Free The Alpha's Prize by Krista Bella Page A

arm and glanced out her father's office window. It was a beautiful morning and almost time to go into work, but her irritable father did not seem to care. "I think you just misplaced it."
    "I didn't misplace shit!" her father exploded, slamming his fist down on his desk with great force and nearly knocking the box of expensive cigars that sat next to his writing pad onto the floor. "And how dare you defend that little asshole!"
    Erica crossed her arms across her chest, fed up with her father's tantrum. She could no longer hold back. "You are being a total bastard, daddy!"
    Her father's eyes went wide. "I'm being a bastard? How about you are being an ass-kissing, backstabbing daughter?"
    This is why I eat so much, Erica thought. Because this old man stresses the hell out of me.
    Seeing the hurt and anger in his daughter's eyes, Jerle took a deep, calming breathe. "Look, Erica, I am sorry if you think I am being unreasonable. I just know for a fact that I did not misplace the brooch." He shook his head vigorously. "It's impossible."
    "How do you know that?" asked Erica , trying her best to keep her raging emotions in check. "Maybe one of the maids misplaced it when they were cleaning."
    Her father glared at her doubting expression. "Never, in the fifteen years they have been working here, have they dared touch my father's pendant." Her father nodded over to a bust of Erica's grandfather that sat to the right of his desk, perched on an expensive stand. "It's always been wrapped right around his neck, untouched by a soul, and now it's gone."
    Erica stared at the bust, thinking about how much it looked like her father. The proud nose, the strong brow, the heavy jaws. "I still don't think Connor did it," she insisted. "There would have been no reason for him to sneak into your office and steal it. I can't think of one good reason." She tore her eyes away from the bust and studied her father's scowling mug. "Besides, I watched him a lot when he was doing the repairs and I never once seen him acting suspicious." Erica hated to admit it, but when Connor had done the repair work, mostly with his shirt off, her eyes had been on his washboard abs, that were usually glistening with sweat most of the time.
    "I'm sure you watched him alright!" Her father growled sarcastically, his lips twisting into a feral scowl. "And the reason he stole it, silly girl, is that the brooch is of incalculable value!"
    Erica let out a frustrated sigh and glanced at the antique clock hanging on the wall above her father's head. "Look daddy, I don't have any more time for this.  I have to go open up the shop in about half an hour." You know the boring, old shop you have me slaving in every day?   "I'm sure if you give it time, the brooch will show back up on its own."
    Please just let the matter drop.
    Erica had no desire to continue to argue with her father. It would serve no purpose other than to sink Ericka deeper into a bad mood and cause hard feelings.
    At that moment, her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she also had not eaten breakfast yet.
    His eyes blazing with inner wrath, her father leaned across his desk and snapped, "I don't give a damn what you have to do, you go find that God damn bastard and tell him to give my father's brooch back, or by God, I am calling the authorities on his worthless, Greyson ass!"
    Erica rocked back on her heels with surprise. She hadn't expected her father to go this far with his accusations. "Seriously, daddy? You don't have one shred of evidence, one shred of proof that he did that. You can't accuse him of something without knowing if he really did it or not."
    "Yes , I can!" Jerle roared, furious that Erica continued to defend her friend. "And I swear I will do it if you don't get it returned to me ASAP.  He stabbed a hairy finger at the office door in a furious jabbing motion. "Now take your fat, dick-loving ass out there and get it back!"
    Powerful anger surged through Erica's breasts and she had to fight the