Page 9 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

“What can I offer you to make you agree to this? Name your price.”

She turned to face him and saw his anger again. Why was he insisting when it looked like he didn’t want the baby in the first place? And why did he have to look at her so coldly?

“Nothing. I don’t want anything from you,” she answered.

Nothing in the world would make her abandon a child the way her mother had left her, even if she was just going to carry it for someone else. Not even the threat of the greasy loan shark to whom her father had wanted to sell her.

The man’s eyes filled with fury, and somehow that hurt. She wasn’t being unreasonable. They were strangers, and she didn’t owe him anything. Why was he so angry about that?

She turned back to her cleaning cart and pushed it the rest of the way to the door.

“My shift is over. I’ll clean your room first tomorrow,” she said as she opened the door. “I hope you enjoy your stay at the Royal Hotel.”

She would make sure they were outside the suite first. A big part of her hoped they would be gone by the next day. She wasn’t a prude, but that had never happened to her before. It wasn’t right for her hormones to rage like that over someone she could never have, even if there was a magnetic pull towards him.

Crazy. It was best to put that behind her. Instead of thinking about that man, she should have been thinking about her more immediate problems. She needed a solution before that loan shark went back to their home.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket as she waited by the staff elevator. It was an email from Human Resources. She didn’t need to read it to know what it was about. Andrea had probably been smiling when she sent her name to them for the warning.

It would be the last time. She would be the best damn employee the Royal Hotel had ever had; they would have no choice but to reward her. A raise, maybe. Perhaps as many overtime hours as she wanted.

That was how she would raise the money for Gerald’s debt and keep Britney safe from it. Her dad had been right; she was resourceful. She could pull it off, even if it meant they wouldn’t have much saved when Britney finally graduated.

She didn’t need to be a surrogate for that couple.

But why did she feel like she was letting the angry stranger down? She didn’t even know his damn name.

Chapter 5

First, a stranger asked her to carry his child, and then her father tried to sell her. Maybe she really did come across as a pushover.

She wiped the sweat off her brow while waiting outside Andrea’s small office. Andrea was in charge of housekeeping, but she liked to act like she was in charge of the whole hotel. She could have gone to the manager first to ask for more hours, but Andrea would feel slighted and would make her life more miserable. She would even find any little reason to get her fired.

That’s why she had to suck up to her even though she’d pissed her off that morning and with the warning from Human Resources.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket again, and when she pulled it out, she saw her father’s name flashing on the screen. Her father only called her to ask her for money or to pick up more beer on the way home.

Andrea came around the corner talking to one of the other cleaners, so she cancelled the call and made sure she still looked tidy. Sweat dripped down her back again, even though she’d just washed before she had changed back into her clothes. The one thing she was thankful for her mother for was that her skin tanned rather than burned like many redheads; otherwise, Andrea would wrinkle her nose at her again.

“What do you want?” Andrea said when she finally noticed her.

“Can I have a word in private, Miss Roberts?” she asked politely.

“If it’s about removing the warning you had this morning, forget it. It’s already in the system, and it’s final,” Andrea said as she opened her office door.

The other cleaner continued walking towards the housekeeping staff room, but she looked back and smirked. She was one of Andrea’s favourites.

“No, it’s not about that, although I apologise again for being late,” she said as she followed. “I know you’re trying to find cover for the coming weeks, and I was hoping—”

“No.”

Andrea didn’t even wait for her to finish her sentence, and that irritated her more. She tried not to react as she waited for Andrea to settle behind her desk. It was just a power trip. Andrea loved that; she loved making sure everyone knew she could get rid of them whenever she wanted.

“I understand that you might be a bit weary of my offer after I’ve received two warnings already this month, but I promise you, I will work—”

“I said no, Layla. You’re irresponsible and unreliable,” Andrea said with disinterest as she put her computer on and didn’t even look at her.

That statement made her clench her fists. She had been nothing but responsible since the day she’d had to become a mother and father to her sister. Everyone in town knew that, even Andrea.

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