All Chapters of THE ALPHA'S RELUCTANT BRIDE : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Chapter OneThe call came at 7:43 in the morning, and Zara Mensah knew from the ringtone alone that something was wrong.She had assigned a different ringtone to every client after the second year in business. Habit, she told people. But really it was because bad news always sounded the same, and she wanted a second to brace before she picked up.This ringtone was Regal Hotel Group. Her biggest client. The one that paid three months of rent in a single contract.She stood at her kitchen counter in her sleep shirt, coffee in hand, and stared at the phone for two full seconds. Then she answered."Ms. Mensah." The voice on the other end was flat and business-smooth. A man she had never spoken to before. "My name is Andrew Pierse. I am the new director of operations at Regal Hotel Group."She put her coffee down."I am calling to inform you that as of today, your event contract with Regal has been terminated."The kitchen went quiet. She could hear the refrigerator humming."I am sorry,"

Chapter ThreeDamien does not move for a full minute after she leaves.He stands behind his desk, hand flat on the surface, eyes on the door she just walked through. Her scent is still in the room. Warm and clean with something underneath it, like rain on dry ground, like something the earth makes when it finally gets what it has been waiting for.He has not felt this in six years.He was not supposed to feel it ever again.His brother's voice comes through the intercom on his desk. "Damien. Board call in ten."He does not answer. He picks up the glass of water on his desk and drinks the whole thing in one go. Then he sets it down very carefully, the way a man does when he is trying hard not to break something.Zara Mensah.He had read her file twice before she walked in. Business license, client list, reviews, the court of public opinion that existed online. Small operation, big reputation. The kind of woman who built things with her hands and her mind and refused to let anyone tell

Chapter FiveZara is the last person on her floor at seven forty in the evening.She knows this because the lights in the corridor have switched to low power mode and the only sound in the whole wing is the scratch of her pen on paper and the occasional car horn floating up from the street below. She does not mind working late. Late is when her brain settles. Late is when the noise of the day finally stops and the actual thinking can begin.The investor dinner is in three weeks and she has the room layout almost exactly where she wants it. Forty guests. Round tables of eight. A sight line from every seat to the small stage area where the presentations will happen. She is rearranging table three for the fourth time when she hears voices in the hallway.Low voices. Not angry. The kind of low that is deliberate.She does not mean to listen. The door to her conference room is slightly open because the latch does not catch properly and she has been meaning to mention it to Priya. She keeps

Chapter SevenDamien gave Victor exactly one hour after Zara walked out before he called him in.Not because he needed the hour. He does not need it. He knows what Victor had done the moment Zara said an unknown number and Isla Vane in the same sentence. He gives himself the hour because he learned a long time ago that walking into a conversation while your blood is running hot is how you hand the other person exactly what they want.Victor wants him angry.So Damien takes the hour. He reads three reports. He answers two emails. He drinks a full glass of water. And then he picks up his phone and tells his assistant to send Victor Graves up.He is completely calm by the time Victor walks through the door.That is so much worse.Victor knows it too. Damien can tell from the way he adjusts his smile by half a degree when he reads the room. Still confident. Still smooth. But underneath it something recalibrates.Good."You called?" Victor says, taking the chair across the desk without be

Chapter NineThe invitation arrives on her desk at nine in the morning in a cream envelope with her name written by hand.Nobody hand-addresses envelopes anymore. That is the first thing Zara notices. The second thing is that it was placed directly on her desk, not left with Priya, not slid under the door. Someone came into her conference room while she was getting coffee from the machine down the hall.She picks it up without sitting down.Inside is a single card. Heavy paper. Clean print.Private Industry Mixer. Tonight. Seven PM. The Aldridge Club. Hosted by Victor Graves. Your presence would be appreciated.That last line. Not requested. Not invited. Appreciated.She puts the card on the desk and goes to find Priya."Who came into my conference room this morning while I was getting coffee?"Priya frowns at her tablet."Nobody on the access log. Why?""Someone left something on my desk."Priya's frown deepens. She pulls up the corridor camera feed on her tablet, scrolls back fiftee