Page 76 of Fierce King (L.A. Ruthless 1)

We said goodbye to everyone and then walked out of the building. I saw the car waiting over the road and went to cross but Alejandro grabbed my arm and shook his head. Then Jacob approached us, and handed Alejandro a set of keys.

‘Be gentle with her, Boss, won’t you?’ he said.

Be gentle with who? I swallowed. Did he mean me? Was I about to punished for my earlier slight against him.

‘Of course, I will,’ he said with a smile.

‘Night, Mrs. Montoya,’ Jacob said with a nod and then he jogged over to the car.

Alejandro took my hand and started walking down the street in the direction Jacob had come from. ‘Here’s our ride,’ he said as he steered me towards an old Mustang.

So thesheJacob had been referring to was a car. Alejandro had lots of cars – all high end and top spec. I wondered who this old beat up Mustang belonged to, and why we were driving home in it. Suddenly, I felt incredibly anxious.

‘Why aren’t we taking the car?’ I asked him.

‘Because I’m taking you somewhere, and it’s not the kind of place I want to go in a limo.’

He opened the passenger door for me and I climbed inside. I leaned over and opened the lock on the drivers’ door panel for him. He slid into the seat and ran his hands lovingly over the steering wheel. That was when I realized this was his car, and that he wasn’t about to push it over a cliff with me inside.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked.

‘You’ll see,’ he replied as he started the engine. The car roared to life and he smiled to himself.

Half an hour later, we had driven out of the city and into the projects. Alejandro pulled up outside an old fashioned diner and turned off the engine.

‘Why are we here?’ I said as I looked around. It was one of the poorest places I’d ever seen and not the type of place I’d expect Alejandro to even know about.

‘My mother grew up in this neighborhood. Born and raised here until she met my father when she was seventeen. When I was a kid, she still used to come back here every Saturday morning to check on her old friends and neighbors. She always brought me with her and I learned to play basketball on the court right over there. That’s where I first met Jax too,’ he said as he pointed to the court in the distance. ‘My father used to try and stop her. He said it was too dangerous. But she used to sneak here anyway. It may sound crazy, but we were probably safer here than we ever were in our gated mansion.’

‘I didn’t realize,’ I said.

He shrugged. ‘Well, it’s not something you’d know about. All of her friends and neighbors have moved on now, but she still does a lot for the place. She donated the money for that library across the street. And this old diner was going to go under, but she convinced my father to buy it and give the place a makeover. It’s operated at a loss every year he’s owned it, because the food is so cheap,’ he said with a chuckle.

I laughed too. ‘That’s not a great business model.’

He turned to me. ‘No, it’s not.’

‘I see why you brought me here,’ I said. ‘And I’m sorry that I thought you wouldn’t be interested in helping people.’

‘You don’t need to apologize for your thoughts, Alana. To be honest, I’m happy for the world not to know about that side of my family.’

‘But you wanted me to know?’ I said, and my heart swelled in my chest.

‘It seems so,’ he said as he ran a hand over his jaw.

Suddenly, it felt like everything was becoming too deep and meaningful, and I didn’t know how to be like that with him. I was scared that he would break through the last few bricks of my wall, and I didn’t know what I’d do if he did. To let him in completely … I couldn’t.

‘Would you like to donate some money to the shelter, Mr. Montoya?’ I purred.

He turned to me with a wicked grin. ‘If I promise to be your biggest donor, will I get any additional benefits?’

I placed my hand on his thigh. ‘What additional benefits did you have in mind, Mr. Montoya?’ I breathed as I ran my hand up towards his groin.

He groaned and shifted in his seat. ‘None that I’d like to indulge in sitting in this car in the middle of this neighborhood, princess,’ he growled. ‘Let’s get you home and get you naked, and then we can discuss my benefits.’

Then he started the ignition and pulled away from the curbside.

Alejandro had me pinned to the wall as soon as we got into the house. He reached for the hem of my dress, and then had it pulled up and over my head before I could even start to protest. My body was pressed up against the cool plaster as his hot mouth and hands trailed over my body before he removed my bra.

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