Free The Alpha's Prize by Krista Bella Page B

overwhelming urge to rush forward, roll her big ass across her father's desk and claw his face like a wildcat. "Fine, you evil, old crusty bastard!" Erica yelled, trying to hold back the tears of hurt that pooled in her eyes as her large frame shook uncontrollably. "I'll go look for your stupid ass brooch if it will make you shut the hell up!"
    I see why mother left your ass and got a huge divorce settlement .
    Erica's mother, Martha, had recently divorced her father, winding up with a good part of his fortune. Erica probably would have moved out with her mother if not for the fact that Martha was twenty times more unbearable than Jerle.
    "How dare you speak that way to me!" Jerle shouted, his face twisting with rage despite the fact that he had just purposely hurt his daughter's feelings. "I'm your daddy and I paid for everything you own! Why, you'd be nothing without me!"
    But Erica was no longer listening.
    With a swirl of her pink dress, her large breasts heaving, she spun around and marched out of the room, slamming the door behind her as hard as she could.
     

Chapter 2
     
    "How long do I have to work your shift for you?" Elizabeth whined in Erica's ears. "I have to go into work at the restaurant at eleven you know."
    Erica titled her head squeezing her cell against her ear with her shoulder as she pressed the gas pedal and came to a rolling stop at a red light. She was stopped at an intersection, a block away from the shopping center where Connor worked.
    When she had stormed out of the house, hurt by her father's callous words and nasty accusations, she had called Connor's cell to tell him about what happened. He hadn't answered. Realizing that he was probably on his way to work, Erica decided that she would stop by there to ask him about the brooch.
    In the meantime, she needed someone to open up her father's shop for her. Elizabeth Hamby, who was Erica's best girlfriend, had been the perfect candidate.
    "I know that, Liz," Erica replied, glancing in her rearview mirror. A red truck pulled up behind her with a young guy in it, his armed resting comfortably outside his window against the truck. Erica could not get a clear glimpse of him, but she thought he looked kinda cute.
    But not as cute as Connor , she thought.
    "But I need you really badly. You know that I would not be asking otherwise."
    I should have just not even bothered to get someone to open for me and just let the shop run itself, thought Erica bitterly. Then that would have showed daddy right.
    But then Erica would not have heard the end of that. Sometimes, she thought her father loved complaining just so he could hear the sound of his own voice.
    A breeze swept through Erica's pink convertible, ruffling her golden brown hair, and sending strands into her eyes.  Erica smiled at the sensation. How she loved riding through the southern city of Karma, South Carolina in the summer with her sun roof down.
    It was always so refreshing and relaxing, and she needed it after that frustration conversation with her father.
    "How long?" Elizabeth repeated, her southern twang hitting a sour note.
    Erica glanced at her watch. She would at least talk to Connor for about five minutes and it would take another twenty to go across town where her father's antique shop was located. "About a half-hour."             
    "God," Elizabeth growled with annoyance. "I think it's so stupid that your dad is making you hunt down Connor during his morning shift over some stupid pendant."
    Erica snorted in agreement. "You're telling me."
    "Why didn't you just tell him 'sure dad, I'll do it' but not really and then later tell him that you did anyway?"
    A car sped through the intersection, nearly running a biker over who had come from around a corner unexpectedly. "Because he said he'd call the cops on him if I don't," Erica replied, her eyes widening slightly at the near accident. The biker stopped in his tracks and yelled obscenities at the driver who was now long gone. "