Breathless 2: In Love With An Alpha Billionaire Read online

  Breathless: In Love with an Alpha Billionaire

  Part 2

  by Shani Greene-Dowdell

  © Shani Greene-Dowdell 2015. All Rights Reserved

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above stated publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  This is the second book of a 3-part series.

  Make sure you read Jacob and Destiny’s background story first

  DOWNLOAD BOOK ONE

  You can’t just throw my love away

  Like it wasn’t here to stay…

  Justine

  RECAP

  Destiny

  Time Is All We Got

  As I was leaving Jacob’s house, I still had a sour taste in my mouth. It was the same taste he left me with when he rushed off to Miami. The doorbell rang and I thought he’d used common sense and come back. I opened it without looking out the window.

  "Boo bitch!" Justine said as I stood eye to eye with her chrome-plated pistol. She walked forward and I backed up into the house with my hands in the air. I could feel my heart about to jump out my shirt as I stared into her wild-looking blue eyes.

  "Justine, what do you think you’re doing? I thought you were sick," I said as my mind raced to catch up with the fear in my heart.

  "Oh, I'm sick; sick of you being with my man, but I got some medicine for that ass," Justine said as she pressed the barrel of the gun to my head.

  "Ja-cob…is not here. He just got on his jet on the way to Miami to check on you," I said as that fear began to crawl over every nerve in my body. I hoped that hearing Jacob had left to be by her side would make her back down.

  "Don’t tell me where my man is! Don’t do that! I know where he is. I sent him there. I didn’t come for Jacob, Destiny. It's your home-wrecking ass that I'm here to settle up with."

  Justine's mascara was running wildly down her pale face. She looked as if she hadn’t had good sleep or a good meal in days. Her hair was disheveled, and she looked like a caged animal that had just been set free.

  I continued to back away from her as she drew closer with the gun pointed between my eyes, until I backed into a wall.

  "I should kill your black whore ass where you stand. Who do you think you are to come and try to take my man?" she asked before striking me on the side of my face with the gun.

  "Ouch!" I yelled as blood gushed from my face. The pain from that single strike felt as if I’d been stabbed by a thousand knives. I gripped my face with my hand to try to stop the pain.

  "Shut the fuck up before I shut you up,” Justine yelled over my screams. “You've been running around here having a love fest with Jacob, but this is real life right here. When you take something that belongs to another woman, you have to suffer the consequences. And, oh honey there are consequences for taking the man I love."

  "I didn’t know…" I started to say, before she turned the gun around and hit me with in the center of my face. As the butt of the gun hit my face, I fell to the ground. I hollered out so loud that I was sure someone would hear me and call the police. Then I remembered Jacob's property was practically in the middle of nowhere.

  "Wrong answer! I'm not going to let you stand here and act like you didn’t know Jacob belonged to me, especially when you saw me at the airport about to kill myself over him. You knew! Bitch, you knew!"

  I lay on the ground and watched as she hit her head with the side of gun. She took out her cell phone and dialed a series of numbers.

  "Move and you will die," she said as she put the phone to her ear. "Hello my darling, Jacob," I heard her say before she kneeled down and popped me with the pistol again.

  A horrifying scream escaped my throat. My head was pounding so hard. I could not move. I could feel my mind separating from my body. I saw the beautiful smiles of my babies, Junior and Montana, before I faded into limbo of alertness and oblivion.

  With the pistol to her advantage, Justine sat down on the sofa and talked to Jacob. The well-kept, pretty woman I’d seen at the bar in Miami was no more. The beast sitting on the sofa was disheveled from her head to her feet. Her makeup was messily applied and her lipstick was smeared across her lips. She looked like she had gotten into a fight with a heavyweight champ and lost.

  “Please, don’t do this,” I begged, just above a whisper when I finally was able to move again. I scooted to the nearest corner and curled my knees up to my chest.

  “Shut up!” she replied, jumping up off the sofa and kicking my leg with her hard bottom shoe. The gun was aimed at my head. “We’re just waiting for Jacob to get here, so he can watch your worthless blood spill out on his fine, imported carpet. Why he would choose scraps when he could have first class, I will never know.”

  I tuned Justine out as she hurled one insult at me after another. I wanted my last memories to be of people I loved. Images of my smart baby girl writing her numbers and past conversations with my inquisitive son ran through my head like a movie. There was no amount of love for Jacob that equaled what I felt for my kids in that moment.

  I’d dashed off, ready to meet Jacob after dropping them off at Mama’s house. I didn’t even take the time to look into their eyes and tell them how much I loved them before I left. That’s the sad part about death. I didn’t know my time had run out, until it was too late. I didn’t know it could be my last chance to say goodbye.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Jacob

  When Opportunity Knocks

  “I need to go check on her. The last time I felt this way, she had almost killed herself from an overdose," I told Destiny after waking up from a bad dream about Justine. "Jacob, I’m sure it was just a bad dream…" Destiny assured me.

  Lord, how I wished I’d listened. The hour following my argument with Destiny was definitely an eyes-wide-open nightmare. If I had listened to her, at least I would’ve been home protecting her. I hated getting it wrong! But time was of the essence. I had to think fast. I took out my cell and called the police.

  “911, where is your emergency?” the dispatcher said on the first ring.

  “At my house; 5461 Terrance Lane. She's going to kill her. Oh God, hurry! She has a gun.”

  “Okay, sir. That address was 5461 Terrance Lane?”

  “Yes! She needs help now.”

  “What city and state is this address?”

  “Atlanta, Georgia.”

  “Okay, I have contacted Atlanta’s dispatch and a patrol car is on the way right now, sir. Do you know the perpetrator?” the dispatcher asked after a brief pause.

  “Yes... Justine Parker.”

  “Do you have her phone number?”

  “Hold on,” I said as I quickly scanned through my phone looking for Justine’s number. “It’s 786-200-6654.”

  “What’s the victim’s name and number?”

  “
Why do you need to know all of this? Just get someone over there to help my fiancée!”

  “Sir, we have to get this information just in case the perpetrator changes locations. Having both of their cell phone numbers allows us to pick up signals on both phones.”

  “Okay. Her name is Destiny Baker and her phone number is 770-562-1245,” I said as my anger rose. “Get her some help now!”

  “What is your name and where are you located, sir?”

  “Jacob Turner and I’m on my private jet headed back to Atlanta.”

  “How do you know that Destiny is being attacked at this address, sir?

  “I just left Destiny at my house less than an hour ago and Justine called me threatening to shoot her. I heard Destiny screaming in the background.”

  “Officers are in route now to that address. Can you stay on the line until they get to her?”

  “No… I have to go. I have to call someone else,” I said, feeling my disgust ferment into something past anger when I thought about making the next call. I planned to wring Justine’s neck with my own two hands as soon as I saw her.

  “Can you be reached at the number you are calling from, in case the officers have questions later?” the dispatcher asked.

  “Yes,” I said and hung up the phone. I paced the cabin of the plane thinking about how terrible it would be to lose Destiny in this way. “Timothy, hurry up and get me back to Atlanta!” I hollered at my pilot.

  “I’m turning around as fast as I can, boss,” Timothy said anxiously, but it didn’t seem like he was turning the frigging plane around fast enough. I paid him good money to get me where I wanted to be, when I wanted to be there, and I wanted to be back in Atlanta right this instant!

  You can go ahead and stay in Miami, because you'll have no reason to be in Atlanta once I put a bullet in her pretty little face, Justine had said. I could hear Destiny mumbling and pleading for her life in the background.

  Please don't shoot me, she had said weakly.

  Maybe I'll pop her in her heart so it can stop beating first. Either way is fine with me, just so long as she stops breathing, Justine added. I didn’t recognize the person on the phone as my old friend. She was not the same person I knew. It sounded like she was possessed by the devil as she spoke.

  You wouldn’t… I said, understanding for the first time the gravity of Justine's instability. The life of the woman I loved hung in the balance, so I had no problem stooping to the level of begging. Please Justine, don't do this,

  I wouldn’t if you had just answered the phone and talked to me. I wouldn’t if you had not walked out on me. But now, I would and I will. She's as good as dead… was the last thing Justine said before the phone line went dead.

  I threw the phone on the seat beside me. Didn’t much shock me, but the fact that my best friend was wreaking havoc in my life rattled me to the core. I could have kicked myself for leaving Destiny a sitting duck. She didn’t know where to find my guns or where any weapons that she could use to defend herself were. She was stuck to contend with Justine’s wrath alone and with no defense.

  I had to get her some help. I picked up my cell phone and blew out a long breath. I found the number I was looking for in my phone. Destiny had called it a few weeks ago when she wanted to check on the kids. I was glad I had saved the number in case I ever needed it. I pressed the call button.

  “Hello?” a deep, groggy voice answered on the third ring.

  “Montie,” I paused, running my hand across my beard. I thought about how to break the news to him. “I’ve got some really bad news, man.”

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s Destiny’s fiancé, Jacob.”

  “Her fiancé. Is that right?” he asked, and then laughed so hard it sounded like he was at a comedy show.

  “That’s right, I’m her fiancé, but that’s beside the point. I need you to listen carefully…”

  “Uh huh. I thought the bad news was that you were her fiancé.”

  “This is serious, Montie! If you’re going to keep playing around, I’m hanging up. Destiny needs help.”

  “What is it? Did something happen to her? Are the kids okay?” he fired off a montage of questions.

  “The kids are fine. They are with Destiny’s mother. But Destiny was just attacked at my house and the police are on their way.”

  “Wait a minute…attacked? What happened?” Montie asked, suddenly sounding wide awake.

  “I don’t have all the details right now, but I’m pretty sure she will be taken to the emergency room.”

  He cleared his throat. “Emergency room? Is she going to be alright?”

  “That’s just it, I don’t know. Call to see which hospital is accepting emergencies tonight and get up there quick.”

  “But you still haven’t told me what happened!”

  “It’s a long story, Montie.”

  “Well, give it to me short, Jacob, and talk fast. This is my children’s mother and the woman I love you’re talking about,” Montie said matter-of-factly, causing a jolt of envy to run through me.

  “She’s mine and I love her! I only called you because I didn’t have her mother’s number,” I reasoned.

  “Why aren’t you with her, Jacob?” Montie asked. It sounded like he was up moving around, probably getting dressed.

  “I don’t have time to waste answering your questions. What is Ms. Clara’s number?” I asked referring to Destiny’s mother.

  “Why don’t you have her number, Mr. Big Shot?” Montie asked sarcastically.

  “I just don’t! I wouldn’t have called you if I had it,” I told him as I remembered why I hadn’t met Ms. Clara.

  Destiny insisted that we keep our families out of our relationships, until the time was right. I actually didn’t care one way or another about her meeting my parents. She was going to be my wife, not theirs. I knew Mom was going to object.

  Mom was outspoken against interracial couples, wholeheartedly believing people should “stick to their own kind.” I was ready for whatever Mom had to throw my way, but Destiny was nervous. She felt Mom’s opinion would somehow affect our relationship.

  My father was more open minded. His compassion for people of all walks of life showed in everything he did. He cared more about the will and tenacity of a person than their skin color. Like my father, Destiny felt her mother would accept me with open arms. I wondered if that would be true after tonight.

  I proposed before we had the opportunity to properly bring our families into our blissful fold. With Justine’s attack clouding the air like an ominous mist, I was sure the introductions would be nothing short of disastrous.

  “I said, are you with her now?” Montie asked loudly, bringing me back to the conversation.

  “No, I was on a flight to Miami when I got the call. I’m headed back now.”

  “Some man you are. You can’t even protect your woman. I don’t know why she thought she could depend on you to be there for her and our kids,” Montie said.

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen!” I said, slamming my fist down on the chair.

  “Fuck you!” Montie said.

  “Fuck me? Fuck you, Montie!” I said before realizing that he’d already hung up. I sighed.

  The fact that Montie was still in love with Destiny should’ve been the least of my worries, but the nagging confession he’d just made pissed me off. From that day forward, I was going to have to protect Destiny, or hire an army that could. My next call was to my assistant.

  “Hey Wanda.”

  “Hey boss. It’s kind of early for a Saturday morning call from you,” she said sounding perky as usual.

  “First time for everything,” I told her. “Listen, I need you to call the hospitals in Atlanta and find out which one Destiny Baker is being taken to.”

  “Your girlfriend, Destiny?” she asked, unable to control her suspicion.

  “Yes.”

  “Right away, boss. Is everything okay?”

  “Just find out what hospit
al she’s at and text me the information,” I said, hanging up the phone.

  Destiny’s shrilling scream replayed in my mind as I heard the pilot announce, “Please buckle up, boss. We’re about to land.” I thought about Justine as I fastened my seatbelt. I could feel a gush of bile rising to my throat.

  An hour later, I walked through the halls of Grady Memorial’s emergency room. The beeping sounds of life preserving machines tugged at my heart. I knew the same type of machines were probably hooked to Destiny. I couldn’t wait to see with my own eyes that she was alright.

  “Do you have Destiny Baker in here?” I asked the nursing assistant sitting at the front desk of the ER. Her name tag read Lexi.

  “Let me see,” Lexi said before turning to her computer and tapping her chubby fingers across the keys. “Oh… You’ll have to talk to the doctor before you can go back to see her. Are you a friend?” she asked as she stood from her chair.

  “I’m her fiancé.”

  “I’ll be back in just a second,” Lexi said. She walked away with a slump in her shoulders. Within a minute, she was back with a tall, graying black man wearing a lab coat. The man’s badge read Dr. Searcy. He had a mixture of fatigue and concern etched on his face.

  “I’m Dr. Searcy, and you are?” he asked extending his hand for a shake.

  “Jacob Turner, Destiny’s fiancé,” I said returning the handshake.

  “Mr. Turner, Lexi was telling me that you are here to see Ms. Baker.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Right now she can’t have any visitors except for immediate family. You say you’re her fiancé?” the doctor was asking, when Montie stormed through the door with a woman who had to be Destiny’s mother. She was making a lot of noise as she approached the check-in counter. She side swiped me as she passed by.

  “Oh God! My daughter is in this emergency room! I need to see her right now. Where is she?” the woman asked. I could tell that she was my soon-to-be mother in law. Even standing there in her pajamas, head scarf and a jacket, she looked refined and beautiful.