Secrets Of The Alpha: (BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance) (His Secrets Series Book 1) (2 page)

I hated the kind of feelings I had for my new boss. This was typically me, meeting people and then getting drawn to them almost instantly. I could have slapped myself if I didn’t think Vincent was watching. Here I was flirting with a man I had just met and now I was passing judgment on him. You would think that after working for people like Vincent, I would have known that he would never have given me a second look. I was not his kind of woman. I took a deep breath.
I am probably going to be seeing more of this. I should get used to it,
I thought as Vincent stood up. He started walking out and then suddenly stopped and looked at me.

“Ms. Campbell,” he started.

“Please, just Winnie,” I said as I looked at him.

“Well, Winnie. I know that I have asked this before but I still feel the need to say that you really don’t need to work today. Chill out. Watch some TV or something. I do have over two hundred channels, you know,” he said with a smile. I shrugged.

“An early start never hurt anyone, Mr...um…Vincent.” I said. Vincent flashed me a smile that made me weak in the knees.

“Well, you do have all day tomorrow and every other day after that,” he said with a smile.

“Except the one day a week,” I pointed out matter-of-factly. Vincent nodded.

“Of course, except the one day a week,” he said before he walked away.

I looked at him as he walked up the stairs to his room and then shook my head and shrugged. I wanted to slap myself, hard. This always happened. I met men and liked them a little too much. I would develop crushes as fast as it took a leopard to decide to pounce on a baby gazelle. If there had been a book written about me, it would have been about how fast I crushed on men soon after meeting them.

But that was not enough to dilute the fact that Vincent was definitely not my kind of man. He was good looking, granted, but he was also misogynistic, something that didn’t stand well with me. I crossed my arms on my chest and watched as Vincent walked into his room and closed the door. I almost felt jealous when I thought of what was about to play out in his room.

Even though the Muse mansion was practically spic and span, I still found stuff to do. It was all I could do not to go crazy thinking about what was happening in Vincent’s room. I dusted the dustless shelves and wiped down spotless counters before I finally decided to make myself something to eat. I opened the fridge and noticed a few food containers and some leftover Chinese food. I was about to grab the Chinese food when I decided to look inside the containers. I took a couple and placed them on the counter and opened them one by one. I could not help but salivate as I looked at the food in the containers. It looked like a five star chef had prepared it.

Maybe some five star steak and vegetables are what I need for my first night,
I thought as I used a fork to serve a piece of steak onto a plate. I then served some vegetables on my plate before I walked to the microwave. I set the timer and then walked back to the counter to put the containers away. I noticed a gravy jar on one of the fridge shelves.
And just like that I have a complete meal,
I thought as I grabbed a saucepan from the overhead rack. As I stirred up the gravy, my thoughts were all over the place and as much as I tried, I could not help but try and picture what was going on in Vincent’s room…who was on top of who…who was licking what…

The microwave timer put me out of my misery and snapped me back into reality. I walked over to the microwave and got my plate before I poured the now hot gravy all over that juicy steak. I grabbed a bottle of water before I carried my dinner to my room.
Whoa, this is…
I thought when I took my first bite.
Heavenly.
The steak was maybe a day or two old, who really cared? But on my tongue, it was like I had just been on an episode of Top Chef. I closed my eyes as I felt the rich flavors coming apart on my tongue. Garlic, turmeric and maybe a hint of rosemary. I took another long deep breath when I tried picturing Vincent’s room and the three women I had seen earlier.

This is a good gig, Campbell. Don’t screw it up,
I scolded myself as I ate. When I was done, it was almost nine. I changed into my pajamas and got into bed. I was tossing and turning as I looked at the ceiling. I had always had a problem falling asleep in a new place and the Muse mansion was no different. I lay there counting the squares in the ceiling until I couldn’t take it anymore. I got out of bed and walked to the closet where I had put my bag. I pulled out my diary and smiled. It had been quite a while since I read it or even made an entry, but I felt the need to make an entry today. I pulled the top drawer of my nightstand open and rummaged through it for a pen. A smile played on my lips and I rejoiced silently when I got one and then sat up on the bed. I flipped through the pages and then ran my fingers down a clean page.

I held the pen steady and wondered how I was supposed to start. It had been so long since I wrote that I felt completely out of touch.
Just do it. This has always been your happy place,
I thought as I began writing.

Dear Diary,

Today was my first day at my new job, Vincent Muse’s house. Apparently he is supposed to be some big time Hollywood guy, but I have never really heard of him. If his house is anything to go by, then I must say that his job must be a success! So anyway, I have done this job for a long time and I have met the who’s who in this crazy film industry, but for the first time, my boss is actually hot. He has a perfect body that looks like it was sculpted by the gods. But like the rest of Hollywood, he is a player. Earlier today I saw three women go up to his room. Can you believe it? Three? And he does not discriminate against age either, I think he just likes them all: old and young.

But who am I to judge, right? That’s his lifestyle. Maybe I should just stick to my job and let him be. And maybe if I wait long enough, I might just be lucky enough to attend one of his parties…

I looked at the last sentences and smiled.

Yeah right. Like that would ever happen. But if all else fails, I can at least take comfort in the fact that I can always have eye candy around me. And that is honestly good enough for me.

I lay back down on the bed and there was a smile on my lips. I held the diary tightly and closed my eyes. I suddenly opened my eyes and frowned, a little confused. I had not heard a sound from upstairs ever since Vincent joined the women upstairs. I would have expected loud screams, grunts…something but all was quiet, peaceful.

Maybe he is one of those silent love makers,
I thought as I closed my eyes again. But then again, the house could have been sound proofed. I didn't even realize when I drifted off to sleep.

I did not know how long I had been asleep when the sound of loud shattering glass woke me up. I lay in bed, eyes open and it was only a second before the loud siren of the house alarm came on. My heart was beating hard in my chest as I sat up on the bed, startled. I was panting as I climbed off the bed and stood next to it. My insides were screaming at me to stay in the room, but I wanted to go out there and see what was going on. Against my better judgment, I ran out of my room. I could almost hear my heart pounding loudly in my ears as I slowly but surely made my way to the kitchen.

“What the hell…” I wondered when I saw a huge hole where the big screen door once stood. There was broken glass all over the floor and I could have sworn there was blood on the floor underneath the broken glass. The moonlight was enough for me to actually be sure that the stains on the floor were indeed blood. I rushed to one wall and switched on the lights that confirmed my fears even though I really didn’t need any confirmation. It
was
blood and it was leading to Vincent’s room.

Without thinking, I grabbed a knife from a rack on the kitchen counter and ran up the stairs to Vincent’s room. Again, I could feel a battle in my heart for whether or not to walk in, but I did it anyway.

“Oh my God,” I whispered when I saw Vincent lying naked in bed, writhing in pain.

I could almost see the wetness on the bedding, but again, I switched on the lights anyway. I gasped in a panic when I saw the blood. It was all over the bed and on the floor…and on Vincent.

“Call Ophagia!” Vincent cried out, snapping me out of my stupor. “Her number…it’s…it’s programmed on…on the house phone…speed dial…three,” he struggled to say. I wanted to stay there for him, get some answers, take care of him…there was so much I wanted to do but I stood rooted to the spot paralyzed by my shock.

“Call her!” Vincent cried out again, startling me. I turned around and ran out of the room. I was flying down the stairs not caring whether or not I fell.

Why the hell would he want one of his mistresses at this time?
I wondered when I got to the kitchen. But questioning the situation was not my place. I grabbed the phone and almost dropped it. My hands were shaking and who could blame me? This was a situation that was stranger than strange. I looked at my quavering hand and took a series of long deep breaths to calm myself down before I dialed Ophagia. I was just about to press the call button when I saw Ophagia walking into the room. What was she, psychic or something?

“I was just about to call you,” I muttered as Ophagia walked to where I was and took the phone from me.

I watched as she dialed the non-emergency number and waited a little too calmly for someone on the other end to pick up. She was acting like all that was happening was just another normal day in this house.
Maybe she didn’t see the broken glass…or the missing screen door…
I thought as I looked at her. I shrugged and brushed the thought off. There was no way she could have missed it. It was a large hole where the door was supposed to be. How could she have?

“Hi, my name is Ophagia and I’m calling from Vincent Muse’s house in New Ashbury…yes. Our alarm system has been acting up and the security company was supposed to come and look it up...I know. Those service providers never keep their promises…yes, it goes off every time the front door is opened…yes please and we had a guest today. She didn’t know about the alarm so...Oh thank you so much, officer,” she said before she hang up. I looked up when the house alarm suddenly went silent. What had Ophagia done? Now how would the police come and fix…whatever? I wanted to curse at her.

“What the hell are you doing? Everything is most definitely not okay,” I said, my voice full of concern. “Is it just me or did you miss the broken glass and blood all over the floor,” I asked as I looked at the woman I had officially branded a weirdo.

Ophagia never said anything. She just gave me a blank stare before she turned around and began walking away, following the bloody footprints. I instinctively followed her up the stairs but when we got to Vincent’s door, Ophagia turned around and looked at me.

“Wha…” I started, a little startled.

“Call Penny Simpson. There is a notepad by the phone in the living room. Her number’s there,” Ophagia said before she walked into Vincent’s room leaving me stunned and standing outside. I shook my head in both anger and frustration before I made my way downstairs for a second time.

This was definitely not in the orientation package,
I thought to myself as I walked to the living room. I looked at the notepad Ophagia had talked about and quickly dialed Penny. I looked around before I pressed the call button. I knew it was silly for me to do this. It was almost as if I was in some episode of Paranormal Activity, but I didn’t really care. I made my way to the front door just to make sure Penny had not just suddenly appeared before I called as it had happened with Ophagia. It would have been silly for anyone else, but given the events of the evening, no one would have blamed me for thinking that people in this household had a thing for just appearing out of nowhere. I breathed in deep and called Penny. I was not sure what I was supposed to say when she picked up. It was so late at night.

“Hello,” Penny said in a groggy voice when she finally picked up.

“Hi. I’m sorry to call so late but Ophagia told me to call you,” I said, wondering what else I was supposed to say.

“I’ll be right there,” Penny said before hanging up quickly.

I looked at the phone, surprised and confused.
That’s weird. She didn’t even ask why I called,
I thought as I looked at the phone. Sighing, I replaced the phone on the receiver and began pacing up and down. As promised, Penny was at the Muse mansion in less than fifteen minutes. I couldn’t help but notice that she looked unusually relaxed for the situation. It was almost like she was used to being summoned (there was no other word, really) at odd hours of the night.  Penny looked around when I let her in and sighed.