Rush

Chapter 3

Under Ellen’s watchful eye, Alicia knew better than to make waves, so she didn’t. The crowd hushed, but the side–eyes kept coming. Cool as a cucumber, Alicia shook hands with the family bigwigs, even managing to impress Ellen a bit.

At the get–together, Sean Slater, who sat to the left of Alicia and had been introduced as Dalton’s uncle, piped up, “Look, Mrs. Slater, no one wants to halk shop at a family meeting, but we can’t ignore the elephant in the room. We don’t know if Dalton’s going to hang on, and the Slater Group can’t just sit on the back burner. I’m thinking we need someone to step up, hold down the fort until Dalton’s back in action. If he gets better–great, he’s back in charge.”

A few heads nodded along with Sean’s words.

Ellen shot back, as cool as ice, “Dalton’s got no health issues that can’t be straightened out. Plus,

got a Mrs. now. As soon as Alicia here gives us a little Slater to carry on the name, we’re set.”

he’s

“A kid?” Sean’s expression chilled. He threw down the gauntlet, “Mrs. Slater, with Dalton like this, you think he’s up for being a dad?” He saw Ellen’s face go pale and felt a nasty grin creep up. Ellen was working overtime to keep the lid on Dalton’s condition, but Sean had some dirt to play. If Ellen wanted to keep things hush–hush, she’d have to make a deal. With a big smug, Sean thought, ‘So what if Dalton was all that before? The guy’s in a coma now. How can he compete with me now?

Ellen retorted with a frosty laugh, “Who says Dalton’s not in the game? What goes on between a husband and wife, that’s their business, not ours.”

Nice move–Ellen sidestepped that jab like a pro. Now all eyes landed on Alicia, which was a bit embarrassing, but it was her showtime. Pasting on her best bashful–bride face, Alicia looked down and murmured, “About last night–our wedding night… let’s just say Dalton wore himself out. He wanted to come today, really, but I told him to rest up. When he’s feeling up to it, you bet we’ll have you all over to catch up.”

Sean’s face turned as red as a beet and he looked like he’d swallowed a lemon. But he couldn’t rebuke Alicia as he knew he couldn’t gossip about what went down between a husband and wife on their wedding night.

The tension lifted, and Sean didn’t push it any further. Alicia let out a quiet breath of relief. But just as she was about to take off, Ellen flagged her down.

Ellen gave Alicia the once–over, kinda like she was seeing her for the first time. Alicia had shown. some serious grit today, not something Ellen had expected from a girl from the no–name Mayer family. “You’ve done good,” Ellen said, keeping her voice flat.

Alicia sat up straight, not sure what to make of it, so she kept her mouth shut.

Then Ellen dropped the bomb, “Dalton needs an heir. You in?”

Alicia’s jaw nearly hit the floor. “What?” she blurted out. Both of them knew what shape Dalton was in. Alicia was puzzled about how Ellen did even think about a kid.

1/2

Chapter 8

Ellen’s eves drilled Into Alicia. “When Dalton was a young buck, he froze three top–notch samples at our biotech place. How about it? Will you have his laby for the Slaters? Boy or girl, doesn’t matter- If you do this, and Dalton… well, if he’s not around, we’ll set you up with a fat check. You can get back to school, even hit up colleges abroad, and well back you the whole way.”

It was the kind of deal that could flip her life upside lown–in a good way. “I’m on board, Alicia said without missing a beat, but then she tacked on her own terms, “Just one thing–the Mayer and Gibson families gotta crash and burn.”

Back at the Slater residence, the clock was showing way past bedtime. After a quick freshen–up, Alicia was beat, but she had to stick it out to give Dalton his acupuncture. Once the treatment started, it had to be finished, or it could really mess things up for him.

With the last needle out, her phone buzzed. Matthew was blow.

up her phone all day–he just wouldn’t quit. Alicia hit the block button without thinking twice and turned back to Dalton. Even knocked out, he was easy on the eyes, with killer lashes that made people think he’d have a dynamite smile if he ever woke up. On a whim, Alicia reached over, gently tugging up the sides of his mouth into a smile.

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