Page 162 of LA King

“I’m only sixteen,” she whispers. “After my parents died, I was going to be taken into care, but I ran away instead to live with my boyfriend.”

Oh! So she’s a minor. That does complicate things. “But your paperwork—it all said you were eighteen.”

“Blake forged it all so that we could get married without consent. It was all part of his plan—” Her words are cut off by a sob, and I wrap an arm around her shoulder, stroking her hair as she cries against my chest. Blake must be her ex-boyfriend and the father of her baby.

“Everything is going to be okay,” I assure her.

“You won’t tell anyone, will you? They’ll make me go back to Chicago. They’ll take me into care.”

I have no idea what I’m going to do. “I won’t tell anyone—for now, I promise. But we’re going to have to figure out what to do next, Lucy.”

“We?” She looks up at me with wide eyes.

“Yes, we.”

She throws her arms around me. “Thank you, Alana.”

“Everything okay, Alana?” Hugo asks me on our way home.

“What?” It takes a second, but his question registers. “Oh yeah, all good. Just thinking about shelter stuff.”

Satisfied with my answer, he goes back to focusing on the road, and I go back to staring out the window and wondering what the hell to do about Lucy.

After she stopped crying, she told me her whole story, and it was even more heartbreaking than I could have imagined. The poor girl feels all alone in the world. Alone and terrified that her piece-of-garbage ex-boyfriend will find her. She’s not alone now though. She has me. Even if I still have no idea what to do next.

I rack my brain for a solution that will protect her from all her fears, but I can’t think of one. I know I’ll have to talk to Kristen eventually, but only once Lucy has given me permission. I’m a firm believer that a problem shared is a problem halved.

There’s a chance Alejandro could help me. I’m sure he’d be able to find out more about Blake for a start, but then what would he do? Even if Blake deserves whatever fate he’d meet if my husband got involved, do I want that on my conscience? Although it’s possible Alejandro simply wouldn’t care enough to do anything. He’s made it clear that our relationship is about sex and nothing more, and even if I know in my heart that’s not true, that doesn’t mean I can count on him for things like this. Besides, I can’t betray Lucy’s trust by telling him, especially when I have no idea how he’d react.

No, for now at least, I will have to figure this out on my own.

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

Alana

With perfect timing, Alejandro walks into the den right as I finish typing up the notes from my afternoon fundraising meeting. I greet him with a smile and place my laptop on the coffee table.

He stalks toward me without a word, his grin dark and wicked, and hoists me over his shoulder.

“Put me down.” I giggle, squirming in his grip.

Uh-oh. We’re headed toward his study. With all the drama of Lucy’s situation and then my meeting, I totally forgot about the preceding panty incident. He seemed to enjoy the picture I sent him, but still … Does the man have no sense of humor?

He kicks the door of his study closed behind us and sets me on my feet. His eyes rake greedily over my body, and heat blooms beneath my skin, anticipation licking a path up my spine. “Are you going to spank me again?”

He arches an eyebrow. “Do you want me to?”

I’m not sure how to answer that. The spanking was a little painful, embarrassing, too, at the time, but it was also sexy as hell, and I enjoyed it a lot. Especially the aftermath. “If that’s what you want, sir.” I flutter my eyelashes.

His dark eyes narrow on mine. My knees tremble. It feels like an eternity before he crosses his arms over his chest and speaks again. “Take off your clothes.”

With trembling fingers, I unzip my skirt before slowly pushing it down my hips and onto the floor and turning my attention to the buttons on my blouse. His eyes follow my every move, so I go slower, giving him a show I hope he’ll enjoy. The silk glides along my arms and drops to my feet, and he makes a sound that’s filled with both frustration and satisfaction.

He licks his lips while I unhook my bra, and he gives another appreciative growl when my breasts spring free. My pebbled nipples harden further as they hit the cool air, and the look in Alejandro’s eyes makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. There’s no denying that he craves my body as much as I do his, and it’s intoxicating to have this powerful, gorgeous man so obsessed with me.

I hook my fingers in the waistband of my panties, continuing my striptease. “I didn’t know when you’d be home.”