The Billionaire's Unwanted Virgin (7 page)

Her mum's hand over her mouth stopped
the flow of words.

"Back up there one minute?
You're marrying him? And do not swear, young lady. There is no need for that,
no matter what the circumstances. I thought you'd sold yourself for one night.
How has that turned into a marriage? What are you not telling me?" Her mum
had stood up during that little speech, and the glare she gave her took Alice
right back to her childhood, when that look could stop her dead across a
crowded room.

"It's complicated, Mum, and it
really doesn't matter right now. What matters is Beth, and that we can now
afford the treatment she needs."

"Then un-complicate it, Alice,
right now, right here. Why does he want to marry you? What have you
done?"
 

Alice winced as her mother grabbed her
by the shoulders and shook her. Frail she might be, but right now, she wanted
answers, and Alice knew it was useless to even try to evade her. Before she
could say anything at all however, the door opened, and all the fight went out
of her mother as she looked over Alice's shoulder.

Lakota's warm hand on Alice's
shoulder gently dislodged her mother's iron grasp, and she made no protest when
he urged her to sit down. He guided Alice, too, onto the bed, and her heart
squeezed painfully when she saw the grim expression on his face, only to almost
jump out of her chest when she saw the man stood in the doorway.

Clad in his theatre scrubs Spencer
Jamison looked just like his picture, and Alice took hold of her mum's ice cold
hand.

"About Beth, it's not good news,
I'm afraid."

Alice suppressed a groan and released
the death grip she had on little Beth's fingers. She'd lost count of how many
hours she'd sat here in this room, holding the little girl's hands, willing her
just to take another breath. All throughout, Lakota had been a quiet
reassurance by her side. He'd patiently answered all the questions Alice and
especially her mum had thrown his way, he had supplied food and drink, and even
managed to convince her mother to leave Beth's side and go home, once the
little girl had passed the critical forty-eight hours post operation time.

Not only that, he'd acted as a human
shield when a nosy reporter had somehow managed to gain entrance to the ward.
It was the only time Alice had truly been frightened of Lakota. By the time
she'd realized that the young man wasn't a nurse as she'd first thought, he'd
not only had a good look at Beth's medical notes, but he'd also managed to get
several pictures. Lakota had shot through the door like an avenging angel,
looking every inch the proud warrior of his heritage, and he'd pinned the man
to the wall. The much smaller man's legs had dangled off the floor, his face
turning a putrid color, as Lakota's large hand on his throat had cut off the
reporter's air supply.

"Get that scum's camera and give
it to me, Alice."

She had scrambled to comply with the
growled demand, and had watched in fascinated horror when Lakota had thrown the
camera against the wall with such force that the digital piece of equipment
shattered. It had left a dent in the wall, and the commotion had sent the
nurses running in to see what on earth was going on.

"Try taking your piece
of shit pictures now, you fucking scum."
                         

The gurgling sound coming from the
man's throat had galvanized Alice into action. She'd pulled on Lakota's arms in
an effort to dislodge the death grip he'd had on the man's throat, but to no
avail.

"Lakota, please. Let him go. He
can't breathe. Dammit,
stop.
You're no good to me in prison. He's not
worth it."

Lakota had issued a growl that any
jungle cat would have been proud of, and heaven help her, fear had turned to
instant arousal. That animalistic sound had sent tingles down her spine and
moisture into her knickers. Lakota had dumped the reporter onto the floor and
had crushed her to his large frame. For several delicious seconds her world had
narrowed to the feel of him pressed against her, his hands buried in her hair,
his heartbeat thundering under her ear, before he'd let go of her.

The nurses looked terrified when he
turned on them.

"Heads will roll when I find out
who is responsible for this piece of shit invading my fiancée's sister's
privacy. Get that dirt bag away from us." He'd looked as though he was
going to kick the man struggling for breath on the floor, and perhaps he would
have done, had Alice not put herself between the two men.

The raw fury in his dark eyes had
taken her breath away, and she hadn't heard whatever else he'd snarled at the
departing health professionals over her head. He'd run a hand through his hair,
and his features had softened when she'd grabbed his other hand.

"It's okay, nothing
happened."

He'd glanced at Beth, peacefully
sleeping in her bed, and had shaken his head.

"None of this is okay, Alice. He
never should have managed to gain access to this ward, never mind this room.
I'm sorry I've let you both down."

She'd swallowed past the lump in her
throat and had simply stood on tiptoes to be able to give him a hug. His arms
had tightened around her, and she'd felt the shudder going through his large
frame.

"Lakota, you've done more than
enough. This isn’t your fault."

"Yes, it is. My money ought to
be at least good to protect you and your family. As you quite rightly pointed
out I'm no good to you otherwise."

He'd pushed her away, and he'd sat
down heavily on the chair next to little Beth's bed.

"I didn't mean it like that,
Lakota. I'm very grateful for your money, but that's not why—"

His short laugh had chilled her to
the bone.

"You're not with me for my
money? Is that what you were going to say, sweet little Alice? Don't insult my
intelligence. That's exactly why you’re here. Or are you going to tell me that
you'd be marrying me if it wasn't for your niece here?"

His black eyes had held her captive,
and she'd stuttered her answer.

"I-I … that's not … I
mean…"

"It's okay, sweet little Alice.
I appreciate your honesty, at least. Let's not pretend we're love young's
dream, not when we're on our own, at least."

Before she could say anything else,
he'd left with a murmured, "Let me go and do some damage control."

Alice sighed as the door opened
behind her now. Was she destined to have people invading her privacy today? The
immaculately coiffed, and heavily made up raven haired beauty who entered gave
her pause for thought.

"Are you lost?" she asked.

"Hardly. Do I look lost to
you?" She glanced at Beth, and Alice put herself between the newcomer and
her niece.

"You certainly shouldn't be
here.
This room is off limits."

The other woman just laughed and
pursed her fire engine red lips.

"Yes, I heard Lakota threw his
weight around in here earlier. He can be such a boor, can't he? But he is so
very sexy when he pulls his caveman act."

"You … you know Lakota?"
Alice hated the way her voice wobbled.

"Do I know Lakota?" Her
tinkling laughter grated on Alice's last remaining nerves. "For someone
who is purported to be Lakota's fiancée you don’t know much about him, do you?
I'm Lady Selina Horsely, and I was Zeb's fiancée." She dabbed at her
perfectly dry eyes with a silk hanky she'd pulled out of her pant suit, and
gave an elegant sniff.

"
You're
the fiancé?"
Alice couldn't keep the disdain out of her voice, and the other woman's eyes
narrowed.

"Yes I am and by rights it
should be me wearing Lakota's ring. Only," she smirked and pointedly
looked at Alice's ring less left hand. "I see you're not wearing his ring
either. Why is that I wonder? Is Lakota already fed up with slumming it? How
did you snare him anyway? Pregnant are you?"

Alice blew her breath out in a
frustrated huff.

"How dare you? And I fail to see
how this is any of your business. If you were engaged to Zeb, as you claim to
have been, why does that give you an automatic right to Lakota?"

Selina just smiled, and Alice rubbed
the goose flesh off her arms. She got the distinct impression that it would be
a mistake to make an enemy out of this woman.

"Like I said you know remarkably
little about your supposed fiancé. Lakota is a very traditional man. I had
every right to expect him to marry
me
when his brother died in that
unfortunate accident. It's what
they
do, after all."

"They? And who exactly are
they?
If you're referring to Lakota's Sioux heritage, I hate to disappoint you, but
that only applies if you had actually been married to his brother, and from
what I understand yours was not exactly a match made in heaven now, was
it?"

Alice smiled at the most decidedly
un-lady like snort coming from Selina. Alice had majored in Native American
history, so she knew she had the upper hand here.

Selina took a step closer, and Alice
held her breath against the cloying presence of the other woman's heavy
perfume.

"You think you're so clever,
don't you? We'll see. I'll find out what's going on here, you mark my words. He
is
mine,
and he will come to his senses soon enough."

She glared at Alice, all haughty
arrogance, and then turned around on her stilettos and walked from the room.

Alice couldn't help it. She laughed.
It was that or cry.

****

Lakota ducked into the alcove and
watched Selina totter past with a frown. What the fuck was she doing here? He'd
heard the raised voices the minute he'd stepped into the corridor, and he
didn't want to examine why he hadn't intervened. Hearing his little Alice stand
up to the money-grabbing Selina had given him a rather suspicious glow around
his heart. He closed his fist around the little box burning a hole in his
trouser pocket, and said a silent prayer to his spirit guide for the foresight
in bringing the ring today. He should have thought of it before now, but in his
defense little Beth had been too ill, and besides he'd needed the right ring.
In the end he'd designed the ring himself, and he wasn't going to examine his
reasons for that particular action too closely either, though if he had to
hazard a guess, it would be all Elizabeth Wanderlund's fault.

Alice's mother had a stubborn streak
a mile long, and it had taken all of his considerable powers of persuasion and
lots of Alice's pleading, to convince the elderly woman to leave the hospital.
Now that Beth was out of immediate danger, there was really no reason for both
mother and daughter to run themselves ragged waiting on the little girl to wake
up. He'd tried to persuade Alice to leave, too, even employing a nurse to look
after Beth twenty-four seven, but he should have known she would not leave her
side. She'd fixed her expressive green eyes on him with such disdain that he'd
felt about knee high.

"A nurse is not the same, as you
well know. If this was your brother lying here, would you just leave him? She's
only a child. She needs a familiar face when she wakes up. It was bad enough I
wasn’t there for her when she hit this crisis."

"You couldn't help that,
Alice." Her mother's tired voice had interrupted their little tryst.
"I'm sorry if you feel as though I blamed you for this, Alice. I don't,
not really. If I blame anyone it's this strange fiancé of yours."

"Mum—"

"It's okay. Truth be told, I am
tired. You, young man," she had pushed her index finger into his chest.
"You can take me home, and we can have a good long talk. I want to know
exactly what sort of a man would force my daughter into a marriage."

The trip back to her modest house in
the outskirts of London had been as infuriating as it had been enlightening.
Elizabeth had read him the riot act in no uncertain terms, and he had learnt
more about the woman he was going to marry in a week's time, than any file
could have ever told him. He'd also found a deep seated respect for the silver
haired lady, so determined to protect her daughter. Completely unimpressed with
his wealth and status, all she'd wanted to know was why he had bought her
daughter and what he intended to do with her.

She'd relaxed marginally when he'd
explained his brother's involvement and her genuine sympathy for his loss had
warmed another layer of his frozen heart. Not enough to tell her the whole
truth, but enough to reassure her. He smiled now recalling her terse warning,
when he'd walked her up to her house.

"Hurt my daughter, and you will
rue the day you were ever born, Lakota." Another female who insisted on
calling him by his tribal name, and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"That is your name, is it not?
You should be proud of your heritage, not hide it behind a silly name like
Lance. What would your mother have to say about that?"

She'd simply smiled at
his growl in response and raised an eyebrow.