava.
As the four of us walked up to the large building, I noted that there were cracks in the walls, windows boarded up with plywood, and barely any other cars in the large parking lot. I couldn’t believe that this place was still open.
“Does your phone say Ava’s exact location?” Alexander asked as we walked into the eerie mall..
“No. It only says that she’s here,” I answered.
“Why don’t we go to the security room and ask them to check the tapes?” Rose suggested.
“Great idea,” I said and followed the signs to the security office.
A middle-aged man wearing a suit and tie stopped us before we could go into the office.
“How can I help you all?” he asked and looked at us suspiciously. “I’m the building superintendent.”
I opened my mouth, trying to think of a lie about why we needed to see his video tapes, but Richard stepped forward and utilized his imposing figure to intimidate the man.
To my shock, it worked. The superintendent opened the door and gestured us into the surveillance room.
“I’m not sure how much footage I even have to show you,” the superintendent said as he eyed Richard warily. “Most of my cameras had been broken earlier today.”
My stomach swooped. What were the chances of that happening? Did this have something to do with Ava? Something to do with me?
“I only have about ten minutes of footage to show you,” the man said and sat in the front of a bunch of monitors. He typed on the keyboard in front of him, pulling up the view of the entrance to the mall.
The superintendent allowed the video to play until I saw a woman walk into frame for a moment, but I immediately recognized that auburn hair.
“That’s Ava!” I cried and pointed to the screen. “This is proof that she had been here!”
“Why don’t we spilt up to search the floors,” Richard suggested. “This is a tall building with at least twenty floors.”
“Twenty-one,” the superintendent corrected.
“No,” Alexander said and gazed at me with an intensity that caught me off guard. “We can’t split up. That wouldn’t be safe.”
“Yeah, I think we should stick together,” I said, and Rose nodded in agreement.
Alexander turned to the superintendent and crossed his arms. “I’ll give you a big reward if you tell me everything you know about this building,” he offered.
The man’s eyes glinted with excitement, and he immediately began to speak. “This building hasn’t been used as a shopping mall for a very long time. Right now, some of the floors have been converted into apartments-not very well, I may add, I would never want to live here. The conditions are pretty rough. We also have a few small companies that rent office space here, but none of them stay for a long time.”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?