Alveus (ABC's Inc. Romance #1) (13 page)

Dane
pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped into his online bank account. Holding
it out to the young prince, he told him to enter the number for the account in
which he’d like the funds transferred. The crown prince pulled out his own
phone, researched the information and copied it onto Dane’s. Handing it back to
him, Ahmad sauntered back into the house, announcing to anyone interested, that
he’d earned himself a drink. The deal was made and they were free to leave. It
took superhuman restraint not to knock the self-important sheikh onto his
pompous ass.

“You
will keep what you have heard to yourself,” Dane told Greig, as he marched onto
the waiting plane.

“
Agreed
.”

»ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

Lexi
first became aware of being cradled protectively against a solid, familiar
chest. She could hear the calm rhythmic beating of a heart beneath her head,
and a comfortable musky scent recalled pleasurable memories. With a cushion
beneath, and a warm blanket covering her, Lexi wondered whether she was in
heaven. She felt safe, but her last memories belayed that assumption. She’d
known she was going to die in that cold dank pit. Still, she hesitated to open
her eyes. Were her parents here? Was it her father’s arms which embraced her?
Somehow it didn’t seem quite right.

“Daddy?”
her unused voice croaked out.

“
Nein,
ein bisschen; open your eyes, you are
safe here with Oma.”

“Oma?” Lexi opened her eyes, blinking against the
dim light. Oma Brighton was standing next to the bed. “I’m back in
Deutschland
?”

“Yes, as soon as they learned you were missing,
Daney and the Carsten twins teamed up to find you,” she explained.

“Why?” Lexi realized she was lying on someone’s
chest and pulled away – Dane? But, the Carstens, why would they want to rescue
Aly
?

“Because
Alexiah Alberton
, we will always be
your family.” The distinguished gray-headed woman pulled her shoulders back as
if readying for battle, and then her eyes softened. “I was so worried about
you, ein bisschen.”

Dane, awakened by their voices, slowly slid off of
the hospital bed and stepped back, allowing his grandmother to demonstrate her
affection with a kiss to Lexi’s forehead. Lexi felt adrift, cut off from his
embrace. She gave herself an inward slap to bring back her sense – this was the
man who took her virginity, her love, and then tossed her back into the human
trafficking cesspool! Oma perceived the change in her.

“What is it ein bisschen?”

“I need to go home,” Lexi answered. She wasn’t about
to tell the sweet elderly woman that she couldn’t bear to be around her beloved
grandson – couldn’t maintain the inward battle that was a constant whenever she
thought of him.

“We will take you home as soon as the doctor
releases you,” Oma assured her. “I suspect Bruna and Frieda are planning a
welcome home party for you.”

“I’m sorry; I meant that I must get back to
America.” Lexi’s eyes slid a cautious glance at Dane – he looked bedraggled.
Perhaps he was afraid she would tell Oma the truth about her so called
disappearance! He need not worry; she loved the kind woman too much to hurt
her. Even so, his face revealed anger at her words, and she realized that Oma
was saddened by her announcement.

“There is the business to think about,” she hastened
to explain. “I’ve been gone from it for too long.” Lexi let out a sigh, seeing
that Oma understood.

“You may recover fully in my home and then Daney can
take you back to your house in the states,” the elderly woman decided. It
didn’t go unnoticed by Lexi the emphasis she put on her
home
and Lexi’s
house
.
Oma was wise, if not subtle.

A
doctor entered the room and immediately checked a machine at the side of the
bed. Lexi hadn’t realized that she was hooked up to some kind of a monitor.

“I’m
pleased to see you awake,” he said. “How are you feeling? Any discomfort, in
your chest perhaps?”

Lexi
shook her head and shrugged. She hadn’t really thought about it. “I feel happy
to be warm,” she said, ending the sentence with a cough. It figured her lungs
would choose that moment to display distress. The doctor had his stethoscope on
her chest before she could blink.

“There
are still some foreign particles hanging around in there,” he said lightly. “I
understand you rode out a nasty sandstorm. It might take some time to rid your
lungs of all the dust they inhaled. I’d like you to take in as much warm fluid
as you can handle, then we can see about getting rid of this.” He gestured to
the IV connected to her arm. “If you do a good enough job of it, and we’re
satisfied with the health of your lungs, we can let you finish recuperating at
home. How does that sound?”

Lexi
gave him a positive nod of her head, accentuated by another light hack. Now
that he pointed it out, her chest felt like a heavy boulder had taken up
residence on it. The weight seemed to lighten, though, when she noticed that
Dane had vanished.

As
the doctor exited, like a revolving door, three more people entered. Lexi
recognized Stefani and Greig Carsten, but the large man accompanying them was a
stranger. She let out an inward sigh; she was truly grateful for her rescue,
but she just wanted to be left alone. Too many emotions vied to claim her
attention, and she needed some time to elbow her way through them. Nevertheless,
Lexi’s parents had brought their daughter up with manners, so she put on her
“socially acceptable” persona and offered them a warm greeting.

Greig
was quiet, permitting his chatterbox sister to take over. Lexi watched him
masterfully maneuver the crutches to do his bidding. It was no different than
witnessing a conductor produce harmony from an orchestra with the wave of his
wand. It was easy to forget that the apparatuses were more than just an
accessory, allowing the man to take front stage, instead of his disability – if
you could even call it that. Lexi was impressed, and her respect for him grew.

Fani
hadn’t changed much; it had only been a few years since they’d stopped skyping.
The girls had been best friends for most of their lives. Now there was an
underlying awkwardness to their reunion. Lexi could feel the guilt laced with
each word her friend spoke. Normally empathy would have had her reassuring the
girl and pouring out a comforting joke or two, instead she found herself
listening politely as Stefani dramatically wove details of the rescue. Lexi felt
a twinge of regret at the disappointment on her friend’s face when the two
Carstens departed offering Oma a ride back to the apartment, and leaving her
alone with the big quiet man they’d introduced as Dice Fuller.

“As
your friends mentioned, I’d like to find out everything you know about the
people who abducted you,” he said. “I understand if you don’t feel up to it
today, but I’m anxious to return to my team.”

“Well,
when you put it that way…” Lexi teased with a smile, “how could I dare let you
down, Mr. Fuller?” She found it freeing when everyone she knew was gone. This
stranger hadn’t let her down, hadn’t hurt her.

“Please
call me Dice,” he said.

“Dice,”
Lexi repeated emphatically, “I’d like to thank you for literally pulling me out
of that hellhole.”

“It
was my pleasure, ma’am. Did you ever see the people who put you on the market?”

“Call
me Lexi,” she requested. “I can describe the three I saw, but wouldn’t my
uncle, or Dane and his friend be of more help? I’m sure they can give you all
of the details.”

“Your
uncle?” Dice repeated.

“Yes,
I’m certain he handed me over to them. They took me from his office, and he
witnessed it. Wouldn’t he have done something to stop them?” The big man stared
at her a moment.

“Yes,”
he finally said in a gruff voice. “What is his name?”

“Richard
Alberton.” Lexi gave Dice the address to her home and the offices of Alberton
Technologies.

“Can
you describe your abductors; did they call each other by name?”

Lexi
described Cass and the two men who had inspected her, drugged her, and
transported her. Dice took notes and seemed slightly surprised that a woman was
in charge. He shook his head, mumbling something about a woman selling another
woman.

“I’ve
already spoken with Keith Ingram, but why do you think Mr. Wellesley could give
us more information?” It was Lexi’s turn to stare.

“He
purchased me!” she explained. “And after he… well… He sent me back to the same
woman when he… finished with me.” Lexi knew her face was bright red. She saw
the doubt in the big guy’s face. “His attorney told me that his boss owned me,
and Cass said I’d been returned, no longer wanted,” she said in a quiet voice.
“He even admitted that I belonged to him. Actually, it’s just occurred to me
that he and my uncle could have plotted together – they knew each other, you
know. After Dane took what he wanted from me… he vanished and never spoke to me
again.” Lexi’s voice came out hollow. “Go, ask him. There’s nothing more I can
tell you, please, I’m tired.”

Dice
turned to leave. “Thank you for your help,” he said. He walked to the door and
turned back to face her. “I understand how hard it must be to trust anyone
after living through an experience such as yours, but if you don’t mind my
saying – I know when a man has it bad for a woman, and well, you should give
Dane’s side of things a second look.” With that, he stepped out the door.

»ɞ»ɞ«ɞ«

“She
said what?” Dane stood up, dumbfounded. Did Lexi really believe that he had
planned the whole human trafficking scenario? He began pacing restlessly.

“She’s
likely just feeling the effects of PTSD or something,” Greig consoled.

“I
told you she’s not herself,” Stefani agreed.

“Well,
what do you expect,” Gretchen pointed out to her sister condescendingly,
“peaches and roses?” She scrutinized Dane. “Are you sure you don’t have
anything you need to get off your chest? You’ve been acting guilty ever since
our little reunion.”

“Harsh,
much – Gretch?” Stefan admonished. “As you pointed out, this hasn’t exactly
been a stroll in the park for any of us – especially Daney-boy.”

Dane
raised an eyebrow at the absurd nick-name, but decided to let it ride. The guy
was on his side, after all. Wait, he thought – there are no sides, here. These
people are his friends, pretty much the only family he had. In a very short
time, their relationship had meshed back into the
“put-my-life-on-the-line-for-you” pledge they had in childhood.

“Why
would she think he’d rescue her from Hejd, if he planned for her to be taken in
the first place?” Stefan considered, bringing the conversation back to its origin.
“It makes no sense.”

“My
point, exactly,” Greig agreed. “You shouldn’t take what she says seriously, right
now. She needs time to adjust to what she’s been through.”

“It
must have been horrible!” Stefani’s eyes grew teary.

“We’ve
established that,” Gretchen said. “Greig’s right, she needs some time.
Meanwhile, we should support her wish to get on with her life. Maybe it would
be good for her to go home and pick up where she left off.”

“Her
parents are gone, now,” Stefani reminded them. “We are all she has left and I
for one do not intend to let her push me away!” She glanced at her siblings for
their accord and then looked pointedly at Dane. “I don’t think you should
either.”

“It
won’t be that easy,” Dane confessed. “Gretchen is right; I am guilty of hurting
Pips
, but not in the way she thinks and it wasn’t on purpose. I had no
idea that Keith bought her from the black market.” He raked his hands through
his hair and sat down.

With
his elbows on his knees, he placed his head in his hands, defeated. Feeling a
nudge, he looked up and took the drink Gretchen held out for him. She sat down
beside him, her hand on his shoulder showing support, Fani at his other side.
They waited. He took a sip of the beverage, gaining courage from the alcohol
burning his throat.

“I
should have known who she was!” he berated himself. “It had been so long since
I’d thought of her – any of you. I buried those memories… I’m sorry. I should
have known…”

“Why
don’t you start from the beginning,” Gretchen encouraged. “Why did Keith buy
her; did he know who she was?”

“No,
I’m fairly certain he didn’t,” Dane answered, shaking his head. He let out a
heavy sigh. “Oma was becoming increasingly ill, and anxious that I find a wife
before she died.” He was interrupted by guffawing from Stefan and Greig.
Jerking his head up to shoot a glare at the brothers, he wound up laughing with
them. God, he’d missed those guys! They succeeded in breaking him out of his funk.

“Yeah,”
he grinned, “turns out she’s a talented actress. Either that, or I’m a bigger
fool than I thought!” Dane received a few more snickers from his audience,
effectively putting him in his place. “Thanks for that,” he mumbled
sarcastically.

“Okay,”
Stefani said, impatiently. “So, we can guess where this is going, but why
didn’t Lexi tell you who she was?”

“I’m
not sure, but now I can guess it was because she thought I was the piece of
slime that purchased her. Anyway, Keith was aware of Oma’s decree and decided
to help me out. Sorry girls, but there was no way I was going to saddle myself
with any of the females I knew. He told me he found a high-class call girl
willing to sign an agreement to pose as my betrothed – for a price, of course.”

“So
you thought Lexi was a call girl?” Stefani scoffed disbelief. “She’s such an
innocent; I don’t think she’s ever even dated!”