Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Alana
The sound of a man’s laugh drifts through my open office window, and it’s such a joyous sound that I can’t stop myself from going to look.
A snort of laughter bubbles out of me when I see Hugo on the ground, three children perched on his torso while a fourth kicks a soccer ball into the goal and does a victory dance that looks to be inspired by a K-pop music video.
When I started at the shelter six weeks ago, Kristen was wary of the guard who followed me everywhere, and she gave strict instructions that he wasn’t to leave my side, but it wasn’t long before many of the kids started following him around.
Hugo’s sunny disposition is such a contradiction to his imposing stature, and even the most traumatized women quickly became comfortable with his presence.
After everything they’ve been through, their resilience astounds me.
I’m prouder of the work I’ve done here than anything else I’ve done since graduating from college.
The half-million dollars I’ve solicited from donors in the past few weeks will go a long way toward securing the future of the shelter in the new building, but the gift Kristen gave me when she accepted my plea to be of service is one I can never repay.
I’ve received more fulfillment than I could have imagined from getting to help women who possess the kind of strength and courage I hope to never need myself.
It doesn’t escape me that the joy I’ve recently discovered in my personal life is a huge contributing factor to my current level of happiness and my sense of purpose.
My husband might still be the devil incarnate, but he’s an incredibly talented one. It’s been two weeks since we first had sex, and we’ve done little else since. I find myself thinking about what he’s doing throughout the day and counting down the hours until I can be alone with him again.
Does he do the same? Sit in his fancy office, running the world and thinking about me?
Stop your foolish daydreaming, Alana. He’s too busy running the Montoya empire, not to mention he’s constantly surrounded by beautiful women at his hotel. But I am the woman he comes home to every night. He tells me I’m the only woman in his life, and I want to keep it that way.
The thought has a wickedly sinful idea forming in my head. I pick up my cell and dial his number. What I’m about to do is dangerous, but I’ve come to enjoy pushing Alejandro’s buttons, especially as I now know exactly which ones to press.
“Hola, princesa,” he answers, his voice low and gravelly.
A shiver of excitement skitters up my spine. Even the sound of his voice makes me weak at the knees. “Hey.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes,” I purr, trying to sound seductive. “But I was just wondering if I had permission to wear panties today.”
“What?”
“There’s a store nearby where I could get some. Or I could DoorDash. Can you DoorDash panties?”
“Alana, why do you need to DoorDash panties?” His voice is strained now, his frustration already bleeding through.
“Well, I have a meeting with some donors this afternoon, and I didn’t realize how short my dress was when I chose it this morning. I don’t want them getting a glimpse of anything they shouldn’t and investing for the wrong reasons, do I?” I press a hand to my mouth to muffle my laughter.
“What?” The growl rumbles in his throat. “Alana, why the fuck did you leave the house with no panties on?”
“I thought—”
“Where the hell are you?”
I cover the mouthpiece for a second and suppress a snort. “At the shelter.”
“The shelter? And how did you get there?”
“Hugo drove me, of course.”
“You’ve been sitting in the back seat of Hugo’s car with no panties on?”
I’m too close to busting out laughing to answer.
“Alana! Why the fuck would you do that?”
I’m having too much fun messing with him to come clean just yet, so I take a breath and compose myself. “You said no panties—I thought that was the rule.”
“In our house. When I am with you. You had better be playing with me, princesa.” He sounds exasperated, and I can picture him sitting at his desk with steam coming out of his ears.
I can’t hold my laughter in any longer, and I burst into a fit of giggles.
“Alana!”
“I’m just teasing you.”
“So you are wearing panties?”
“Of course I am. I’m sorry. But you’re so easy.” I laugh again, but he doesn’t join me. I wonder if he appreciated the joke or if he’ll punish me when he gets home later. That wouldn’t be the worst thing.
“Easy? I’ve half a mind to come over there and spank your ass right now.”
“Well, I’m leaving soon, so you’ll have to wait until you get home.”
“You do realize you’ve given me a raging hard-on and I have a meeting in ten minutes?”
“I’m sure you can figure something out, sir,” I tease.
“Yeah, I can. Take off your panties and send me a picture,” he orders.
“What? No, I can’t do that.”
“My cock is leaking here, all because of you. Now send me something I can jerk off to nice and quick.”
I’m worked up myself and imagining him jerking off in his office to my picture only adds to my excitement.
Isn’t that exactly what I wanted? For him to think of me all day?
A thrill goes through me at the idea of him having that picture on his cell phone and looking at it whenever he wants.
“You wouldn’t show anyone else, would you? ”
“Do you really think I’d show anyone my wife’s pussy?”
I know he wouldn’t, and his gentle reassurance is very sweet, especially after I just prank-called him like that. “Okay. Just give me a moment.” I put him on speaker and slide my panties off. Then I angle my phone for the perfect shot. I hit send and then lift the phone back to my ear.
“Fuck, Alana,” he groans. “That is the most beautiful cono I’ve ever seen in my life. When I get home tonight, I want you ready for me, because I am going to fuck you so hard you’ll struggle to walk tomorrow.”
Dear god. My stomach flutters. I adore his filthy mouth. There’s a knock at my office door and I jump. “I have to go. Someone wants to see me.”
“Put your fucking panties back on first.”
I laugh, already doing just that. “Of course, sir. I’ll see you later.”
Lucy Callaghan stumbles into my office as soon as I open the door, her eyes wide and brimming with tears. I put an arm around her shoulder. “Hi, sweetheart. Is everything okay?”
She sobs and shakes her head.
I steer her toward the chair opposite my desk and close the door behind me.
Then I pour her a glass of cool water from the jug on my desk and hand it to her.
She takes a few deep breaths before sipping the water.
I let her catch her breath and she looks up at me, her big brown eyes shining with tears.
Eyes that appear to have already seen too much, though she’s only eighteen.
“Want to talk about it?” I ask, handing her a tissue. We’ve become close during the four weeks she’s been here, but she hasn’t shared her story with me yet. She may never feel comfortable enough to do so, but I’ll still be here for her in any way I can.
She shakes her head. “I can’t.”
“Why not, Lucy? Are you in trouble?”
She nods. “Big trouble.” She sniffs, scrubbing the tears from her cheeks. What possible trouble can this young girl be in that she can’t tell me about?
I pull my chair around and sit beside her. “I know it must feel like you have no one to turn to, but I’m here for you, Lucy. I promise. No matter what you tell me, I’m not going anywhere. You can trust me.”
She dabs at her eyes. “I know I can trust you, but I can’t tell you this. You’d have to keep it a secret, and I know you won’t be able to. You’ll have to tell someone.”
I consider my options. She’s worrying me now. “Have you hurt someone?”
She shakes her head. “No. Nothing like that.”
“Then what is it, sweetheart? I can’t help you if you won’t tell me what we’re facing here. But if you tell me what it is, maybe we can work it out.”
She blinks at me, fat tears spilling from her lashes. “Promise you won’t tell a soul,” she implores me.
She looks so lost. So frightened and vulnerable. What the hell else can I do but agree? “Okay. I promise.”
“I’m pregnant,” she declares, and I almost sigh with relief.
Pregnant we can work with. She has options. “Okay. Well, we can deal with that,” I assure her.
She shakes her head again and resumes sobbing. “That’s not all though.”
I squeeze her hand in mine. “It’s okay. You can tell me anything.”
“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.