Beautiful Prey 2: The Storm Series (BWWM Romance)

  JESSICA WATKINS PRESENTS…

  BEAUTIFUL PREY 2

  PHOENIX DANIELS

  COPYRIGHT @2014 by Phoenix Daniels. Publisher: Jessica Watkins Presents. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except by reviewer, who may quote brief passages to be printing online, in a newspaper, or magazine.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be assumed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I dedicate this book to my wonderful daughter and best friend, Jasmine Marie McMorris, September 1, 1990 - May 19, 2013. She was taken from me too fast. May she rest in peace. She was the absolute love of my life and always picked me up if ever I should fall. I wrote these books in her legacy because she died while in the process of writing her own novel. I decided to pick up where she left off. I also need to thank my super supportive family that pretended to understand when I locked myself away, ignored phone calls, and missed family outings. I need to thank my super intelligent fifteen-year-old daughter, NiYah, who had no problem making sure that I had everything I needed to get my creative juices flowing (she closed my office door and kept refilling my glass of wine). I'd also like to thank my publisher Jessica Watkins Presents for believing in me and providing an abundance of encouragement, along with a lot of hard work. I'm also very thankful for my editors and readers. And last but not least, my man, Bernard (AKA Jack) for helping me to understand the pleasures of a man.

  PROLOGUE

  Natasha rode quietly blindfolded in the back of a limo. She was confident that her team would be ambushing the vehicle soon. For the sake of her profession, she had allowed herself to be sold off in a human trafficking investigation that the police department was conducting. Since her friend, Victoria Storm, left the department, it was now her job to do the undercover prostitution operations. She was utilized solely based on her baby face and womanly curves.

  Since she wasn’t allowed to get fully dressed, Natasha was still wearing the lacy bra and Tanga panties that she wore during the auction. There were three men in the vehicle who weren’t speaking English. Before she was blindfolded, she noticed that they were all armed. Since Natasha assumed that she’d soon be rescued when the limo came to a halt, she waited for the bum rush that never happened. Instead, she was dragged from the vehicle and led to a set of steps in which she fumbled her way up.

  Although Natasha had faith in her team, she was trembling with fear. She kept quiet because she didn’t want to agitate her foreigner captors. She was forced onto a cold leather seat, where she sat in her damn near naked glory, trying to remember the plan. She was supposed to stand in the auction. Once someone bid for her, the troops would run in and save her, according to the commander that stated that she was really needed for this operation. Well, someone did bid on her; one hundred thousand dollars in fact.

  Trembling in fear and cold, Natasha thought, so where are the troops?

  Her thoughts returned to the speech that her commander and his lieutenant gave her before she courageously accepted this treacherous mission.

  “Natasha, I know that you’ve never participated in a mission like this. Since we no longer have Victoria, you gotta step up to the plate. We’ve been trying to take down this human trafficking ring for years. With your youthful and innocent face, we can crack this case wide open! Think of the innocent young victims that are being bought and sold into sexual slavery. You have the entire department behind you. We’ll never let anything happen to you. As soon as the bid is made, we’ll get you out of there. You’ll be safe. That I promise.”

  Suddenly, her blindfold was ripped from her face. After adjusting her eyes, Natasha noticed that she was on a jet surrounded by four very intimidating men who were, apparently by their speech, not American. She couldn’t figure out what language they were speaking. Since she and her team were investigating a human trafficking ring controlled by the Ukrainian Mafia between the United States and Poland, Natasha assumed that the language that they were speaking was Russian.

  She shook uncontrollably as fear raced through her veins. Being on an aircraft was not something she and the department had discussed. Therefore, Natasha assumed that she was in the gravest of danger. She looked towards the pilot’s doors. Then she discreetly surveyed her captors as she contemplated an exit strategy.

  It’s now or never, Natasha thought as anxiety rushed violently threw her veins.

  Without warning, she jumped from her seat and headed for the door. It was securely fastened. Frantically, she headed for the pilot as her captors ran towards her. She turned and furiously beat on the door that secured the cockpit and pleaded for help, only to hear laughter on the other side.

  Natasha turned from the door, well aware that she was only wearing underwear, and yelled at one of the men to let her off the plane. Before her stood a man that was at least six feet and two inches with grey eyes filled with fury. His eyebrows scrunched with rage. He laughed in her face as he ran towards her. Natasha made her way back to the door. As she pulled relentlessly at the handle, the aircraft began to taxi, causing Natasha to panic even more.

  “Let me off of this fucking plane!”

  This brought more laughter from the men as they now stood before her with pure evil and lust in their eyes.

  Natasha yanked the handle, attempting to open the door. The bearded man walked calmly to her. Natasha raised her chin to face the man head on. He smiled and punched Natasha in the face. She fell against the door and battled to stay on her feet.

  Natasha managed to stay conscious, so she quickly recovered and kneed the bearded man in the groin.

  When her attacker fell to his knees, Natasha kicked him in the face.

  “Fuck you,” she spat as her petite foot met his rough skin.

  He let out a series of curse words in his native tongue. “Чертовски сука! Я собираюсь убить тебя!”

  Natasha repeatedly slammed her foot into his face, continuing her assault on the bearded man, which prompted the other men to intervene.

  The two men that were unassumingly quiet began to beat Natasha. She was punched in the face, body, and even her legs. They kicked and stomped her into the floor of the aircraft. The pain was debilitating. She curled into a ball to protect herself from the fierce blows.

  Once the bearded man recovered, he joined in on the beating. Fighting back was no use. She was overpowered. He roughly ripped her bra and then her panties off. He positioned himself between Natasha’s thighs. She tried to fight through the others punching her body and pinning her down. Warm tears fell from her eyes as Natasha screamed for help. That was when one of the men punched her so hard that she started to see red spots before her beautiful eyes. Her vision blurred. The world was going black. Pure terror ran through her, realizing that she was about to be raped.

  In that moment, Natasha knew that everything her commander said was bullshit. The department had hung her out to dry.

  Six months earlier…

  CHAPTER 1

  GIANNI

  Gianni Storm, the only child to Jonathan and Catarina Storm, walked with confidence and determination down a hall in Northwestern Memorial Hospital. As he walked, his irrefutable attractive nature lingered behind. He disregarded smiles filled with invitation from the women that he passed by.

  Gianni hadn’t been on United States soil in over ten years. He lived in Paris where he owned several very profi
table restaurants and nightclubs. He’d partnered with his maternal cousin, Luca Savelli, who the media constantly accused of having ties to the Italian Mafia. Luca was the son of his mother’s elder brother, Salvatore.

  Gianni’s mother was Sicilian, born and raised. She’d met his father during one of his many business trips to Italy. Gianni’s father owned exclusive resorts all over the world. He was a strong dominant man, who married his mother within two months of meeting her. He moved her to Chicago. Yet, Gianni’s mother insisted on returning to her homeland at least four months out of the year. Therefore, Gianni was raised between Chicago and Italy. Now, because of his many businesses, he lived in Paris and rarely found the time to visit Chicago.

  Since real estate and resorts were not his thing, Gianni hadn’t followed in his father’s footsteps. He decided to build his fortune from something that held his interests. His very successful restaurants and night clubs made him a very wealthy man. Not as wealthy as Jack, but very close.

  Emily and Jack were among the few family members in the United States that he stayed in touch with since he moved to Paris. They were first cousins. Jonathan and Joseph, Jack’s dad, were identical twin brothers. When Emily called to tell him that Jack had been shot and was fighting for his life, he dropped everything, boarded his private jet, and headed for Chicago. Gianni loved his cousin. Although Jack was two years older, he and Gianni played together as boys. Jack was like a big brother to him. Since he hadn’t returned to Chicago in ten years, his family was not happy with him. He figured that he would deal with whatever family issues that he had to in order to see about his cousin. Gianni had read in the American newspaper that Jack had married an African American policewoman that had been kidnapped by a madman. He was relieved when he further read that the man was killed during her rescue.

  Gianni entered the designated room and found a very beautiful and very pregnant black woman sitting next to Jack’s bed.

  She looked up at him with tired and confused eyes. “Jack?”

  Since their fathers were identical twins, Gianni and Jack shared an uncanny resemblance to one another. But Gianni’s eyes were green like their fathers and his hair was longer. Because of Gianni’s Sicilian ancestry, his complexion was darker.

  Before he was able to respond, she looked down at a sleeping Jack, then back to him.

  Terribly confused, she asked, “Who are you?”

  Gianni walked over to Jack’s bed and pushed Jack’s tousled hair out of his face. “I’m Jack’s cousin, Gianni.”

  “Wow,” she said. “You look just like him!”

  “I know,” Gianni answered with a smile.

  “Been hearing that all your life, huh?” Then she giggled. To Jack, her voice was full of dainty femininity. “I’m his wife, Victoria.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” Then Gianni looked at the exhausted pregnant woman and made a suggestion. “Why don’t you go home and let me stay with Jack tonight.”

  Stubborn and certainly, Victoria shook her head. “I’m not leaving him. He just got out of surgery. I’m waiting for the doctor to tell me what’s going on.”

  Gianni nodded. He could tell that there was no way that he was getting her to leave, despite the inability to keep her eyes open.

  Convenient for his persistence, there was an empty bed in the room. He walked over to Victoria and gently held her by the arm. Following his lead, Victoria stood from the chair. Along the way, she watched him curiously. Yet, Gianni knew that his looks made women follow his lead despite their hesitance.

  Gianni ushered her over to the bed. “Come, Madame. Lie down. I’ll sit and wait for the doctor. I promise to wake you when they arrive.”

  Despite Gianni’s overflow of charm and charisma having the ability to talk any woman into doing anything, Victoria watched him with uncertainty as she stood in front of the inviting bed.

  “I promise,” Gianni urged.

  Gianni could tell that she was reluctant, but she acquiesced.

  He assisted her into the bed as he again assured her, “I promise.”

  Minutes after spreading the blanket over her, Victoria was asleep. Gianni solemnly watched his cousin and listened to the sounds of the monitors. Soon, another sound entered the room. The door of the room slowly moved open. A young black woman stood in the doorway. She was dressed in a dark hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans. She wore her hair in a messy ponytail. She didn’t even bother with makeup. She was the most beautiful woman that he’d seen in a long time. She was so much more appealing than the narcissistic spoiled wealthy women that he was accustomed to. She stared at Gianni, in shock, before looking down at Jack.

  He was surprised at her protective tone when she asked, “Who are you?”

  Gianni appreciated her protectiveness, after all Jack was his family.

  She surveyed the room and noticed Victoria sleeping peacefully in bed next to Jack’s. Her face showed appreciation that her friend was sleeping.

  Gianni approached the beauty as she returned her attention back to him. “You first, mademoiselle. Who are you?”

  She didn’t seem to appreciate his avoidance of her question. She took a defensive stance. “Since you look so much like Jack, I’ll assume that your family. But I won’t ask you a third time.”

  Gianni noticed that she was holding her side and figured that she must be one of Victoria’s cop friends. Gianni was intrigued. He wanted to tame the beauty; make her submit. He got closer and invaded her personal space.

  “I’m Gianni Storm, Jack’s cousin. And you are?”

  Gianni noticed the change in her demeanor. Her breath quickened. He would bet money that he saw lust in her eyes.

  She took a few steps back, seemingly to get out of his space so that her breath would return. “I’m Natasha... Natasha Walker. I work with... um… worked with Victoria.”

  Gianni assessed quickly that she was shy. He reveled in it. He narrowed his eyes and studied her for a few seconds before stating, “You’re the hero. You saved my cousin’s wife.”

  Natasha walked over to Victoria’s bed and adjusted her blanket. Gianni knew that it was her way of further avoiding his affect.

  “I’m no hero. I had a job to do.”

  Gianni was surprised at the disdain in her voice as she lowered her gaze and walked toward the door. “Nice to meet you, Gianni.”

  Gianni, so caught up in her beauty, was unable to get a word in edgewise before Natasha disappeared onto the other side of the door and closed it behind her.

  Gianni stared at the door for several minutes. He decided that he wanted her. He would work on that later, but now he needed to see about his cousin. He walked over to Victoria’s abandoned chair and took a seat. The extensive travel was catching up to him, so he leaned back and rested his eyes.

  NATASHA

  Natasha scurried from the room that was occupied by two of the finest white men that she’d ever seen! Natasha had always thought Jack was a handsome man, but the man that stood over his bed was nothing short of breathtaking. He had a dark complexion for a white man and vivid green eyes. His shiny black hair flopped in his face. He had to have been at least 6’3” with a lean muscular body. He was striking. Gianni Storm had that whole “bad boy” vibe going on. He was wearing all black and possessed an elegance that told Natasha that she clearly wasn’t in his league. Yes, they were definitely from different worlds. Thus, Natasha was instantly uncomfortable in his presence.

  Natasha did notice that Gianni Storm was staring at her with purpose as if he had some unknown plan for her. He was intimidating, and the weapon on her side didn’t ease her anxiety. So, she got the hell out of there. She hadn’t planned on staying long anyway. It was late, and she had to work the next morning. She only wanted to make sure that Victoria was ok and to see if she needed anything.

  She and Victoria had become good friends, which was great because ever since she filed a complaint against her former commander, friends had become scarce. She was a pariah on the department. She’d been
kicked out of a unit that she had worked extremely hard to get into. Working narcotics was her dream. Even she had to admit that she was an exceptional undercover officer. Most of her coworkers avoided her like the plague, but Natasha found solace with Victoria and a few of the guys on her team.

  Natasha was thirty with seven years on the job. Before she was accepted into Narcotics, she worked on the tactical team in Englewood, buying and selling drugs in her district. And Englewood was no walk in the park! It was a neighborhood that was flooded with gangs, guns, and drugs. Neighborhoods like Englewood were not foreign to Natasha, however. After all, she was raised in Altgeld Gardens, one of the many dysfunctional housing projects of Chicago. Therefore, she had witnessed several drug deals and violence of all kinds. Because of her experience, Natasha had built a name for herself as an undercover, which got her an invitation to join Narcotics.

  Natasha took her job very seriously. After all, it was all that she knew. Like a lot of young girls raised in the projects, Natasha’s first boyfriend was a drug dealer. She was eighteen. Her naivety led her to believe that Kevin Bailey was just a decent man trying to survive. After a while, she noticed that he was happily profiting from the misery and addiction of others. One day, the thug showed his true colors. He got pissed when Natasha wouldn’t stash his drugs in her panties when he was pulled over by the police. He beat her severely, after the cops made their random traffic stop. Unfortunately, she was pregnant at the time. The beating prompted a miscarriage that left her infertile. Natasha’s early mistakes cost her the family that she desired. She’d never be a mother and what man would want a barren woman?

  Natasha’s determination to cleanse the streets of drugs was sparked by her years growing up in the filthy bowels of one of Chicago’s many poverty stricken neighborhoods. Her junkie, but fanatically religious, aunt that raised her and her toxic relationship with Kevin was also great influence.