"What are you doing here?"
Alice grabbed the bottom rail of the bed to stop herself from doing something with her hands that she might regret later, like slap the bitch.
"Oh, so you remember who I am then? I thought you had amnesia?" Alice stared the other woman down.
"Ah that. What would you rather I told them? That the savage you married, smashed my head in the mirror whilst he was rutting me from behind like the beast he is? Even though I begged him not to? Would that be better? Is that what you came here to find out? How many times we fucked before he got carried away?"
Alice gripped the rail so hard, she was surprised she wasn't leaving indents behind.
"I would rather you told the truth. We both know that's not what happened."
"Oh, we do, do we? Is that the royal we, or were you there? Who's going to believe him when it's my word against his? With all the furor you caused leaving him folks will wonder, won't they? And I understand he's got a rather questionable past."
"You know diddly squat about his past. I don't believe for one minute that you would have bothered to find out anything about him past the size of his wallet."
"Oh Alice, sweet little Alice. You forget the most important thing—the size of his cock."
Alice saw red, literally saw red, and she would have launched herself at the fucking cow, had it not been for the voice of reason whispering in her ear.
She's lying. Don't fall for this again.
Instead Alice smiled a slow, dangerous, and deadly smile. Some of her inner thoughts must have shown on her face, because Selina's mask of supreme confidence slipped a little.
"I don't believe a word of your lies. I bet even you're having a hard time keeping them straight in your head. What do you hope to gain from this … this nonsense, you sick fuck."
Selina's mouth opened and closed again, and then she lost it.
She threw her phone at Alice missing her head by mere inches and screamed.
"Get out. Get the fuck out. He's mine, and no simpering fucking virgin is going to swan in and take him away from me. I'd planned this for years, ever since he had the gall to turn me down. No one turns me down—no one, least of all a half-cast bastard."
Alice gasped, wishing she'd had the foresight to bring a Dictaphone or something, to be able to show people exactly what a sorry excuse for a human being Selina really was.
"So I turned to Zeb instead. He was easy enough to get into my bed, and I got him so stoned he didn't know what he was doing that night. I didn't expect him to wrap his car around a tree, of course." Selina smirked, and an ice cold shiver darted down Alice's spine. The woman was quite mad. Fucking insane, in fact, and that made her extremely dangerous.
Selina's eyes bored into hers, and she laughed.
"I had it all worked out, see. I was going to be there to comfort him through his grief, and then he'd be obliged to marry me. I could get my hands on all his money, and finally repay Daddy, and stand on my own two feet, but you fucking cunt had to ruin it all. But you won't win this. I won't let you. He's mine, I say, mine!"
Alice shook her head, grateful for the audience of the two nurses, who had come in to see what all the commotion was about.
"That's where you're wrong, Selina. Lakota belongs to no one but himself, unless God willing, he lets me be his."
Chapter Fifteen
She wasn't coming. Lakota downed another large shot of Scotch in one and swore as the burn lingered on the way down. Of course she wasn't. No doubt Selina had spun her a yarn a mile long. The mere sight of her must have turned Alice's stomach. He had been there to see what had happened, and he still couldn't get his head round the fact that Selina had done that to herself. Why would anyone else believe him?
He held his empty glass against his temple to soothe the steady thump there. He'd fucked up good and proper, and for once in his life, he couldn’t just throw money at the problem. He smiled grimly, as the sky darkened and the first big drops of rain hit the plane of glass. Had it really been only three months since he'd first learnt of Alice's existence on a day much like this one? From that first moment she hadn't acted like she was supposed to. She hadn't fitted into any of the nice little boxes he'd kept his life compartmentalized in. The lines had blurred to such an extent he'd lost his way.
That's how he hadn't sensed Selina's dangerous and unstable disposition until it was too late. He threw the glass against the wall, the sound of it shattering suiting his dark mood. Shards of glass embedded themselves in the luxury pile under his feet, the perfect representation of his pierced heart.
The soft gasp behind him registered seconds before her whispered, "Lakota?"
****
Alice's heart tried to beat itself out of her chest, when Lakota turned round. He looked awful. Dark shadows under his eyes testament to the fact that he hadn't slept, his hair hung in disarray around his face. Thick stubble covered his proud jaw, and his beautiful dark eyes held so much painful emotion it took her breath away.
"You came. I didn't think you would." He took a step closer to her and then seemed to think better off it, and crossed his arms over his chest. The move should have made him look forbidden and closed off, but instead he looked like a little lost boy. Despair radiated off him in waves, and Alice forced her lips into an uncertain smile.
"Of course I came. I told Percy I would, didn't I?"
He clenched his jaw so hard she heard his teeth crunch together, and she winced. His expression darkened, and Alice sighed.
"You know I don't think Forrester gets paid enough to clear up after us lately." She glanced towards the mess he made, and he shrugged his shoulders. "And it's an awful waste of good Scotch if you ask me."
That raised the tiniest of smiles.
"Don't worry, I'm not that stupid. It was empty when I threw it." He glanced at her and chewed his bottom lip. "I only screw up with the truly important stuff it seems."
"Like?"
"You, us, the whole damn marriage thing." Again he glanced at her, and she smiled at him. He relaxed his tense stance just a teeny bit, and Alice was reminded of a panther waiting to strike. All that leashed power and aggression bubbling under the surface, barely held in check under the thin veneer of politeness. It sent a shiver of anticipation through her veins, and she shifted her weight and wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. His eyes followed that movement. His hooded gaze lingered on her hips, skimmed upwards over the curve of her breasts, and stopped for a few heart stopping moments on the deep V of her t-shirt. It was slightly too big for her, and she knew it had slipped to expose the top of her bra.
He frowned, and when he finally looked at her the old Lakota was back. Her breathing hitched, and it took all of her willpower to not simply run into his arms.
"You've lost weight. Why?"
"I've been running."
"Running?" He quirked an eyebrow at her, and she giggled. She couldn't help it.
"Is that so hard to believe? It helps me to think." She stopped and looked at the floor, suddenly too nervous to continue. What if nothing had changed? What if she poured her heart out, and he just laughed at her? What if she'd left this too late?
"And what did you have to think about, little Alice?"
The old endearment brought tears to her eyes, and she tried to blink them away, but a lone tear escaped. He noticed, of course he noticed. He was studying her so closely; he must have been able to count every one of her freckles.
He stepped closer and wiped that tear away with his thumb. She sniffed, and he leant closer still until his unique scent wrapped itself around her senses and she leant into his touch. With a groan he wrapped his hands in her hair and tugged her head up.
"Don't cry, my sweet little Alice, not over me. I don't think I'm worth it, you know."
More tears spilled that she just didn’t seem able to stop, and after a moment's hesitation he leant down and kissed her. A mere brush of his lips on hers but it was enough to make her wrap her arms around his waist and bur
row in as closely as it was humanly possible. He deepened the kiss with a groan, and they clung together, reconnecting, searching, finding the peace they needed in each other. Time stood still as their breaths mingled and their tongues meshed in the ancient dance of love, just breaking contact long enough to draw air into their lungs before they delved back into tasting each other.
Alice ran her hands all over him, until he caught them in his and clasped them behind her back. He thrust the hard length of his need for her into her groin, and she whimpered when he broke the kiss.
"I've missed you so much, my sweet little Alice. Please forgive me."
"For what? I was just as pig-headed as you, according to my mum anyway."
He grinned, and Alice's heart felt lighter. There was that mischievous grin he only reserved for her and she'd thought lost forever.
"That must have been an interesting conversation, my sweet."
"You have no idea. I'd just received the … the—"
Lakota's finger on her mouth stopped her, and she stood frozen at the pain in his eyes.
"I thought that's what you wanted. It was my way of setting you free, of giving you a choice. A true choice, not one forced on you by circumstances." He tightened his hold on her and tugged her under his chin. Alice closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.
"Selina…" She tensed at the mention of that woman's name, and he let her go and swore softly. He ran an agitated hand through his hair, and Alice grasped it and linked his fingers through hers. He stared at their joined hands for the longest time, and she noticed with a start that he was still wearing his wedding ring.
"You didn't take it off?" she asked.
He shook his head and cupped her chin with his free hand to make her look at him.
"I meant it when I said you were mine. You chose to walk away, and I had no right to stop you. I couldn't not after everything you said, but this ring," he smiled and glanced down at their joined hands. "This ring meant hope for the future, that somehow you would tell Percy to slow down at least. Of course you didn't. You told him just the opposite. You wanted rid of me, yet, still I hoped. To get rid of the ring would have robbed me of that hope. I may be a fool, but I'm not that much of a fool."
He gestured behind her, and Alice gasped when she saw their white wedding blanket framed on the wall.
"It is said that as long as one of you is still in possession of the blanket and it stays intact, there is hope for the marriage yet, because the spirits of our ancestors look down on us. I'm not sure I entirely believe it, but I was willing to work with anything. I still am, whatever it takes, Alice, I'll do it."
Alice smiled. She couldn't have said anything if her life had depended on it, so huge was the lump lodged in her throat. She never would have thought that Lakota would be that emotional.
"Selina was nothing but the distraction I needed to keep the reporters from your door. I knew you needed the space to think, and whilst it killed me to keep my distance, I also knew that I'd lost the right to approach you when I accused you of being behind those newspaper reports. I have no excuse for that other than this."
He took a deep breath and framed her face in his large hands.
"I was scared shitless by what I was feeling for you, little Alice. Love makes you vulnerable, and I knew I was falling in love with you."
He rested his forehead on hers, and Alice's heart soared.
"I realize that was a fucking lousy way to show it, but everything and everybody I've ever loved has been taken from me. I couldn't bear to lose you, too. I … I can't live without you, my sweet little Alice."
Alice brought her hands up to place them over his, and he pulled back to study her face. Even without his heartfelt words she would have known he was telling her the truth. It was there in every anxious line of his beloved features, in the way his fingers tightened under hers, in the tension of his muscles, as he waited for her answer.
"You don't have to."
"I don't?"
"No, you silly man, all I ever wanted was for you to admit your feelings to me. Was that really so hard?"
His adorable sheepish grin made her fall in love with him a little bit more.
"And I have news for you. I can't live without you either. I was ready to come back and stay even if you'd never said you love me. I realized it really didn't matter whether you said the words or not. I couldn't see what was staring me in the face, and I let my own insecurities get in the way of us. I'm sorry, Lakota, I was a fool, too. And for the record, I never once believed that you were cheating on me, not really. I don't know why I accused you of that. I just knew I had fallen for you so hard, but everything was so different when we were back here, and you were so—"
"I was just really busy with work, my sweet." He interrupted her breathless apology and kissed her.
"We were both fools, who let our personal hang-ups get in the way of us. I promise I won't let that happen again."
"I promise that, too."
He let her go and Alice blinked in surprise when he pulled her wedding and engagement ring out of his jeans pocket, and dropped to the floor on one knee.
"Mrs. Kemnay, my dear sweet little Alice in Wonderland, will you please do me the great honor of wearing my rings again."
She could barely see through her tears of happiness.
"Yes. Yes, I do."
His brilliant smile lit up his face, and the last lingering doubts and insecurities fell away when he pushed the rings back on her finger. He kissed them, and Alice fell on her knees, so that she was level with him.
"I promise to never take them off again for as long as we both shall live."
~Seven months later~
"Surprise!" Alice shrieked as Beth jumped out from behind the settee the minute the lights switched on.
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, you still go to nursery with a nappy on you…."
Beth dissolved into fits of giggles, and the rest of the assembled crowd burst into laughter before adding their more appropriate birthday messages.
"Minx, I told you not do that." Lakota swung the little girl high up in the air and winked at Alice.
Beth screeched in delight and then scrambled to be put down.
"Cake, we can have cake now. Mummy, you did say we could have cake when Alice got here." Mary smiled at her daughter and rolled her eyes at Alice.
"She helped me make it, and she has been desperate to get her hands on it ever since. I'm surprised she's lasted this long, to be honest. You're late. What have you two been up to?"
"Nothing," both Lakota and Alice said in unison, and he added," Nothing at all."
Alice didn't dare look at him. Her cheeks burned as it was, and she wanted the ground to swallow her up. They had in fact been up to plenty. Impromptu quickies in public locations were Lakota's current kink, and she wasn't wearing any underwear under her dress, because they'd had to leave the car park elevator in a hurry, when they'd realized the CCTV cameras were working.
Lakota had simply grinned like the cat that got the cream, or should that be the man who'd got her off, by licking her into an earth shattering orgasm before taking her fast and hard from behind.
She had barely had time to catch her breath before the doors had swung open on their floor, and Lakota had whisked her past the security guard. The man had not looked amused.
Not so long ago, Lakota wouldn't have dared risk such exposure. However, Selina had been exposed for the liar she was, after she'd made the mistake of actually pressing charges. She had hung herself with her claim that Lakota had raped her that night. There had been no evidence of any sexual intercourse, and Percy had worked his magic in record time. There wasn't any legal recourse that man did not know about, and Selina had cracked under his line of questioning. She had left the country in disgrace, in fact, and the last remnants of any restraint had fallen off Lakota. Their sex life and their marriage had never been happier.
The icing on the proverbial cake had been the day the private investigator
Lakota had employed had managed to trace Mary to a tiny town in Arizona. Beth's mum had been reluctant to return to London at first. It had taken an awful lot of tear-filled phone calls to convince her, and there was still a lot they hadn't discussed, but no one could doubt Mary's love for her daughter. After another stint in rehab Lakota had helped Mary to obtain an apprenticeship in a local bakery. Baking had always been in Mary's blood, and it seemed therapeutic for her, and all helped with her road to recovery. After an awkward start, mother and daughter had grown close again, and Mary seemed to have finally put her guilt about Beth's illness behind her. Sometimes, the shadows in her eyes still spoke of the nightmares she carried with her, the years away, she refused to talk about, and the family respected her wishes. In time she would tell them, and if she never did, it really didn't matter.
After everything they had gone through as a family they had emerged stronger than ever. Alice smiled at Lord And Lady Langton, who were proclaiming their enthusiasm for the cupcakes that Beth had apparently made all on her own, and said a silent prayer to the powers that be. It had been a truly miraculous few months.
The biggest miracle of all though was happening right under her fingertips. Alice leaned back into Lakota's comforting warmth when he wrapped his arms around her middle. He placed one hand on her abdomen, which was already starting to show signs of its precious cargo, and nibbled her earlobe.
"Ready to tell them our news, my sweet?"
The End
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