Six years since he made the worst mistake of his life. Not a punch, or even an open hand. No, he had ruined everything because he shoved her. Alden could not even remember the reason why he had lost his temper. It hardly took anything, even if it had never happened with her. Then, she had looked at him like he was garbage. Alden Whitaker had thrown the love of his life to the ground and been ready to do worse. After that day, he decided he was done being trash.
Going home for the first time in years had been the first step. After everything Jacob Whitaker had done, he could be the one to provide the starting capital for this little self-improvement mission. That man had been the source of Alden's temper. He was no jailor or warden. He would have to care if his son lived or died for that. His mother had left a long time ago, bruised and bloodied, so Alden had been expected to take care of things. Once his father realized the boy was not going to be silent and obedient, he had taught him endless lessons with his fists. The day he turned eighteen, Alden had left and never come back. Until he needed to find a way to get Octavia back.
Of course, his father had laughed in his face. Despite being a demon in human skin, Jacob was successful enough to spare a few thousand for his son, and absolutely would never do so. Alden snapped just like he always did. At first, he had expected it to go the same as always. Then, he had found that Jacob was neither stronger nor faster. In the time he had been gone, he had stopped being a boy. No more broken bones and black eyes. The rush that came with this power was a drug he had never tried before and he found it intoxicating.
Stranding above the monster who had turned him into the same, Alden knew he should have stopped. Should have forced his father to hand over the money he needed and disappeared again. It was simply too tempting. Revenge just tasted too good. Officially, Jacob had fallen asleep smoking in his recliner. The messy house had turned into an inferno within minutes. And when the police called him the next morning, as his father's closest living relative, they were contacting him as the estranged son of a middle class businessman. It seemed that Alden had a knack for a certain kind of business.
Four years later, that knack had become talent, and when you had money, talent was a powerful weapon. Alden Whitaker, more specifically Whitaker Transport, had earned a reputation for brutality. When they negotiated contracts, acquired warehouses, or absorbed their competitors, there was no room for argument. The kind of men that were drawn to Alden were animals drawn to a powerful alpha. He was confident and efficient. So long as they stayed in his good graces, no one cared if he rewarded failure with pain. No one cared that anyone who got in his way suffered ten times the kind of punishment they could expect. Or, on occasion, simply disappeared. Lawyers, low level corporate management, the occasional cop or executive. None of them even registered as an obstacle for him, and he took care of things personally.
Most importantly, perhaps the only part of it that really mattered, he had developed a working relationship with Governor Monroe. Soon to be senator, if rumors were true. Alden was not a close friend of the family, not after what Octavia had told him. He could never trust himself not to strangle the man. Henry, however, was receptive when it came to the sizeable bonus he found in his account every month. Two years, he stood at the top and waited. Because, despite all his newfound success, Octavia had disappeared off the face of the earth. Private investigators, bounty hunters, even worse people than himself. None of them could find her because she had taken nothing with her but cash. The money he used to look for her was nothing to him, it was simply the means. Octavia was the end.
Alden sat behind his desk, arms crossed over his chest while Benjamin went over his meeting with the board of some no-name shit company that had been trying to force them into a bidding war over a contract. It was too petty for even Alden to get involved in directly, but Benjamin was doing a good job of dragging them through the dirt and teaching them who not to fuck with. Alden was a mountain of a man these days. He had never been small, but having the strength to back up his attitude had been vital. Just over six and a half feet tall, his suits were cut perfectly to give him an air of professionalism while showing off exactly how intimidating he was.
He was ready to tell Benjamin exactly how little this mattered, even if he was one of the few people he trusted, when his phone buzzed on the desk. A flick of his eyes was all it took for him to lean forward in his seat. Benjamin stopped speaking immediately, recognizing when there was blood in the water and Alden became nothing but a shark. With a moment of hesitation, Alden snapped up the phone and lifted it to his ear.
"She just showed up. Her mother insisted she stay." Alden realized he was not breathing when Henry paused on the other side, waiting for questions or instructions. After all, he was speaking to the man who had given him more money in two years than the Monroes had in decades. Alden let out a slow breath through his nose, then spoke. "Make sure I'm on the list for that party. Old Teddy won't think twice about it. He wants my donation."
That was it. Alden ended the call and dropped it phone onto the desk with a clatter of plastic on wood. Benjamin was standing still as a statue, more like a soldier than an employee. After Alden spent a good few minutes staring at his phone, Benjamin finally spoke up. "Sir?"
Alden's eyes flicked up to look at one of the few people he trusted. One of the few who knew there were protocols in place for if he needed to abandon ship for a few days, maybe weeks. "I'll be attending a party at Governor Monroe's home tonight. She just showed up out of nowhere. You know the plan. Enjoy being in charge, Ben." Never Ben to anyone else, his second-in-command smiled in a small and controlled way. The ones who did not fear Alden loved him for what he gave them, and gave him the loyalty he needed to not snap at every word they spoke. Alden stroked a thumb over his scarred knuckles, thinking back to the day he had started this. Benjamin was turning to leave, ready to step into his temporary role, when Alden spoke again.
"And have Rook call me. I need a program installed on my phone."
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