The Alpha Men's Secret Club 3: Fallout: A Scorchingly Hot BBW Shifter Romance Read Free

looking down at the mayhem. She wondered too if he had seen her.
    Tim said in a low voice, “Right this way, please.”
    He ushered her to the penthouse elevator.
    “I s he in?”
    “Yes. He returned a few hours ago and barricaded himself inside. Just let me call him to tell him you’re here.”
    “OK.” Her voice wavered. What if he didn’t want to see her? He had moods, she knew, and he had to be like a wounded tiger now, prowling around and hurting.
    Tim went to the reception, picked up the phone and punched in a number. She stood there, aware that the reporters were still milled outside this private residence, afraid to step across the threshold for fear of prosecution. She could hear the phone on the other end ringing.
    Tim clicked off.
    “No answer.” He paused. “But he’s in there all right.”
    “I see.” She licked her lips nervously. “C-could I go up anyway? I mean . . . I hope he’s OK.”
    Tim eyed her, and then nodded. “I’ll show you up and you can ring the doorbell. But Ms. Penney? If he doesn’t want to answer . . . you have to leave him be. Some people just need to be alone when . . . you know.”
    “Yes, I know. If he doesn’t want to answer, then – ” She shrugged helplessly.
    He led her to the private elevator for the penthouse. He swiped the card and pressed the top button.
    “You go right in, Miss.”
    “You won’t be coming up?”
    “No.” He smiled ruefully. “He might be mad if I did. But . . . he won’t take it out on you. I hope.”
    “OK.”
    Now she was more nervous than she had a right to be. The trouble with having a lover as volatile as Rust was that she didn’t know what to expect. Everything could be calm on the surface at one instant, and then it would be a thunderstorm the next. It made their relationship wondrously exciting – like ‘living on tenterhooks’ exciting. But it was also scary.
    For all she knew, he could be getting ready to dump her already. She cringed, picturing what he could be thinking: Too much trouble. She’s already cost me my job. What else is she going to cost me?
    “Good luck,” Tim said.
    “Thanks.”
    The elevator doors closed, and she was up. As the floors shot up on the indicator, her stomach grew tighter and her throat constricted. She had never been so scared in a long, long time. Oh God, I’m in this bad .
    The doors finally slid open, and she made herself walk out to the penthous e she had become fairly acquainted with in a short period of time. She stopped in front of the imposing double doors. Should she ring the doorbell? Should she knock?
    She stared at the door.
    Come on, Kate, you have to get it over with.
    She pressed the doorbell, feeling awkward as hell. She fully expected Rust to come to the door and tell her to ‘go away’.
    But no one answered.
    After a beat, she rang the doorbell again. She pressed her ear to the door to listen for sounds of footsteps. When no one answered after a while, she became alarmed. After all, how much did she really know about Rust? Was he depressive? He was damaged, for sure, and very dominant. But how much of his actual psychological makeup did she really know? He wouldn’t want to hurt himself, would he?
    “Rust?” she called in a frightened voice.
    She knocked on the door.
    “Rust? It’s Kate. Are you OK?”
    When still no one answered, she tried the doorknob. To her surprise, it opened.
    She stepped in, feeling ill at ease.
    “Rust?”
    The hallway was not lighted. She closed the door lightly behind her and went in.
    “Rust? It’s me, Kate. I’ve come to see if you’re all right.”
    Still no answer. She was starting to get really worried now.
    She opened the first door. “Rust?”
    There was no one. Where would he be? Upstairs in his bedroom?
    In panic, she bolted upstairs to Rust’s bedroom. She fully expected to see him injured – maybe even dead in suicidal apathy.
    But Rust wasn’t in his bedroom. The bathroom door was ajar and she heard the sound of