Melting Steel: An Alpha Billionaire Romance Read Online Free

canister, her face glows from the soft light of her phone. Her shoulders sag, and she swipes at her cheeks almost angrily. Jeans and an old sweatshirt have replaced the silver sequenced dress, and a pair of Nikes for the stilettos, but even in the darkness I can tell it’s her.
    What the hell is she doing out here alone?
    “Sir.” The valet is standing beside me, hand outstretched. My Audi R8 humming like a beautiful symphony behind him.
    I place a twenty in the valet’s hand, and tell him to wait, knowing something is wrong even before I see the shadow that stalks towards her.
    Fuck.
    Fury boils in my veins when the hooded figure reaches out and grabs her shoulder.
    It takes me mere seconds to reach them. This time I don’t wait. I just react. I shove him against the wall, momentarily stunned when I realize it isn’t the same man that threatened her in the club.
    The kid’s hand goes up in surrender, and in the dim light I can see that he’s scarred shitless.
    “Let him go.” Keeley smacks at my arm, shouting obscenities that would make an Irishman blush.
    “He attacked you.”
    “I was just coming out to give her, her tip money, man,” the kid says, braces flashing in the dim light.
    I drop my hands and take a step back. 
    “What’s wrong with you?” Keeley shouts, shoving at my chest.
    “Sorry. I thought…” I run my hands through my hair and exhale heavily.
    Keeley glares at me, then takes the small roll of bills from the man’s hand. “Thanks, James.”
    “You going to be okay?” James gives me a sideways glance, and I can see in his eyes that he’s praying she says yes.
    Keeley sighs, shoving the money into the side pocket of her black backpack. “I’ll be fine.”
    He nods, then scurries back in the direction he came from.
    She turns on me, blue eyes blazing with anger. “You’re stalking me now?”
    “I thought you were in trouble.”
    “You thought wrong.” She pushes past me.
    I can’t explain the tension in my body as I watch her walk away.
    “Stop.” The command comes out more like a growl than a word.
    She goes still, but I can see from the strain in her shoulders that she’s fighting whether to run or stay.
    I move towards her, and a small shiver goes through her body when I turn her to look at me.
    She feels it too. The unmistakable energy between us.
    When she looks up at me with those big blue eyes, I know I’m screwed. My fingers itch to touch her, to fuck away the pain I see etched in that beautiful face.
    I know I shouldn’t give a damn, but I can’t help the overpowering need to protect her.
    “I have to go. I have to get home.” Her voice cracks at the end, betraying her distress.
    “I’ll drive you.” I nudge her chin up with a finger, forcing her to look at me, my mouth a breath away from her lips. I could kiss her, and I know she’d respond, but I also know she’d run afterwards.
    She chews on her bottom lip, studying me, waging an internal battle I can’t decipher.
    Her long dark hair has been pulled up into some kind of knot on the top of her head. My fingers glide over her cheek, then down her neck, toying with a silky strand of hair that’s come loose from her bun.
    Her cell buzzes and her gaze drops, brows furrowing as she reads the new text message.
    “Everything all right?”
    “Yes.” She looks up at me, giving me those big blue eyes. Eyes that are now filled with uncertainty. “Fine.”
    I can tell she’s lying.
    A barrage of emotions hit me. I want to curse her for affecting me like this. But I can’t help the voice that screams inside my head.
    I need to keep her safe.
    “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
    She has no reason to trust me, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to leave her out here alone. She’s coming with me whether she likes it or not.
    After a brief moment of hesitation, she nods.
    Some of the tension leaves my body.
    I guide her by the elbow to the passenger side door, opening it for her.
    She seems suddenly subdued,