7 Degrees of Alpha (a collection of seven new BWWM, Alpha Male Romances) (22 page)

Victor entered the ballroom and went on an immediate search for Taylor. The place was packed. It was funny how the Storm name and money attracted a multitude of wealthy social climbers. Finding her through the large crowd wasn't going to be easy, but Victor was determined.

As we weaved through the socialites, he continued to scan the room.

Then he found her.

The sight of her stopped him in his tracks. He wanted to make a smooth approach, but his feet were cemented to the floor. She had left him frozen. Taylor was a breathtaking vision in white. The dress she wore complimented everything that was beautiful about her body, and her hair was styled the way he loved it. Visions of her as a bride stunned Victor, and at the moment he knew that he was done for.

"She got you stuck, huh?" Jack Storm mused.

"What?" he asked, still in somewhat of a daze.

"Here; drink this," Jack said, handing Victor a glass of champagne. "You look like you could use a drink. Seems like a piano just fell on you, but I don't blame you. She
is
a beauty."

Victor knocked back the champagne and turned to Jack. "You just worry about
your
beauty. By the way, where is she, since you're over here gawking at what's mine?"

Victor pretended to scan the room for Victoria. "No doubt, she’s probably somewhere with your hot assistance, convincing her to come home with us," Jack chuckled.

Victor stared at Jack, trying to gauge his seriousness, and he did not appear to be joking.

"No bullshit?"

"Nope," Jack responded, shaking his head.

"Damn, you lucky bastard."

"That I am," Jack replied, smiling.

"Yeah, so, you and your wife had better stay away from my woman."

Jack laughed and walked away.

Victor handed the empty glass to a passing waiter and made his way over to Taylor. When she spotted him, her face seemed to light up. Knowing that she was just as happy to see him as he was to see her, caused Victor’s heart to swell. He pulled her in his arms and held her tight. Her soft body seemed to warm him on the inside. He kissed the top of her head and reluctantly released her.

"Taylor, your beauty leaves me speechless."

"Thank you, baby. You're lookin’ pretty damn fine yourself. I wanna take you home with me," she whispered.

"And you shall, Sweetness. But first, dance with me."

Victor led Taylor to the dance floor and pulled her close. She pressed her body against his and rested her head on chest. As they began to sway to the soft music, Victor inhaled the minty, spa-like scent of Taylor's hair. He held her tight, thinking that their bodies were like two pieces of a puzzle. Together, they fit perfectly. It was as if there was no one else in the room, and he enjoyed their "alone time" until the song ended. That was when the lights dimmed and a spotlight hit Natasha on stage.

"Is she gonna sing?" Taylor asked.

Taylor seemed shocked. She thought that Natasha was always so quiet and shy. But there she stood, on stage, like a beautiful confident siren. The Storms had picked well, but not one of them had a thing on Taylor.

Victor rubbed her back, realizing that he could have held her forever. And he would have if Victoria hadn't approached them. Her expression gave him pause. She was clearly disturbed as she placed her hand on Taylor's shoulder.

Taylor's voice was filled with concern. "What's wrong, Vic?"

"I just heard about..." Victoria inhaled a deep breath as if she was struggling with her words.

"What, Vic? You heard about what?!"

Victor could hear the panic forming in Taylor's voice.

"It's Mendez," she said in a shaky voice. "She went on a burglary call. She... Taylor, she was shot."

CHAPTER 21

Taylor's suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Victor caught her when she momentarily lost her footing.

"Is she alive?" Taylor asked hopefully.

"I don't know, Taylor. One of the guys from my old team just told me that she was shot in the back while on a burglary call and she's at Christ Hospital."

"I... I gotta go," Taylor said, standing upright.

She grabbed the bottom of her dress and bolted toward the exit. Although Victor had no problem keeping up with her, he tugged her arm and slowed her down for several reasons. One, she was wearing extremely tall heels. Two, if the press saw her running, they'd run right behind her, and the press was the last thing that Taylor needed to deal with. Thankfully, she slowed, allowing Victor to pull out his phone and call Collier. After instructing him to bring the car around to the rear of the hotel, he changed their course.

**************************

Taylor's heels clicked loudly as she rushed through a crowd of nurses and cops to get to Maria.

"In there," one officer instructed.

Taylor walked over to Maria's room, but stopped short at the door. She looked over at Victor, hoping to magically siphon some of his strength.

"It'll be okay, babe, I promise. I'll be right out here if you need me," he assured.

Taylor nodded, ignoring the fact that everyone was staring at the two of them and entered the room. Her heart stopped when she saw her friend lying in a hospital bed with her eyes taped shut and a machine breathing for her. She stood still and watched Maria's chest rise and fall every time the machine pushed air into her lungs. For some reason, she was afraid to approach the bed, but she knew that she had to. It was just too painful to see her partner that way. If only she'd taken off work and come to the ball like Taylor had asked. If only Taylor hadn't taken the day off, she would have had her partner's back.

If only...

Taylor walked over to Maria, swiped some of the tears from her own cheek, and took her hand. She prayed to God, pleading for a full recovery.

"I'm not letting you go. You hear me, Maria?" Taylor whispered close to her ear. "You're gonna be okay."

"Taylor?" a voice called from behind, startling her.

She turned to find Michael, Maria's husband, standing in the doorway. His expression was grim and he seemed truly distraught for a man that no longer loved his wife.

"She's gonna make it, right?" he asked, searching for reassurance.

"Of course she is, but I didn't realize that you cared."

He narrowed his eyes and took a step toward Taylor. "Don't you ever fucking say that to me again!" he snapped. "I love my wife. Yeah, I fucked up, but I love my wife. So if you're gonna be here, keep your fucked up comments to yourself."

With that being said, he turned his back to Taylor and wiped tears from his face.

"Michael, she's gonna make it," Taylor said to his back.

Once fully composed, he crossed the room and sat in the chair next to Maria's bed.

Michael and Maria had been married for a long time, and Taylor knew nothing about the dynamics of their relationship, only what she'd heard from Maria, anyway. Before his indiscretion, they seemed very happy. Taylor decided that it would be best to mind her business and let them deal with their own marital issues.

"Where are the kids?" she asked.

"They're at my sister's. Both of our parents are on their way."

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"Naw, I don't think so. I'm just waiting for them to take her into surgery."

She walked over to Michael and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Okay. I'm gonna go and grab some food for you guys, and I'll be back."

"Thanks, Taylor," he responded in sad tone.

After giving Maria a kiss to her forehead, Taylor left the room. Victor was across the hall in a huddle with Kena. Gregor and a small security detail were standing quietly in the background. The sound of the door closing prompted Victor and Kena to look up. Both of their faces were masked with concern. Victor opened his arms, and the simple gesture caused Taylor to break. She flew into his arms and began to ball hysterically. She just didn't have the amount of strength needed to bear the thought of losing Maria. She was so much more than a partner, so much more than a friend, she was like her other sister, the one that she saw more regularly and had more in common with.

"Shhh... She'll make it through this. It'll be okay," Victor whispered while rubbing circles into her back.

Taylor clung to him, crying into his tuxedo. Victor held her until she began to calm.

"Come on, babe. Let's get you home."

"I can't leave," she said, shaking her head. "You go and I'll call you if anything changes."

"No, we're gonna get you in some fresh clothes and come back. Kena has made arrangements with the hospital. They're providing us with a room for the night."

Taylor was amazed by his thoughtfulness. "Us?"

"Us," he confirmed.

"Wait, really? She can do that?" Taylor asked, looking up into beautiful green eyes that were filled with sympathy.

"Of course," he responded while using his thumb to wipe a tear from under her eye. "She's a very powerful woman."

"Thank you, Victor," she chuckled.

As she stared into his eyes, she was suddenly hit with such raw emotion. It was as if she had just been kicked in the gut. Just as she couldn't fathom life without Maria, life without Victor she simply couldn't bear.

She loved him.

Yeah, she loved him.

She turned to Kena. "Thanks, Kena."

Kena rubbed Taylor's arm and gave her a reassuring nod, before disappearing down the hall. "Come on. Let's go."

"Victor, I gotta find out what happened first."

"Kenyatta will find out," he said, placing an insistent hand in the small of her back and ushering her through the path that Gregor and his team made in the crowded hallway.

Taylor was quiet on the ride to her house. Victor held her hand as he fielded phone calls from his office. She stared out of the window, wondering if Maria was in pain. Victor barely finished his call before his phone rang again.

"Kena, what do you have?"

The mention of Kena's name caused Taylor to turn to Victor. She waited, not so patiently, as she gave him an update. And just when she thought that she'd have an anxiety attack, Victor thanked Kena and ended the call.

"According to the report, due to a shortage of manpower, Maria was working alone. The dispatcher assigned another car to a burglary in process. Maria went to back them up. The report said that while Maria and the other officers on scene searched a building, that turned out to be abandoned, they heard shots fired. They said by the time they made it to Maria, she was already down. She was shot twice in the back."

"Oh, my God," Taylor gasped.

Taylor allowed Victor to pull her on his lap. She placed her head on his shoulder and allowed tears to fall as he rocked her back and forward.

"Were there any arrests?" she whimpered.

"No arrests, no suspects. I'm sorry, baby."

Collier turned into Taylor's driveway. She slid off of Victor's lap and grabbed her purse. When they got out of the limo, Gregor escorted them to the front door. He suddenly held his hand out, halting their steps. The front door had been kicked in. Taylor snatched her off-duty 380 out of her purse and tossed her purse to the ground. She stepped around Gregor and entered her house before Victor could stop her. She knew that if she hadn't moved quickly, she would've had to fight to get away. She knew that he just was concerned, but this was what she did, and this was her home.

"Governor, I need to take you back to the limo," Gregor insisted, taking his own weapon out of its holster.

"Are you out of your fucking mind? I'm to send my woman in there alone?

Taylor looked back, just long enough to see Victor pulling his own weapon from the back of his pants. He ordered Gregor to move.

"Governor, I-" Gregor started.

"Now!" he gritted.

She could still hear Victor and Gregor's argument outside, but she did her best to block them out so that she could hear any movement in the house. She walked along the wall with her weapon ready. Hearing soft footsteps behind her, she turned to see Victor and Gregor brandishing weapons of their own. She turned back and continued along the wall. She saw movement outside of her kitchen window and recognized someone from Victor's security detail, so she continued her search.

Ten minutes later, after a complete search of the house that turned up nothing, Taylor dialed 911. She reported the break in to the operator and was instructed to wait for the police.

"Victor, what were you thinking?" Taylor asked, walking over to the refrigerator.

She was desperate for a glass of wine or a shot of something.

"Taylor, what the hell were you thinking, running your ass in the house?" His irritation was evident.

"Victor, this is what I do for a living. But you're the gotdamn governor of Illinois. You can't do shit like this," she said, equally frustrated.

"You're not at work. When you're with me, you're not a cop. You're my woman. So if you don't want me running behind you, don't run your lone ranger ass into dangerous situations."

"So what if something had happened to you? How the hell am I supposed to handle that? How the hell would Gregor explain you dying on his watch?"

Victor tilted his head and looked at her like she had lost her mind. "Gregor?! He'd find employment at a fucking ice cream shop! This is a job to him; I die, he gets another. So you tell me; how the hell am I supposed to live with myself if I was sitting my ass in a limo and you got hurt, or worse?"

Taylor responded with a shake of her head. She wasn't going to win the argument, and she wasn't in the mood to fight with him. There was already too much going on. She opened the fridge, but instead of pulling out a bottle of wine, she pulled out a note instead.

It simply read:
WATCH YOUR BACK IN DARK PLACES!