Page 204 of LA King

Throughout dinner, she watches me but doesn’t say anything. Alana might not know everything about me, but she knows the important things—like what side of the bed I prefer to sleep on, how I take my coffee, how to soothe my temper with nothing more than a smile. That I like to be called Alex, but only by her. She knows the man I have never and will never let anyone else see.

I feel much better when we’ve both eaten. I love watching my wife enjoy food I’ve cooked for her. She looks up at me with those fuck-me eyes, and I realize I need to take control of this evening or I’ll bury myself in her for the rest of the night and never get any answers.

I fold my arms and rest them on the table, our empty plates between us. “Tell me what happened today.”

“Promise you won’t get mad again?”

I shake my head. “I can’t promise that.” I’m likely to get all kinds of pissed. “But I do promise not to be mad at you. I want you to know you can be honest with me, Alana.”

She takes a breath and starts talking. Her story includes everything that happened today and the secret Lucy revealed to her last month. “So you see, she’s only sixteen, not eighteen like she told us at the shelter. She had false papers.”

That doesn’t make sense. Fake documents aren’t easy for a sixteen-year-old girl to get her hands on. I keep my thoughts on that to myself and allow her to continue. “With her being pregnant, too, I was really worried about her. Blake is dangerous, Alejandro. Not only does he hurt her, but he sounds incredibly possessive and controlling.” She looks up at me when she says that, and her cheeks flush. “And I don’t mean in a good way like you are.”

I would reprimand her for that, but I am both of those things. “And yet you thought it would be a good idea to confront this sack of shit?”

“Not exactly, but what was I supposed to do? Let her deal with him alone? Let him hurt her and her baby?” Her eyes widen, filling with tears. “She sounded so desperate, Alex. I just wanted to help her.”

“But how didn’t anyone see you leave? Why didn’t they see the car pull up?”

She swallows. “I knew if they saw it, they’d stop me from leaving, so I snuck out through the side gate when no one was looking and told the driver to wait for me down the street.”

I grit my teeth and suck in a breath. So fucking reckless.

“I’m sorry. But she’s just a kid. She was scared and alone, and I wanted to get to her as fast as I could.”

“Why didn’t you call me for help? Instead of a fucking Uber?”

She looks down at her plate. “I knew you’d tell me not to intervene, and then I wouldn’t have been able to sneak past the guards. And I wasn’t sure how seriously you’d take it or how long it would be for you to send someone to her. I couldn’t take that chance, don’t you see that?”

“I understand you wanted to help her, but it was so fucking dangerous, Alana. Sneaking out like a teenager and not telling anyone where you were going. What the fuck were you thinking?”

“I told you I wasn’t thinking,” she says, tears falling from her eyes. “I was acting on instinct.”

“And the mark on your face?” I ask, purposely having avoided this part because I know how much it will hurt to learn about his hands on her.

“When I found Lucy, Blake had her pinned against the wall by her throat. I distracted him and told her to run. He slapped me and tried to grab my throat.” She rubs the skin of her neck. I will slit that fucker’s jugular when I’m done torturing him. “I kicked him in the groin and managed to get away, but he grabbed my purse. I shouted for help, and he got spooked and ran. I made my way to the diner, and then I called you.”

Rage courses through my veins like it’s my lifeblood, my heart hammering in my ears, my temples throbbing so fiercely I see spots in my vision.

“You’re angry,” she whispers.

Understatement. “I’m fucking furious,” I growl, trying to keep a lid on my temper. “But not with you, Alana. With that piece of shit.”

She offers a single nod, nibbling on the corner of her lip. “I promise not to do anything so reckless again.” I wish I could believe her, but she’s far too kind and trusting for her own good. But I trust that she’ll behave for the time being, and I’ll simply have to keep better tabs on her.

She pushes back her chair and walks around the table to me. As soon as she’s close enough, I pull her onto my lap. I brush her damp hair back and cup her beautiful face in my hands. “You should have told me about Lucy when you first found out. I could have helped.”

“I know you could have … But I wasn’t sure you’d want to. I know how busy you are, and I had no idea it was going to escalate the way it has.” She stops speaking, although I sense there’s more she wants to say.

“Is there another reason you didn’t share it with me?”

She swallows hard. “This thing between us is sometimes difficult to navigate. Sometimes you make me feel like I can tell you anything, yet at others it feels like you’re doing all you can to push me away.”

I can’t deny the truth in her words, because I do push her away, terrified of letting her get any closer to me than she already is. “You know you’ll need to tell Kristen. And the authorities. Especially since she’s pregnant.”

“I know. But what will they do with her?”

“Whatever they need to do to protect her and her baby.”