Cravings: Alpha City 2 (7 page)

Zoey walked over to her cell phone and called the only person who could help her make sense of what was going on with Kayden. “London, I need help.”

“What’s wrong?” London asked hearing the desperation in Zoey’s voice.

“Nothing bad, except it’s Kayden. He showed up here last night and is acting all possessive like he is under a love spell or something. He told me he loves me, London. Love? What has changed? Why now, that someone else is interested in me? I feel like he is only doing this because of Johnny Ringo.”

“Oh honey, he does care. I think it took hearing how much Johnny Ringo liked you to get his motor running. I really believe he does love you, sweetie. We all think that. It’s up to you to decide whether or not you want to give him a chance now or see what else is out there. But if you choose Johnny then you will have to move and…No, it’s okay Zoey we will work around any decision you make. Everything will work out. Just make sure you get the one you want. Don’t settle, Zoey. If Kayden wants you, then he needs to fight for you. Because you are worth it. Understand?”

“Yeah.” Zoey sniffled trying not to cry. London always had a way of explaining everything. “Thank you, London. I don’t know if Johnny Ringo really wants me or if he just wants in my pants. It’s nice though. The way he is treating me. It’s nice to finally be treated like I matter.”

“Just so you know, the man left a poker game and flew to Las Vegas to get his girl.” Zoey laughed. Yep that was her best friend. London always had a way of putting everything in perspective.

If Kayden wanted her, then he would have to fight for her, because she wasn’t going to be considered someone who wasn’t worth the fight.

****

Kayden walked into the lobby looking around for Zoey. He didn’t think she beat him downstairs. She needed to take a shower and get ready. He knew Zoey well enough to know how long it took her to get ready.

As he walked around the corner, he saw Johnny Ringo was sitting in a chair watching him. Slowly, Kayden scanned the area for any hint of danger before he sat down in the chair beside him. He liked that his back was against the wall. That way, he could see who was coming toward him. Ryder trusted Johnny Ringo, but Kayden didn’t know him enough to trust him. Plus, the man was after his girl, and that wasn’t going to happen.

“Let’s get something straight before Zoey comes downstairs,” Johnny said with a hint of annoyance. “I like her; and if she will have me, I plan to mate with her. My wolf likes her too, and I always listen to my wolf. Go home, Lynn. You don’t really want her, but you don’t want her to find someone else, either.” Kayden glared at Johnny as he spoke. He could feel his panther leaping forward. “Yeah, I know all about you and her, and how she has loved you for a long time. You just avoided her. And now that she isn’t following you like a puppy anymore, you want her all of a sudden.”

Kayden leaned forward trying to calm down before he spoke. His panther was jumping so hard trying to get out that it was hard for him to say anything back to the idiot.

Blowing out the breath he was holding, Kayden glared at Johnny Ringo. He moved into the chair across from Johnny so he could see his eyes to show him how serious he was.

“Now you listen to me. You have no clue what’s between Zoey and me. I have known her since she was born. I watched her come into this world, and I plan to spend the rest of my days with her. You say you like her, but I love her. She is my mate.  I fought that for a long time because of something stupid, and it took a while to realize that I do love her, and she loves me.

“Right now, she’s mad at me, and I don’t blame her. I have a lot of time to make it up to her, and I plan on doing that. You can’t make me leave without her. If you make me leave this hotel, that’s fine, but I have friends here, too, so don’t start a war between shifters. Zoey is smart and beautiful, and I can see why you like her, but you don’t hurt when she isn’t near you. You don’t crave her when she is gone. That’s what a mate does. They love each other even when they piss each other off. So telling me to leave isn’t going to happen, not without her. So Ringo, if that is what you have planned then tell me now, because I plan on taking her with me. You and that pack of yours better get ready if you think you will stop me.” Kayden’s emotions were overflowing, and he didn’t know that Zoey was standing behind him listening to what he said. Once he calmed down, he noticed that Johnny wasn’t looking at him but over his head.

Kayden turned around and watched the face of Zoey go from shocked to angry.

“Why now?” Zoey’s voice was trembling as she searched his face. “Why now? What made you suddenly change your mind? I can’t do this now. I came here to make a deal. Not this.”

“Zoey, let’s go eat and discuss the product, and then you can decide whether or not you want to talk to Kayden.” Johnny stood up waiting for her to answer. He never thought the man would say something like that. He figured he would just kick him out of his hotel and try to get Zoey to choose him.
He must be up to something
.
No other reason he is trying to accommodate him.

Zoey’s mind was already spinning, but now Johnny was being nice to Kayden. Looking up at the ceiling, she closed her eyes. Right now, at this moment, she felt drained. All the confessions and late nights were playing havoc on her mentally. She wanted to get this deal closed, so she could go to bed, then go home. At least at home she could lock her door and not come out if she wanted to keep everyone away until she figured out what she really wanted.

“Let’s eat and get this over with.” Zoey groaned and started walking toward the restaurant. She heard all the men jogging to catch up with her. Kayden was on one side and Johnny was on the other.

“Okay, beautiful. Calm down. Let’s have a great dinner.” She glared over at Johnny who nodded. “And talk business.”

“Yes, let’s get this finalized before I piss you off or Kayden pisses you off. London and I want to do business with you, Johnny. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how well your product will turn out once we make it,” Zoey added.

“I don’t have any doubts, beautiful,” Johnny responded as he guided her to a table he had reserved in the back of the restaurant near the windows.

Before Kayden could do it, Johnny had already pulled out her chair, then seated himself next to her. Andrew took the other side before Kayden could sit down putting him directly across from him.

****

As soon as the waitress took their drink order, Zoey reached in her bag and took out her paperwork. She had a checklist and started going down the list asking Johnny questions. Johnny was very professional as he answered her questions. He watched as she wrote down the answers. She asked follow-up questions knowing that London would need the answers to start the program.

Not one time did she look over at Kayden while she asked Johnny questions. He was a businessman too and knew she needed to concentrate on the job and get this signed, sealed, and delivered.

The quicker the better
, he thought.

“Johnny, give me a time period you will need this product?” Zoey asked.

“Three months,” Johnny answered.

“I think that we can do that, but we need a last resort date when you know you have to have it back before you launch,” Zoey requested.

“Look, we all know I can’t launch or prepare until I get the example back from you. I have put out buzz cuts to the gaming crowd, and it is drawing a huge interest. If you can get this product back to me in three months, I will give you two percent of the royalties. Because it’s my reputation that’s on the line here, I think two percent is fair,” Johnny challenged.

He had heard about Zoey’s ability to close a deal. Ryder bragged about her all the time. He would send her out and let her close the deal. She usually came back with a better deal than was previously discussed. She was that good.

“Well Johnny, seeing as it is our company that is actually producing the chip, we want seven percent of the royalties and a ten million dollar bonus if the product reaches number one on the gaming charts.” Smiling up at him, she threw him off. Kayden could see the change in Johnny’s demeanor. He never even knew she was working him.

“I know how this works too, Alpha, but I also know we are putting ourselves out there with our reputation if it fails. I think if it fails, more will look at our company when it comes to the blame game. We made the chip.” Zoey watched as a slow smile spread across Johnny’s lips.

Kayden knew that Johnny would give her whatever she wanted.

“So do we have a deal, Johnny?” Zoey asked. She never smiled waiting for Johnny’s answer. She knew how this worked. He wanted to test her to see if she would bend, and that wasn’t happening, even if he pulled out of the deal.

“You drive a hard bargain, Zoey Malone,” Johnny answered.

“When I play with the big boys, I usually wear my big girl panties.  I also like to take chances; today, I didn’t wear any at all, but I can play.” Zoey watched as Johnny and Kayden twisted in their seats. She was shocked that Kayden stayed as quiet as he had, but he did and she was happy about that at least. Now if Johnny would just sign the paperwork, she would be set.

“Well Zoey Malone, I think you got yourself a deal,” Johnny finally answered. Zoey didn’t waste any time. She took the papers from the folder and gave him his copy.

“Let your attorneys look this over, and then get it back to me signed before I leave, and you, Alpha, have a deal.” Zoey stuck her hand out and shook Johnny’s hand.

Finally, it was done. If this product took off like she thought, it would put London’s and her company on the map. They would be making products just like the Landon Computer Company and well on their way at becoming a billion dollar company, faster than anticipated.

She looked over at Kayden who was watching her. He winked at her and smiled. For some reason that smile meant more to her than anything.

Maybe he was finally taking notice of her abilities. She was an owner of her own company and making million dollar deals. This is what she has always wanted to do, and she would never give it up. She hoped that wink and smile meant that he was actually proud of her.

She would have thought that Kayden would have jumped in and tried to take over the negotiation, but he didn’t. He sat there the whole time with his mouth shut. Even now, Kayden wasn’t saying anything which made her nervous. She didn’t know an Alpha male could do that. Maybe he has changed his mind and is rethinking what he said. Her self-doubt was doing a number on her. Why couldn’t she just be confident in this, too? When it came to doing business, she was the tiger lady, but when it came to her love life, she sucked at it. Zoey exhaled loudly bringing the Alpha’s attention to her.

“I guess you will want to head home now that you have all of this worked out?” Johnny asked sadly.

Kayden’s head jerked up as Johnny made his move. “Yes, I need to get back. We have a lot of big projects in the works. Your program is very technical, and London will need my help. Especially, if you want it completed in three months,” Zoey answered, but smiled back at the Alpha. She glanced over at Kayden who was shooting daggers into Johnny.

“Well, I was hoping to convince you to stay and enjoy some of the sights, but since you need to get back and help, then maybe I can come to Alpha City. I need to take a break, and I would love to see Ryder again. I haven’t seen him in years. It will be good to get away from here for a while. Mind if we catch a ride back with you in the jet, or are you going to make me take ours?”
Johnny was pulling out all his cards now
, she thought.

“No, that would be great. Kayden will be joining us as well. We can play poker on the way back. So bring your money, boys.” Zoey could see Kayden’s head turn toward her.
Maybe he thought I would just leave him here and not give him a ride back.
This way all the players would be in one place. It should make for a fun ride
. Zoey laughed to herself. The two Alphas continued to stare at each other. It seemed that this situation was becoming more and more hilarious.

“How are you going to get back home, Johnny?” Zoey laughed thinking of Johnny on an airplane flying first class instead of his own.

“I’ll get the plane sent to Georgia before we leave. I may want to stay a while,” Johnny answered with a smirk as he stared at Kayden.

The waitress came back to the table and took thei'r orders. While everyone at the table sat in silence, a man walked into the restaurant. Both Alphas spun to watch the man.

He had a cape she had seen before. The coven of witches wore them. As the maitre d’ tried to talk to the man, he continued to scan the room until his eyes laid on hers. The man removed his hood and started walking toward their table with purpose. Zoey could see the man meant business, and she didn’t like the way he was looking at her. Kayden zeroed in on the man as he walked toward them. His features were off as he stalked toward their table. Something was wrong with the man. She could see the evil slithering around him.

Kayden jumped up and got in front of her before Johnny could get up. The man in the cape gritted his teeth and threw his hands toward them. Kayden already had the table up in front of them when it was hit with something and caught on fire. Johnny and Kayden both came around the table before the man could raise his hands again and tackled him to the floor.

Zoey grabbed the tablecloth off a table, ripped a strip off, and wrapped it around the man’s eyes so he couldn’t see. Then she tore another strip off and gagged the man so he couldn’t utter anything else out loud. She didn’t know if that would work, but Kayden hit him so hard in the face that the man went out cold.

Nobody saw what really happened since they were sitting in the back, but the maître d’ explained to the people sitting near them that the man was trying to rob them by using a Taser. He added that the man was going to jail. Nobody seemed to see anything. They had gotten lucky. It was really smart thinking on the maître d’s part in case they had seen the fireball.

Kayden and Zoey followed Johnny and Andrew as they dragged the man out of the restaurant and took him to a private elevator. They went down a few floors and came out into a huge room. Only a few chairs were in the room. They walked to another door, and a guard opened the door allowing them inside. The walls appeared to be made of steel. The guard pushed a button, and a door opened into a glass room. The witch was dragged into the room and laid on the bed. Nothing was inside the room except a bed and a toilet. Johnny and Andrew secured the man to the bed with handcuffs and walked out and closed the door.

“Who the hell was that?” Johnny looked at Kayden and Zoey for an answer.

“We don’t know,” Kayden answered for both of them.

“It’s a witch, and he wanted one of us dead or all of us. I don’t know which,” Johnny answered.

“Oh no! Kayden, you don’t think it was Claudia who sent him to kill me?” Zoey grabbed Kayden’s arm. She knew she looked worried but couldn’t shake the feeling that a war was about to start.

“Who is Claudia?” Johnny demanded.

“Can he get out of there or do a spell to get out of there?” Kayden asked.

Johnny looked over at the glass room. “No, it’s spell proof. My coven has it covered from the ceiling to the floors. He can’t get out or do any spells while he is in that room. Now you owe me some answers. Let’s go to my room, so we can talk in private.” Johnny didn’t wait for Kayden or her to reply before he started walking toward the private elevator. The elevator took them to the top floor where the penthouse was located.