7 Degrees of Alpha (a collection of seven new BWWM, Alpha Male Romances) (32 page)

Chapter 1

“Marco. Speak,” Marco said, gruffly answering the phone.

“Mr. Bellomi, I presume?”

“That’s me, and you are?” Marco questioned.

“I am a potential client, sir. I need your services and your…discretion.”

“I’m the best at what I do, but you already know that, or you wouldn’t have my number, so….” Marco trailed off.

The caller chucked. “Indeed, Mr. Bellomi. I need someone followed. I need to know where they are at all times.”

“Are you sure you want to go into detail over the phone?”

“I’m not an amateur, Mr. Bellomi. This phone is untraceable, but that’s none of your concern. I have all of your information, including your fee and account number. What I need from you is your acceptance of the job that I have for you.”

Marco inhaled, trying to keep his mounting frustration under control. “Before I accept the job, I need to know a few things.  First, who’s the perp you want followed?”

The annoying caller chuckled again. “I will be sending the details in an email. Once you accept the job, we can set up a meeting time.”

Normally these types of clients didn’t want to be seen. They just wanted their dirty work done and that’s that. Although Marco always knew who he was working for, he made sure to get Intel on every client, so whether they wanted to remain anonymous or not, he always knew who they were.

“Why do you want a meeting if you are so willing to send everything in an email?” Marco questioned.

“I like to be thorough, Mr. Bellomi.”

“Right…You can set up a meeting with my assistant,” Marco stated simply.

“Great… Have a good day, sir, and I look forward to working with you,” the caller responded in a smug tone.

The caller disconnected before Marco could respond. He looked at his cell in disgust.
I hate these smug assholes,
Marco thought to himself.

Marco Bellomi was a private investigator for famous and very rich clientele. There wasn’t a person or a piece of information that he couldn’t find, and although he was one of the best at his job, a potential client couldn’t just find him in the yellow pages or Google his name. He was only known in select circles. Marco liked the anonymity and exclusiveness. He made a lot of money and became a very rich man, catering to this particular group of high society patrons. Even though Marco was a millionaire himself, he was beginning to hate dealing with these rich assholes.

***

Though Marco Bellomi lived in Texas, he grew up in the Bronx. His mother and father moved from the old country Italy, to, what they claimed, “have a better life.” It was rumored that his paternal grandfather was part of the mob and was gunned down in a turf war when his parents were set to be married. Upon their nuptials four months later, his maternal grandfather was also killed in a similar manner. It was also said that his mother, Theresa, was the daughter of the biggest bosses in the village they lived in, and when she married Massimo, Marco’s father, the two families were to form the biggest alliance Italy had ever seen. However, the murder of both their father’s had the newlyweds fleeing to America to hide.

Marco never got the full story from his parents, and neither had ever gone back to the old country, so their past stayed a rumor. Marco’s parents lived quietly running an authentic Italian restaurant and raising six boys. Marco was the youngest and the closest to his parents. They still lived and ran the family restaurant in the Bronx. Marco, however, had had enough of the East Coast and decided he would move to Texas for warmer weather. Although many people didn’t think of it as a high society place, Texas had more money in it than almost any other state in America, and that’s also where Marco became a millionaire, so he was content with living there.

The next day, Marco walked into his office early, but he knew his assistant, Melissa, was there because he could smell the coffee brewing. Melissa was his executive assistant who also managed the office and clients. She was a petite spitfire that didn’t take any shit from anybody, including Marco. “Mel” was in her late thirties, but didn’t look a day over twenty-five. She had a deep brown complexion with dark brown eyes, and she wore her hair in a long, bright red bob that complemented her skin tone, even though you wouldn’t think that it would. She worked
with
Marco, not
for
him, and that’s why he was so successful.

“Mel? You in here?” Marco called while walking to the back of the office.

Melissa stuck her head out of the door of one of the conference rooms. “Yea, boss, I’m in meeting room one. We have a client at ten, and I wanted to make sure everything was set and ready.”

Marco raised a thick, dark, black eyebrow as he walked toward the conference room. “What client, Mel?”

“He said his last name was Murray, his first is something snooty like Brody or Bradigan. I don’t know. I have to look,” Melissa said shrugging her slim shoulders. “He sent an email with information on the woman he wanted followed, but he wanted to meet in person for whatever reason. You know how these uppity people are.” Melissa shrugged her shoulders again and continued setting up the room.

“Yea, believe me, I know. I’ll be in my office finishing up some things. Call me when what’s his name gets here,” Marco said with a smirk.

Melissa chuckled. “Yea, okay, boss. I can do that.”

Marco walked to his office and shut the door. He loved this office space. Since he knew he would spend so much time there, Marco knew that when he was searching for a home for his business that it would have to have a great view. His view was of the Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas. He was on the top floor of one of the adjacent buildings. Marco’s firm occupied a large space, and even though he didn’t publicize his business in a conventional manner, he still had plenty of work and employees. His office consisted of two large conference rooms, a break room, four private offices, a server room and a large waiting area. It was decorated in warm earth tones and lots of water features that Marco found calming.

Marco sat down in his plush, Italian leather chair. He sank down in the cushiony seat and started going through his emails. The first email that he noticed was the message that was obviously sent from a dummy account.

Marco smirked.
These idiots think it’s untraceable, as if all you have to do is just make up and send information from a fake email address.

Marco shook his head and opened the email.

Sydney Hamilton

Age: 28

Employment: Hamilton, Thompson, and Durr law firm

Address: 2223 Canton Ave. Apt 24B Dallas TX 75201

Phone: 469-555-3469

Parents: Sandra and Stanley Hamilton

Marco read over the information and started a search on Sydney Hamilton. He couldn’t understand why the client wanted Ms. Hamilton followed if he had so much information on her. Most people came to him with just a name and the rest was up to him. Something wasn’t right about this client, but he would figure that out upon meeting him.

***

Three hours later, Marco was called into the conference room where his client was waiting.

Bradford Murray was an average looking man, but he had an air of entitlement about him that made you notice him. He was around 5’10” with reddish blonde hair that was cut short. He had dark blue eyes that were set deep in his slender face. He had a long nose and a sharp jaw line. Bradford was dressed in a dark blue tailored suit with a matching blue tie and expensive leather shoes. He wore a gold watch with a matching tie clip and cuff links. He obviously had money, and he wanted everyone to know it.

Bradford stood when Marco entered the room. Marco knew that Bradford was sizing him up, but he wasn’t at all intimidated. This was his office, and he ran shit. Plus, this little entitled bastard had nothing on Marco. He entered the room, standing at his full 6’4” height. His hazel eyes stood out against his olive skin. His dark, black hair was slicked back away from his face. It was longer than what was deemed professional, but Marco didn’t give a damn. He wore a tailor made black suit and a crisp white shirt with no tie and the top two buttons undone. Marco liked to feel relaxed in his office, so he rarely wore a tie to work. Marco was also wearing a gold watch and matching cuff links, which Bradford noticed while extending his hand to shake.

“Mr. Bellomi, glad you could meet with me,” Bradford stated.

“Sure. I received your email, as well as your payment. I understand the parameters of the job. What I don’t understand is why you needed a meeting,” Marco bluntly replied.

“I just wanted to make sure that you understand the urgency of this particular job. This isn’t just some woman that I need followed. This is my future wife. Well, that’s if she is on the up and up.  I need to make sure she’s the right woman to have by my side for my political career.”

Marco nodded his head in understanding. This wasn’t the first time he had to follow a woman to make sure she was who she said she was, especially with these rich types. There were always gold diggers, drug abusers, and downright evil bitches trying to get money. He decided that he would take the job for the time being, but upon meeting Bradford Murray, Marco knew there was something more to the story than what he was being told.

***

Marco sat in his black, 1970 Ford Mustang. A few years ago, the car would have stood out like a sore thumb, but now, with the revamp of the muscle car, his “Sally” fit right in. He inconspicuously had been watching Ms. Sydney Hamilton for the last two weeks. As far as he could tell, she didn’t warrant anything that would cause any type of suspicion. She worked extremely long hours, going into her office at 6am, usually working through her lunch, and leaving around 7pm, only then to go to another job at Haley’s House for an additional three to four hours. Normally, she would go home to her downtown condo, where she would stay until it was time to get up and do it all again.

Marco would have been bored to tears if he weren’t completely mesmerized by Sydney’s beauty. Marco had been around plenty of beautiful women before, but it was something about this woman that had him captivated from the very first time he laid eyes on her. Sydney stood at a petite 5’3” with a body of an athlete. Her calves and thighs were defined and muscular. They were both accentuated by the sky high heels she wore; those shoes had to be at least five to six inches.  He began to wonder how those heels would look thrown over his shoulders or wrapped around his waist.  The more he watched her, the more his imagination got away from him.

Sydney wore her ebony tresses pulled back from her face in a ponytail or a bun. However, Marco had gotten a glimpse of her wearing her hair down, falling around her shoulders in bountiful waves that framed her heart shaped face. Her chocolate complexion was smooth and blemish free. If Marco didn’t already know she was almost thirty, he would’ve sworn she was fresh out of college. And although he had never spoken with her, he could tell that she had a heart of gold because Sydney had a kind smile and a warm conversation for almost everyone she came in contact with. He wanted to be the man she smiled at, and gave longing looks to.

Marco realized quickly that maybe Sydney should be his client; after all, she was the person that volunteered her time, went out of her way to help others, and seemed to be a genuine person, so the person he should be watching was Bradford Murray.

Marco couldn’t let go of the idea that something was up with Bradford Murray. So, the next morning, instead of him personally following Sydney, he sent one of his guys to keep an eye on her instead, and he went into his office to do a little digging on Bradford Murray.

“Hey, Mel, could you get me all the contact info that Bradford Murray left, please?” Marco asked his assistant as he walked into his spacious office.

Mel raised an eyebrow. “Sure thing, boss, and is there any particular reason why we are researching the person paying us to
do
the research?”

Marco chuckled. He knew it wouldn’t take Mel long to question him, especially since he was in the office when he was supposed to be handling a job.

“Something doesn’t feel right, and my gut is telling me there is something off about Mr. Murray.”

“Well, I’m glad you said it because he seemed like a real slime ball when he was in here; real shifty with beady, squinty eyes. And he was an arrogant asshole…excuse my French,” Mel said with a smirk.

Marco chuckled again. “No getting anything past you, Mel.”

Mel just shrugged. “That’s why I work here. You know better than anyone that I’m not just a pretty face. There’s a big brain under all this fabulousness.”

Marco full on laughed as he told her, “Just get the information, Mel.”

Mel laughed as well. “Coming right up!”

After Mel brought the contact information for Bradford to Marco, he did a reverse search and found his IP address for his computer. These people thought they were so smart making up phony email addresses, but they would use their own computers to do so. That’s how they always got caught; they never covered their tracks as well as they thought they did. He also gave his real name, so it wasn’t hard to track almost everything about him. The bastard was definitely smug, but not very intelligent. Maybe he thought Marco wouldn’t look into him because he was writing the checks, but he should’ve asked around more about Marco because he was very thorough in his jobs, especially when the supposed perp, in this case Sydney, was squeaky clean.

***

Marco knew Bradford was a bastard, but he just couldn’t have fathomed just how much of a bastard he really was. Marco followed Mr. Murray himself, while one of Marco’s guys, Frank, kept an eye on Sydney. It didn’t take much time to see that Bradford was definitely the person with things to hide. He fancied himself a gentleman, a real good ole boy with connections from businessmen, politicians, and right down to law enforcement. His sense of self-worth knew no bounds. He thought he could do what he wanted whenever he wanted. That included hanging out at one of the premier strip clubs in the Dallas area. This didn’t make him a bastard, however. What made him a bastard was the fact that he went home with a different dancer almost every time he left the place after shelling out thousands of dollars while he was dating one of the most beautiful women Marco had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on; that made Bradford not only a bastard but a fool. It pissed Marco off that a guy like Bradford had a woman like Sydney at home, and he would treat her with such disrespect. Marco could’ve beaten his ass at the thought, but Sydney wasn’t Marco’s woman, so beating the shit out of Bradford wouldn’t do him any good.

Following Bradford on yet another night, Marco noticed that he seemed to have a particular type of woman, a type that his current girlfriend didn’t at all match. Every woman that Marco saw Bradford with was blonde, big boobed, stick thin and very,
very
white. It was okay to have a preference. Everyone found different things attractive, but he didn’t understand why Bradford was with Sydney at all if these were the kinds of women he wanted. So Marco decided he would do a little more research into the real reason why Bradford was dating Sydney.

Days later, after further digging into Bradford and a couple of interviews, Marco found the reason as to why Bradford “the playboy” suddenly wanted to date a seemingly good girl like Sydney Hamilton. Although it was common knowledge that Bradford was running for Mayor and his family was a big political powerhouse, but it was known to very few that Bradford was the family’s blacksheep. When he was younger, he was always screwing up and getting into trouble, and he didn’t fit the persona that the family had erected for his brother. That’s why at thirty-seven, he was late to the game of politics. He also had a nasty incident in college where his fraternity was involved in what was deemed a racist party, where all of the white students that attended came in what they considered to be “hood” or “ghetto” attire. Some even came in blackface. The incident was quickly buried, and Bradford switched to another college, midterm, never publicly affiliating with the fraternity again. Although the incident wasn’t vastly known about, there were whisperings about the Murray family being closeted bigots. In their inner circle, it didn’t matter, but for a politician that needed the minority vote, those whispers could equal disaster. Marco learned that after years of cleaning up Bradford’s image, the Murray patriarch, Braxton, decided it was time for Bradford to enter the family business of politics. The whispers of Bradford’s college episode had died down somewhat, but they needed a complete shutdown of the rumor mill. So, the Murray’s put out almost a statewide search for someone that fit their profile for being the future Mrs. Bradford Murray, and the number one criteria was that she had to be a minority.

Enter the lovely, but oblivious, Ms. Sydney Hamilton.

***

Sydney was exhausted after a long week of work. She was extremely busy this week with the new case her law firm was handling, and she was particularly busy with all the new intakes to Haley’s House. When the weather started to get warmer, it never failed that the incidents of domestic violence went up. She just hoped that there would be enough beds and space for everyone because the rooms were quickly being filled.

Sydney breathed a long sigh as her phone chimed with another missed call from her boyfriend, Bradford. He was acting really peculiar as of late. Normally, it would be Sydney calling Brad, trying to make time to spend with him. He had previously always been too busy, saying that his campaign was taking up his time. Now, Bradford was incessantly calling and texting. Sydney couldn’t understand his all of a sudden change.

Sydney and Bradford had been dating for almost seven months, and they looked like the perfect couple; well, on paper, at least. In person, they couldn’t be more different. Where Sydney had smooth, chocolate skin and dark brown eyes, Brad had pale skin with traces of red and dark blue eyes. But it wasn’t just their appearances that made them different; it was their outlook on almost everything. Sydney was a nurturer. She loved helping people just for the sake of helping, but Brad always had an agenda. The only reason he would help someone was if it served him in some way. He was a true politician. He wasn’t always like that, though. When they first met in college, Bradford had been an outgoing carefree guy with a sense of humor and a quick wit. In college, they were just friends seeing each other socially, but years later, when they saw each other at a charity gala, he came on to her, and they began dating.  Sydney was a little hesitant at first because they had only ever been friends while in college. She had also never known him to date a black woman before, but he seemed genuinely interested in her, so she decided that she would take a chance and date him. However, Bradford was not the same carefree guy he had been back in college. He had turned into a ruthless business man, and now he was running for mayor. Although it had only been seven months since they had started dating, Sydney was starting to see who Bradford really was, and she was beginning to pull away.

The thought of Brad, his elitist attitude, and his smug self-righteousness made Sydney cringe. She was going to have to end things with him soon, no matter what the consequences might be from her parents. Her parents believed that she needed to be married with babies already. If she didn’t even have a man in her life, her mother would began setting her up on dates again and hounding her on a daily basis, but she’d be damn if she would marry Brad even if she had to put up with her mother.