Entwined Fates: Dominating Miya (9 page)

After talking with the police, he’d called Marcone and told him the news. His friend and security confidant had apparently noticed the tension in his voice and had asked about it, but how could Alex explain this? How did he tell Marcone he wanted to sexually dominate his daughter?

In the background, the news played through the large screen on the far wall. For the most part, Alex tuned it out until they mentioned Miya’s name.

He glanced up at the screen and watched in horror at a video of him and Miya kissing at the club. They’d been spotted, which was, of course, what he’d wanted. He just never expected the media to be inside the club as well. Someone must’ve followed them. The media was all abuzz about a union between the Dorn and Marcone families—uniting Bellara and Tilarus. What the hell?

Son of a bitch.

Alex sighed and closed his eyes briefly. That little stunt just blew up in his face royally.

“Let me call you back,” Christian said before hanging up his communicator and cutting his call short.

Alex opened his eyes to see Christian and Sharna staring at him—Sharna in shock; Christian in anger.

Ah, hell.

“I can explain that,” Alex said.

“I recommend you do,” Christian snarled.

Sharna slapped Chris on the stomach with the back of her hand before turning to fully face Alex.

“You were supposed to be keeping an eye on her, Alex. Eyes, not your mouth,” Christian snapped.

“Fuck you, Chris,” Alex snarled. “If you’ll shut up for a second, I’ll tell you what happened.”

“By all means,” Christian said sarcastically.

Alex sighed and walked over to the kitchen. He grabbed a cup and poured himself coffee while Christian and Sharna moved to sit at the island stools. He needed a few seconds to think.

“You knew that the letters had escalated in tone,” Alex began.

“Yeah. What’s that got to do with kissing her?”

Alex sent Christian an annoyed glare before continuing. “While you were gone, it escalated further. One of her costumes was tampered with. It cut her back up pretty bad.”

“What!” Christian bellowed.

“Relax, she’s fine. We did that at the club to see if we could get the guy’s attention.” Yeah, okay. That was a lie. He was only supposed to be seen holding her hand, walking into the club with her. Not kissing her. How the hell had the media gotten into the damn club in the first place? He thought the media was banned from the interior of all clubs. “The last time she was in public with a man, it made her stalker angry. We hoped that, after seeing us kiss, he would kick his efforts up again.”

Nice fast thinking, Alex.

“Did it work?” Sharna asked.

Alex nodded. “Yeah. We caught him. It turned out to be the elevator attendant in her building.”

Alex lifted his cup, taking a sip of coffee as he waited for Christian to say something. All Christian knew about was the kiss at the club. Christian didn’t need to know about the other, about the fact he’d broken his sister’s heart and left Miya crying in her apartment.

I’m such a damn jerk.

“That’s a good thing, right, Chris?” Sharna said as she tried to get Christian to stop glaring at Alex.

“Damn it, Chris! Stop looking at me like that. I kissed Miya. I didn’t fuck her.”

“I don’t even like you using the words ‘fuck’ and ‘Miya’ in the same damn sentence!”

Now Alex’s anger was rising. He’d had enough of this crap. He set his cup down and leaned on the counter, glaring angrily at his friend. Although, if Chris kept this up, they couldn’t be friends much longer.

“Chris, you have to get to that meeting,” Sharna said. When Christian didn’t move, she slapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. “Now.”

Growling, Christian stood and walked to the door. “We’re not done with this discussion.”

“Yes, we are,” Alex snarled.

The door slammed shut. Alex sighed and dropped his head. “Just perfect.”

“So,” Sharna began. Alex cringed before peeking at her through his lashes.

“So…what?” he asked. “Spit it out, Shar.”

“Did you decide to use the kiss as a way to bait the guy before or after you kissed her?”

Scowling at her little self-satisfied grin, he grabbed his cup and placed it in the sink, putting his back to Sharna.

“Alex,” Sharna sang.

“Nope,” Alex replied, refusing to answer her question.

Sharna stood and walked around the island. “Alex—”

He spun to face her, giving her his best I’m-the-Dom-don’t-talk-to-me look.

She crossed her arms over her chest and glared right back. “Don’t even go there with me. I don’t do the sub thing.”

Alex snorted. “Then you better rethink your attraction to Chris.”

She waved her hand. “That’s entirely different. Him, I would play the sub with. If I could just get him to,” she grumbled, making Alex grin.

“Then perhaps you should take matters into your own hands.”

“Maybe, but that’s another discussion.” She rested one hand on the counter; the other she placed at her hip. “Look. You know Chris loves you.”

“Where are you going with this, Sharna?” Alex asked tiredly.

“He’s seen you with women at the club. I think it just freaks him out maybe thinking about you doing those things to Miya.”

“I haven’t done any of those things to Miya.”

“But you want to.”

He frowned. “Have you been talking to Cara?”

“No. Should I?”

“No,” he said firmly, then shook his head. “What is it with you women thinking you see me in love with Miya?”

Sharna’s eyes widened. “I never said anything about you being in love with Miya. And what do you mean women? Who else has been talking to you about this?”

He glanced at her, at first a little startled. Had he just said that? “Let it go.”

“Alex, forget for a minute all the news about uniting planets and pissing off Chris. It’s just you and Miya. Do you have feelings for her?”

He rolled his eyes. So much for letting it go. But her question had merit. Did he have feelings for her? Beyond lust? Yes, he did, but it was just too complicated. It just wouldn’t work.

Shaking his head, Alex started for the living room. “We can’t talk about this, Shar.”

“Why?” she asked, following.

He had a sinking feeling Sharna wasn’t going to give up until he finally admitted something.

“Because you’ll tell Chris.”

“I will not,” she exclaimed.

He started to say something, but Cara walking through Christian’s apartment door stopped him. She glanced around quickly. “Is Chris here?”

“He just left,” Sharna said.

Cara walked in the rest of the way and slammed the door shut. “Alex! Are you insane? Why did you kiss her in public? You know how the media follows her around.”

“Oh, for the love of God, not you too,” he growled. “Should you even be yelling at me in your condition?”

Cara grinned and put her hand on her growing stomach. “I’m pregnant, smart-ass. I do not have a condition. Besides, I’m sure your little niece or nephew is used to your blustering by now.”

Alex scrunched his nose. “Funny. Did Hayden see it?”

“Oh, yeah,” Cara said with a nod and look of sympathy. “He’s out for blood.”

“Great.” Alex sighed and rubbed his forehead. That’s all he needed. Both Miya’s brothers out to kill him.

“Where is he?” Alex asked.

“On his way to see Miya. I thought I’d track you down and run interference.”

“Wonderful,” Alex grumbled. “At least Miya will tell him what happened and calm him down. There was a reason for that kiss.”

Or at least he hoped she did. Or would she get even by telling Hayden everything?

“Uh-huh,” Cara drawled. “You mean besides the obvious?”

He shot Cara an angry look that did little to curb her amusement. Sharna snickered. She and Cara shared a grin. Alex groaned in aggravation. Anyone else he could scare into leaving him alone. Not these two.

At least he’d gotten his stuff out of Miya’s. The last thing he needed was Hayden seeing any of his clothes there. “I don’t need this right now from either of you,” he growled. “I don’t know why the media is making such a big deal about a family union anyway. There’s already a union between Bellara and Tilarus in Hayden and Cara.”

“Yeah, but Cara’s just a senator,” Sharna explained. ”You’re the chancellor of Bellara. The leader. It’s a bit different. And the Marcones…well, to put it bluntly, they’re more powerful than the senate regent. In the media’s mind, Marcone and Dorn would make a pretty bad-ass union.”

Alex winced.

“Cara, do you know if her father’s gotten wind of this yet?” Alex asked tiredly.

“He doesn’t pay any attention to the media, so it’s doubtful, but I’m sure someone will say something to him,” Cara replied.

“Would you mind calling him and explaining what happened, Shar?”

“Sure,” she said with a nod. “What are you going to do?”

“Get out of here for a while and give the brothers time to cool off.”

SHARNA WATCHED ALEX leave as sadness filled her heart. She truly believed he cared for Miya, but because Christian had to be such an ass about the whole thing, Alex refused to do anything about it. She looked at Cara, who appeared to be just as worried about Alex as she was.

“Alex is in love with Miya,” Cara said sadly. “I think he has been for a long time.”

“Where do you think he’ll go?” Sharna asked.

“Probably the club. He was planning on going there later this week anyway to check on things.”

Sharna nodded, then grinned. “Let me call Sidious; then I’m thinking you and I should pay a visit to Miya.”

Cara grinned in return. “Agreed.”

Chapter Eleven

Lord Sidious Marcone closed down the computer screen and reached for the remote to turn on the television. As the picture came in, he sat back and frowned. There it was. Chancellor Dorn kissing his daughter.

He didn’t give a rat’s ass what Alex said. That was not a kiss for show. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that either. He liked Alex. He was a good man. He was a good leader. And he was a damn good negotiator. But what he apparently wasn’t good at was lying.

Alex was a Dom, and Miya a headstrong, stubborn young woman. That did not make for a good combination, which was probably why he’d gotten that call the other night about their little argument.

Sidious’s lips twitched. He remembered a similar argument with his wife that happened when they’d first met. He scowled and turned off the television. Alex’s argument with his daughter better not have ended the way his had with his wife.

He’d hate to have to kill the boy.

His wife, Mikayla, strolled into his office and held out a warm cup of
korniga.

“Hey, baby,” he said with a smile as he took the cup from her hand. “You read my mind.”

“You okay?” Mikayla turned and sat on his desk. “You looked as though you were pissed about something when I came in.”

Sidious reached out and rubbed his hand up and down his wife’s calf. “Not mad, really. Just concerned.” He stared up at her. She looked just as beautiful today as she had the day he met her. And Miya looked so much like her. “What do you think of Dorn?”

“Alex?” She frowned. “He seems nice. Reminds me of a younger you.”

Sidious twisted his lips and snarled softly in annoyance. “Yeah, my brother said the same thing.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I was just curious.” He frowned down at her leg as he continued to absently rub the back of her calf. “I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot more of him.”

“Does this have anything to do with Miya?” Mikayla asked.

He glanced back up at his wife in surprise.

“I saw the way he watched her at Hayden and Cara’s party. The man is smitten.”

Sidious frowned as he remembered the way Alex watched her when he thought no one was paying attention. “Yeah, I noticed that too. That’s not the only party I’ve seen him watching her either. But he’s a Dom.”

Mikayla’s hands froze as they brought her cup to her mouth.

“And we both know how Miya is,” Sidious drawled.

His wife set her cup on the desk. “True,” she smiled devilishly, and Sidious’s cock sprang to life. It never failed to amaze him just how fast she could get him hot for her. “But look at us. You’re very dominant, and we’ve worked out fine.”

He smiled softly. “That is very true.”

She jumped from the desk and leaned down to place a quick kiss on his lips. “Leave them be and let them work this out on their own,” she whispered.

He chucked her under the chin. “I think I might need you to take my mind off it,” he murmured, then gripped her arm and tugged her onto his lap.

Mikayla squealed, then giggled as he wrapped his arms around her and buried his face in her neck, biting softly at the sensitive spot just below her ear.

* * * *

“Miya, honey. Come on. Open the door,” Hayden pleaded.

Miya shook her head and dropped onto the couch. “Absolutely not,” she snapped.

He’d entered her apartment this morning, yelling about seeing her and Dorn kissing on television. After no sleep last night, Miya had gotten so angry she’d thrown him out. Now he stood on the other side of the door, trying his best to get her to open it.

“You cannot come in here bitching about who I date, Hayden,” she yelled. “Go back to work.”

“Miya,” he said more firmly, but Miya ignored him.

She’d spent the rest of last night crying over that damn jackass. Why did she have to fall in love with him? Why did he have to be so damn stubborn?

Another knock sounded at her door, and she growled. “Go away.”

“Miya, hon. It’s Sharna. Can I come in?”

She sighed and rolled her eyes toward the ceiling. Couldn’t they all just let her be?

“Cara got rid of Hayden. It’s just us.”

“And Sam,” her assistant added.

She really didn’t want to talk to anybody, but she also knew they wouldn’t go away. Not until they saw for themselves she was okay. Accepting her fate, she got up and walked to the door. She opened it and frowned at the three concerned faces staring back at her.

“See? I’m fine. Now, if you’re here to yell at me like Hayden, then—”