Alexander sat in his office, staring out the window lost in thought. He couldn't stop thinking about Sophia, the beautiful girl he had taken hostage. The first day he saw her at a party, he couldn't take his eyes off her. He smiled at he thought of what happened that day.
Alexander was in the ideal place to observe Sophia as he stood in the shadows of a private balcony on the second floor that looked down over the party below. Only a few steps had been taken into the dance room when she abruptly stopped, splitting her lips and widening her eyes in awe at the outstanding layout and spectacular, opulent décor that greeted her. Alexander was more fascinated than he should have been by the gleeful pleasure that changed her attractive face, and by the way her champagne-colored dress clung so precisely, almost like a corset, to her abdomen. He was certain that he could easily span her little waist with his hands thanks to the fabric's tight fit, which began just above her hips.
Her tiny arms and shoulders were left bare, save for the soft, rich brown curls that deftly cascaded from the rest of her hair, which was loosely knotted at the nape of her neck, and the fluttery sleeves of her gown that delicately flowed halfway down her slim arms. Alexander had seen dozens of photos of Sophia over the years, most from far away or blurred, zoomed-in shots, but the reality of seeing all that natural beauty up close didn't compare to those random photos. He'd hired a private investigator whose sole purpose was to report to him weekly on anything relating to Charles Eugene, which included the other man's relationship with his daughter.
As much as he'd wanted his PI to find some kind of dishonest information on Sophia Eugene so he could hate her as much as he did her father, Alexander quickly realized that Charles had gone to great lengths to shield and protect his precious daughter from the harsh realities of what he really did for a living. He'd also been informed of her life in general through those weekly reports. He was aware that Sophia's mother had passed away when she was a young child and that she had been cared for by nannies until she was old enough to enroll in a private, all-girls boarding school in New York. This had allowed Charles to conduct his business affairs free from his daughter's interference.
She had the same living circumstances in college, where she graduated with a degree in business administration before pursuing a master's in library science. She'd been working at a private university library as a digital data analyst and curator—a fancy term for someone who gathered, saved, and stored digital assets and resources—for the previous several years while residing in the city with her father. She was obviously bright and possibly a tad nerdy given her line of work. Alexander even kept a pitifully incomplete file on the men she had dated. She had never been in a committed relationship with a man, and Alexander was certain that Michael, Charles's right-hand man, wanted Sophia for himself as a wife.
In a number of the reports Alexander had obtained from his PI, it was also said that every-time she went on a date with a new person, things always ended abruptly. Unbeknownst to her, Michael had asked those suitors to back off, and every single one of them promptly agreed, so there must have been some sort of implied threat in his request. In disdain, Alexander shook his head. He was absolutely astounded by the fact that a guy as vile and corrupt as Charles Eugene could have sired a daughter who was innocent, lovely, nice, and innocent of her father's and Michael's nefarious actions.
Michael grabbed Sophia's arm roughly enough to make her wince in pain as he jerked her in the direction his friends where and said something to her that was accompanied by a harsh narrowing of his gaze. He now appeared impatient with Sophia's excitement and fascination with the party's decor.
Fucking asshole, Alexander thought angrily. Then, he noticed Sophia rolling her eyes behind Michael's back as she yanked her arm away from his grasp in a show of defiance, making the corner of his mouth twitch with rare amusement. They got into some sort of quarrel, and even from this distance, Alexander could tell that Sophia wasn't taking whatever —Michael was throwing at her.
Despite her little stature, she was clearly a strong woman and wasn't a wimp. She did accompany him to a table of visitors who were chatting, but as soon as Michael stopped paying attention to her, she quickly slipped away and boldly defied him again. Alexander focused on Sophia as she looked about the connecting spaces downstairs, her joy and elation returning now that she was free to be herself once more. She seemed to be flying on the imported marble floor as her gown billowed around her as she moved. She sipped on her first glass of champagne and then her second while she observed everything around her.
He rarely gave women more than a passing glance unless he was seeking for an easy lay, but this one—his sworn enemy's daughter—inexplicably attracted him, more than he dared to admit, given who her father was and what Charles had done to Alexander. Alexander made the decision to do something absolutely spontaneous as he observed her halt at the stage where the evening's entertainment was singing. In this new and dangerous game they were about to play, where Alexander was now in charge, he was going to make the audacious and enduring declaration to Charles and Michael that nothing was off-limits.
As he descended the secret stairwell to the lower level, he made up his mind that he was going to touch the sweet, lovely, unassuming Sophia and leave his mark, even if only softly. He intended to demonstrate to Charles that he was now capable of inflicting harm where the other man would feel it most keenly: on his daughter. It was just a matter of time before Michael started looking for Sophia, and Alexander was sure that when he did, he would not be happy with what he found. In fact, Alexander was depending on it. As he stopped a few purposeful inches behind Sophia, who had her hands clasped beneath her chin, the entertainer changed to a gentler, slower melody.