“Who is this?” Linda mouthed from behind Danica.
“Answer me, Alicia!”
Nurses congregated in the doorway. Some were ready to jump in and pull Danica away from the bed. Others were calling security. Yet others hissed, “That’s Danica Moreau!”
Alicia tried to respond, but tears fell from her eyes the moment she opened her mouth.What are you doing? Hold me.Her hands feebly reached for her. In a matter of seconds, Danica had Alicia wrapped around her shoulders, her tears wetting the navy blue dress and steel gray sweater. Desperation crashed into her. Danica held her so tightly that something bruised beneath Alicia’s gown.
“I’m all right,” she repeated, overwhelmed by her scent and the powerful touch of her body. “Thank God you’re here.”
She said that, yet something hung heavy in Alicia’s heart.
“I heard from my bodyguard.” Danica lowered Alicia down. A hand remained clasped around hers. “As soon as I heard, I canceled my meetings and flew back here. I haven’t stopped worrying since the moment I heard you were in the hospital from a fire. What happened?”
Her bodyguard halted the security approaching the room. Linda remained perplexed.
“There was an accident.” Alicia’s voice must have been a type of aphrodisiac, for Danica kissed her, stealing the last of her breath right from her lungs. Linda gasped behind her.
“Alicia! Who is this?”
As soon as Danica pulled away, Alicia said, “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Danica.”
She turned, as if she hadn’t even noticed Linda’s presence. “Pleasure to meet you,” she grumbled. Linda was a non-entity, taking up space in the room. “I’m her fiancée.”
Alicia slammed her head against the pillow. “Danica!”
“I’m serious,” she growled, hand on Alicia’s face, thumb on her mouth. “Now, more than ever, I see that I need to protect you better. You’re my fiancée, Alicia. Marry me so something like this never happens again.”
“You’re what now?” Linda was up. No matter how many bodyguards this woman had, none of them could stand up to the wrath of Mama Bear. “Explain!”
“We’ll discuss this later.” Danica finally turned to Linda. “Danica Moreau. Pleased to meet you. Don’t worry about any of this. I’ll cover the costs.”
“I…”
“Remember how I said I was dating someone?” Alicia managed a small smile. “Guess things got serious quickly. Don’t tell Dad yet.” When Linda remained dumbfounded, Alicia continued, “Mom, could you give us a few? There’s something I need to talk to her about.”
For as many questions as she certainly had, Linda was probably glad to take a break from the chaos in her daughter’s hospital room. “I’ll go get you more water.” She left the room without taking the pitcher with her. The door closed behind her. Alicia was alone with Danica.
“You can’t go deciding things like that,” Alicia said, torn between embracing her again and turning away from the woman who declared herselffiancée. “Give a girl some time to recover before asking her to marry you.”
“I’m not asking.” The sharpness of Danica’s voice made her suck in her breath. “You will marry me, Alicia. At the very least, come live with me. Shit like this would never happen under my watch.”
When tears returned to her eyes, Danica attempted to wipe them away.
“I’m alive because of Dee.”
“Who?”
“My bodyguard.” Alicia snorted. “You know, the woman you hired to shadow me, even if I didn’t know she was there?”
“And she’ll be duly compensated and commended for her actions. I chose well when I hired her.”
Sure, take all the credit. Alicia wanted to smile, but the dangers hanging over them were too real. How the hell could she smile at a time like this? One small smile was spared for her arrival. That was it.
“We need to talk,” Alicia said. She entwined her fingers with hers. “It’s serious.”
How did a woman tell another she loved that her father had done this? How did she present such evidence? How in the world did she make Danica believe her?
“What is it, my love?” Danica pulled Alicia’s greasy hair away from her head.I’m so unkempt. She smelled of body odor and anxiety. She looked like a pale, oily mess. While she suffered no burns, she coughed every few minutes. The doctor said she would recover soon enough, but smoke inhalation was no joke. A few more minutes, and she would’ve been dead.Just what Russell wants.“You can tell me.”
