Zephyr
Zephyr glanced at Zenith seated in front of the mirror, oiling her dark, long hair. Her five-year younger sister was what everyone called a stunner. She had a naturally petite, modelesque figure that everyone in their social circle appreciated, soulful eyes that made men line up the streets, and mannerisms that would put a queen to shame. But appearances were deceptive. Zephyr knew she was also the girl who had tried to kill herself when she was younger for reasons unknown, the girl who fought some kind of demons in her mind every day, the girl who had immersed herself in social justice and working for a non-profit organization—Survivors of Los Fortis—that dealt with victims of assault and abuse and rehabilitated them. If there were angels on earth, her sister was one of them.
Zephyr volunteered with her on the weekends, styling and cutting the hair of the ladies at the SLF center. People always underestimated the power getting a makeover could have on one’s psyche. She had seen women shed tears after a haircut, women with harsh, traumatic pasts shedding their grief, their histories, their conditioning after cutting their hair, if only for a moment. It empowered them, made them feel like a newer version of themselves who didn’t have to let their pasts dictate their futures for a second, and while it wasn’t a big contribution in the grand scheme of things, Zephyr loved that first emotional catharsis they had immediately afterward.
She pulled her sunflower earrings out of her lobes and dumped them on the dresser in her room as Zen watched her with curious eyes. Zephyr had spent the last few minutes updating her sister as they both went about their nightly rituals.
‘I don’t know,’ she answered, walking over to the single, large window in her room, the white gossamer-thin drapes flying inward with the wind. Her room was a reflection of who she felt she was inside—colorful and chaotic, with pretty printed sheets on a queen-sized bed, white painted walls with a plethora of photos, indoor plants sprucing up the corners, and knick-knacks from everywhere scattered haphazardly all around.
Rainbow.
He’d called her a rainbow. Once upon a time, he’d called her sunshine, back when her hair had been blond. She liked rainbow better. Looking around, she realized her room reflected that name. Her sister’s room was the opposite, all organized and minimalistic and done in pastels.
They both rented an apartment in the city, at walking distance from both her salon and the SLF center. Their parents lived in the suburbs where they’d grown up, where her father still worked at the same accounting agency he’d been working at for thirty years. Daily commute for work had become both expensive and troublesome when she’d started at the salon, so Zephyr had moved out soon after, her sister following once she’d finished her graduation.
Flopping down on her bed, Zephyr started putting lotion on her arms as Zen massaged her own scalp with her fingers, the routine comforting for both of them after a long day.
‘I can’t believe he doesn’t remember you.’ Her sister rubbed the strands. ‘By the way, you need to tell Mama about Alec. She needs to stop planning your wedding in her head with the toad.’ Zen had always been anti-Alec.
Zephyr snorted. ‘Fat chance of that. She wants me ‘happy and married and rich’, with a son-in-law she can boast about to the ladies at the club.’
‘Also true.’
They stayed silent for a while, contemplating. Zephyr knew there was no way she was going to go through with the relationship with Alec now, but she didn’t know how to shield her parents from the fallout. Knowing Alec, she knew he would take a rejection as a hit to his pride, possibly making her mother lose the social status she’d gained by association. For Zephyr, he would probably have her name smeared all over the city. She wouldn’t be surprised if he came after Zen’s reputation too, especially knowing she was adopted into the family. It wasn’t looking good. She had a wonderful life, a great family, and though her mother could be very influenced by what others said sometimes, she was a great mother.
‘Forget Alec for a second.’ Zen’s feminine voice broke through her musings. ‘I still can’t believe you saw Alpha, your Alpha, after so long. I mean what are the odds that you’d follow Alec and find your lost love? I thought he’d left town. You really saw him?’
Zephyr flushed slightly, the kiss fresh in her memory. It did seem insane in retrospect.
‘Saw him. Jumped and kissed him, and then he kissed me. The way he fisted my hair…’ her voice trailed off as she fanned her face dramatically.
Zen fanned herself too, grinning. ‘He sounds sexier. And Alec really saw that?’
‘Alec and at least fifty other random strangers.’
‘Damn. What’s he like now? ‘ Zen asked, a mildly dreamy look on her face. That was the one thing they both had in common—they were both hopeless romantics, Zephyr a bit more hardcore and Zen a bit softer, but hopeless romantics nonetheless. Moreover, Zen was the only other soul who knew about Alpha.
‘Huge,’ Zephyr recalled, her heartbeats escalating at the memory. ‘Solid. He just held me with one arm the entire time. Can you imagine?’
‘The toad would never!’ Zen giggled, tightening her hair in a bun. ‘Is it still there? The spark?’
Yeah, it was there alright. “It was more intense. I don’t know if that’s because we’ve both matured now but it’s… there. I know he felt it.”
‘Tell me more. Let me live vicariously through you.’
Zephyr finished putting the lotion on. ‘He’s really scarred now. I can’t even imagine what he must’ve gone through to get them all. He was handsome but now he’s… wild. Dangerous. Someone you don’t want to mess with. He’s also got an eye patch.’
Zen stilled, her arms up on her hair. ‘Eye patch?’
‘I swear I’m not making that up,’ Zephyr chuckled, capping the bottle of lotion and setting it on her nightstand. ‘He looked like a pirate, except hotter and cleaner and better-smelling. Though I don’t know what pirates smelled like—possibly the sea, also can you imagine the—’
‘Did you just say scarred and eye-patched?’
‘—stench on board with all the—’
‘Zee.’
‘—men not washing for—’
Zen stood from the chair in an abrupt movement and came to her. ‘Zee, focus!’ she snapped her fingers and Zephyr halted her rambling, frowning at the seriousness on her sister’s face.
‘There’s only one man in the city I know about who wears an eye patch, and I sure as hell hope it’s not him because he’s…’ Zen bit her lip, her brown eyes troubled. “He’s dangerous”
Zephyr felt her brows furrow. ‘Wait, what are you talking about?’
Her sister tugged at the long sleeves of her nightgown, one she wore to bed like an old lady. Zephyr knew it made her feel secure. ‘A guy with the eye patch owns the SLF building. And Trident Towers. And half of the city. He’s some big hotshot in real estate on the face of it. I never got his name but there’s a rumor he’s heavily involved in the underworld, and I kinda believe it. You don’t get all this without being powerful, and that kind of power in this city—’
‘—is dangerous,’ Zephyr completed, letting it sink in, wondering if he was the same guy her sister was talking about, and if so, why the hell would a man who owned half the city fight barefist in a shady basement illegally? It made zero sense.
‘You never heard his name?’ she asked.
Her sister shook her head. ‘I don’t think anyone has heard of him in normal lives, per se. I only know about the eye patch thing because one of the girls at SLF told me about him. She was an employee of his, I think? Anyway, her father beat her up and the eye patch man sent her to SLF. She was there for a while, you might remember her. Jasmine?’
An image of a woman with the left side of her face swollen, a tattoo forcefully branded on the line of her jaw, popped into her mind. ‘I gave her a chic bob. She sobbed afterward. I remember. ‘
‘Yeah,’ her sister’s eyes were somber. ‘She told me a bit about the eye patch guy. Said he gave girls from the streets… security. And if some girls came through looking for it, I should definitely mention that and give them a number to contact. But I don’t know if it’s your Alpha.’
The silence continued for a bit as they both mulled over the news.
Was he the same man? Was he involved in the underworld? If he was, should she even consider trying to pursue anything? She’d always been a good girl. She paid her taxes on time, she helped old ladies cross the street, and she followed the law. And while Alpha had never had much regard for the law and his sense of morality had always been skewed, being involved in the underworld was an entirely different ballgame. If the eye patch man and Alpha were the same, should she even try to contact him again and involve herself in the midst of it?
Zephyr remembered the lack of recognition she’d seen in his gaze, and it didn’t hurt as much now that she was not overly emotional. But now that she’d found him, she was already itching to go see him again, to find out who he had become, understand his in-between, get his excuses. She wanted the stories of his scars, the workings of his mind, the intensity of his eye.
She wanted him, even if he was the underworld man.
And if he didn’t remember her, she needed to offer him something valuable, something that would make him give them the time to fall again.
The seed of an idea blossomed in her mind—an insane but enlivening idea.
‘You said he owned the Trident Towers, right?’ Zephyr voiced, the idea solidifying in her brain. She was crazy. Trident Towers were one of the most expensive office complexes in central Los Fortis.
‘Oh no,’ Zen pointed at her face. ‘I know that face. Whatever you’re cooking in your head, don’t.’
Zephyr blinked innocently. Her sister groaned. ‘You’ll get yourself in deep trouble.’
She waited.
‘Ugh,’ Zen huffed. ‘Yes. Just don’t get yourself killed.’
‘That’s a low bar.’
Her sister threw a pillow at her head before walking toward her door. ‘Knowing you…’
Rolling her eyes, Zephyr poked her tongue out as her sister left, the wheels in her brain turning.
Quickly opening her laptop, she spent the next hour diligently searching for the public records of ownership for Trident Towers and SLF, needing to confirm if the eye patch man and Alpha were the one and the same. It was all registered to one address.
AV Security
28th floor, Tower A,
Trident Towers, Zero Avenue
Los Fortis – LF001A
AV.
Alessandro Villanova.
It was him.
He’d never told her the name but she knew. It was him.
Zephyr stared at the address, torn about what to do. If she pursued it, she could change the course of their lives. It would be better if she let it go.
She shut the laptop.
Yeah, she’d let it go.
***
She didn’t let it go.
Zephyr worked as one of the prime hairstylists at Leisure Locks, one of the premium salons three blocks down from the city center and Trident Towers.
Trident Towers were a set of three tall towers skyscrapers in the middle of the city, in what Zephyr called the ‘bougie’ part of the town. At this time of the morning, it was busy. The roads were heavy with traffic, the pavements were full of purposeful pedestrians, the flurry of activities between corporate suits and carefree artists lively. Tower A had offices for multinational corporations, affluent law firms, and powerful investors. It was the money-making tower. Tower B housed apartments for those who could afford the vista view on the top half, and a luxury hotel on the lower. It was the money-taking tower. And Tower C, the shortest of the three, was basically an overpriced mall with everything from bars and restaurants to high-end fashion boutiques and grocery stores. It was the money-raking tower.
For the last two weeks, she had taken a longer route back to her apartment, walking by Tower A before going home, scoping it out. And in two weeks she’d learned two things.
One, AV Security employed a shit ton of hot, muscular men.
Two, Alpha never exited or entered the building from the front entrance.
In fact, in all of two weeks, she’d only seen him thrice and that too when he’d been walking to the back of the tower after getting out of a huge dark SUV she couldn’t see the name of. Two weeks of research, and a lot of conversations with her sister and SLF employees had made one thing clear—he was definitely some underworld baddie, infamous for providing the best security and pissing important people off.
He was dangerous. And she wanted him more for it like the sucker she was.
Zephyr stood outside Tower A, nervous.
She was absolutely mental. But this was the only way forward that she could see.
Taking a deep breath, she walked with purpose toward the entrance, giving the guards a huge smile. ‘AV Security, please.’
The guards nodded and she entered, taken aback by the massive foyer from the gates to the elevators, with a reception desk on one side with two women, a waiting area with plush chairs on the other side, and cameras on every wall. In her black dress, the one with tiny magenta flowers that were only visible in the correct lighting, she stood watching everyone, and still felt out of place. Her hair was now dyed a deep burgundy and cut with bangs that fell on her forehead, her dress was a little too swishy, and no, she didn’t fit in. Just standing in that foyer made her feel like she didn’t belong. But she had to do this, for them and the future she knew they deserved. Even though she didn’t know if the boss version of him would give her the same attention the fighter version of him had. She hoped he did.
Clutching the straps of her small pink bag, Zephyr stood at the entrance like an idiot, gathering all her courage.
‘Excuse me, miss!’
The voice from the side distracted her, and she looked to see one of the pretty receptionists smiling pleasantly at her, the phone in her hand. She was probably going to ask her to leave.
‘Yes?’ Zephyr stuck a smile to her face.
‘Are you Miss Rainbow?’
Miss Rainbow? Zephyr blinked, confused before realization dawned. She looked up at the camera pointed at the entrance. He had seen her. And damn if she didn’t love that.
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Mr. Villanova is expecting you.’
A slight smirk pulled at her lips, and she blew a kiss at the camera.
Mr. Villanova. So proper.
Nodding, she headed to the elevators with some other people going up and pressed 28th with slightly clammy hands.
Until the 22nd, she was relatively calm.
On the 23rd, her stomach started to flutter.
24th, she remembered the ease with which he’d hauled her up.
25th, she remembered his taped hand fisting her hair, and her body flushed slightly. Pressing herself against the elevator wall, she watched the two other men get off on the 26th floor.
27th, she reminded herself of why she was there. For him. She was there for him. Her mama always said her stubbornness would bite her in the ass, and she was probably right. But destiny had brought him back to her, and she’d be damned if she let that go. They deserved this chance, and he couldn’t fight for them so she would.
She hung her bag on her forearm, keeping it steady, pushed up her oversized sunglasses on her hair, adjusted her silver septum ring, and gave herself a once-over in the mirror. Her dress fit perfectly and fluttered at her knee, her cleavage tastefully exposed, and her legs elongated in heels. She looked hot, and she was banking that he thought so too.
The doors opened on the 28th floor, and Zephyr blinked in surprise. It looked nothing like what she’d been expecting.
A long brown teakwood table in the shape of a log stood in the reception area, AV Security engraved on it. Tall, muscular men wearing black t-shirts they could bust out of and jeans milled about, some sipping coffee in the kitchenette to the left, some just lounging in a sitting area with windows that overlooked the city, one man even wearing spectacles and reading a book in one corner. Three women, dressed in high heels and short dresses, walked out of a room with Hector, the bald guy who’d dropped her home the other night.
What was this place?
‘Can I help you?’ a masculine voice from the side had her looking at another tall guy, his skin a deep olive-brown, his hair cropped close to his head almost in a military-style. Watching his posture, she wouldn’t be surprised if he had in fact served.
This was some seriously hot men marketplace. She almost wanted to sneakily take pictures for Zen.
‘I’m here to see… Alpha?’ it came out more as a question than a statement.
The hottie frowned, his dark eyes assessing her clinically. ‘Alpha doesn’t meet with potential clients. You’ll have to register with us first. If you’re interested in security, I can help you out. I’m Victor.’ He extended his hand.
Before she could take it, a large palm slid around her waist in a move so proprietary, Zephyr was taken aback. She looked up to see her beast at her side, his eye steady on the other guy. ‘She’s with me,’ he declared in a voice that had her thighs clenching slightly.
Chatter stopped.
It meant something, his words. She didn’t know what, but the activity in the common area came to a halt. All the hot guys she’d been ogling were now looking at the man next to her, something like surprise and confusion in the air. Even the guy who’d been reading was looking at them curiously, as she stood with a man more than twice her size.
Damn.
It was hot.
And she was wet.
Without another word to anyone, he tugged her along to the door at the end of the open space, and she followed quickly, taking two steps for his one to not fall behind, the heat of his palm burning through her dress to her skin. Though he needed to learn how to walk slower, jeez.
They entered the office, and he shut the door behind them, walking to the large mahogany desk, leaning against it.
‘Rainbow.’
‘Zephyr, or Zee if you prefer,’ she corrected, leaning against the door he’d left her at, introducing herself for the first time as she watched for any flare of recognition. Her name wasn’t that usual either. Her mother had a thing for weird names, so she doubted he’d met many Zephyrs. But there was nothing, no sign he’d heard it before.
Alright, then. Mission blank slate commencing.
Zephyr accepted that, and moved on. First things first, she needed to ogle him properly in the sunlight, see everything she had missed that night.
He wore a black t-shirt and jeans like the men outside, not what she would’ve expected from a guy in Tower A who owned half the city, or an underworld lord people were scared to talk about.
He simply waited, letting her check him out at her leisure as her eyes roved over his massive frame, coming to rest on his scar.
‘You look intimidating,’ she told him, finally locking her gaze with his singular eye. ‘Not that I’m scared. I wouldn’t have jumped you if I was.” Shit, the way he was looking at her was getting to her. “That’s why I’m here. Not to be kissed again, although I wouldn’t mind that.” Abort, abort, abort. “It was a very nice kiss. Probably the best kiss I’ve had. I’m digressing. Sorry, I’m a little nervous.’
His eyebrow above the eye went up, but he stayed silent, which made her even more nervous.
‘I talk sometimes when I’m nervous,’ she muttered to herself, shaking her head. ‘I just—’
She pushed her bangs to the side as he tilted his head. ‘What were you doing with Alec Reyes?’
Her hand paused on her bangs as she frowned at him. ‘You know him?’
The man contemplated her. ‘Our paths have crossed.’ Vague.
‘He was my boyfriend until that night,’ she informed him.
‘What happened that night?’
You happened.
‘His dick fell into someone’s vagina. Repeatedly.’
“Ah.’ Ah. What was that ‘ah’?
She didn’t voice that thought though.
He straightened from the desk suddenly and went to sit behind it in the large chair, the room seeming more spacious with him seated. ‘So, how can I help you, Zephyr?’
She loved the way he said her name. Zey-furr. She’d purr if she were a cat at the way he said it, probably go into heat too and rub all over him.
Not the time.
Swallowing, she crossed her arms over her chest to hide her nipples, noticing the way his eye dropped to her cleavage before coming back to her face. Good. He was attracted to her. That was important.
‘I…’ she hesitated, not even sure how to voice it.
He waited patiently.
And then she blurted out the words that had been on the tip of her brain for two weeks.
‘Marry me.’
Silence.
She’d surprised him. She could see that on his half-scowling face. He sat back in his chair, his single eye intense on her. ‘Excuse me?’
This would be the tough part, convincing him that it was nothing but a marriage of convenience, a quid pro quo scheme. But she’d come prepared.
Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the chair in front of his desk and took a seat, earnestly trying to make it make sense. She had the whole plan, had practiced it on Zen that morning, much to her sister’s exasperation. Desperate times and all.
‘Okay,’ there went nothing. ‘My grandmother, bless her soul, was batshit crazy. She had these old family relics and heirlooms that have been in our family for multiple generations, and she left it all to me, on the condition that I’m married by my twenty-ninth birthday, which is in two weeks. Don’t ask me why, I still haven’t figured it out. They’re important to my family, and I want to pass them on to my kids too someday, which was why I was ready to settle down with Alec. But Alec is… controlling. He will never accept that I rejected him, and he’ll try to interfere so I can’t find someone else in time however he can. I wasn’t in love with him, even though I did try. But…’ she paused, trying to rein her emotions back in as she talked to him, his presence alone wreaking havoc inside her.
‘Go on,’ he prompted, his large arms resting on the arms of his chair, his golden eye sharp on her.
Zephyr exhaled heavily. ‘That night, I felt a connection to you. Then I found out who you were and you’re probably the only guy in the city who can make Alec shit his pants, pardon my language. And then I got the idea that I could kill two birds with one stone. Believe it or not, I don’t go around proposing to random strangers. I know you don’t know me, but I’m a great person to have around. So… will you marry me? Only for like six months? My grandmother’s will would be executed by then, and Alec would have gone down a peg, and then we can go our ways. And it won’t be too bad. I mean we have really hot chemistry and I’m a nice person and you seem like a solid guy and I just want to—’
‘Breathe.’
Zephyr paused, inhaled and told herself to calm down. She was talking a mile a minute but she was nervous. This was a risk. If he said yes, she would have a great story to tell their grandkids. If he said no, she didn’t know what she would do. Her grandmother’s will, while important, was more of an excuse now; her primary goal with this venture was him.
Zephyr leaned forward as she pleaded with him. ‘Please.’
Alpha watched her for a few minutes, contemplating something before he finally spoke. ‘And why would I agree?’
Zephyr felt her heart triple in its beat. “Because I’ve heard you haven’t been with a woman in a while, Mr. Villanova. And you’d have me, and I’m fantastic in bed if I say so myself. I also have something of yours. And for six months of your life, I’ll return the secret back to you.” She leaned forward earnestly. “Be my husband, and I’m yours. You have nothing to lose, and so much to gain. I’ll happily be your friend, your lover, your wife, whatever you need.”
She could see he was intrigued.
“I’ll sign a prenup,” she continued, making it clear she didn’t want his assets, at least not the financial ones. “At the end of six months when we part ways, I’ll take nothing.”
He tapped the top of the chair with his fingers, a scar on the back of his hand going up his arm. “So you know something about me, and if I marry you, I’ll get the secret and get you?”
Zephyr kept her eyes steady on him even as her fingers gripped her dress.
“Yes.”
