Maiden and the Lion (Lions of Manhattan 2)

To her astonishment Alex coughed. Water spewed from his mouth.

Bea quickly helped him lean onto his side so he could clear all the river water from his lungs.

“Mr Larousse, are you okay?”

That was a dumb question. Of course he wasn’t okay. The man hadn’t even been breathing a few seconds ago.

Alex coughed and coughed, sounding as if he were trying to expel his lungs from out of his throat. He gasped and slumped against the muddy, gravely bank. His eyes opened to the sky.

“Mr Larousse?”

His gaze cut to her, bearing recognition. “Beatrice?”

She hadn’t expected him to remember her name, considering the way he acted in the office. He always called her ‘Miss’, as if he didn’t want

to bother learning her full name.

“I’ll call for help. Just hang in there, Mr Larousse.”

Unexpectedly he grabbed her arm. “No.”

“What do you mean, no? You’ve been shot.”

“I said no!”

Jesus. The man was bossy at work, and now he was still annoyingly bossy as she was trying to save his ass. “But you’re hurt.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine. You’re bleeding.”

Alex closed his eyes tiredly.

“Mr Larousse?”

His eyes snapped open. “Don’t call the police.”

“Why?” Had he done something illegal that he didn’t want the police involved in?

“Just…” Alex inhaled a deep breath. “Don’t call anyone. Just…drive me home.”

But he was bleeding all over the place. He could die from losing too much blood.

“But, Mr Larousse…”

“If you want to keep your job, Bea, do as I say.”

Ugh. He had been like this ever since she had started working for him directly. Bea hadn’t been able to believe her luck when she’d got the inter-department transfer job. She had been promoted from a clerk in the mail room to Alex’s personal receptionist. She manned Alex’s office and his calls, working closely with Sarah Krueger, the Larousse brothers’ executive secretary.

Her supervisor, Jada—one of the few genuinely nice human beings in the firm—thought Bea deserved room to grow. So when Jada had heard Alex’s receptionist had suddenly quit, Jada had championed Bea with high recommendations to Ms Krueger. To Bea’s surprise, Ms Krueger had picked her among several candidates, many of whom had been prettier and more qualified than Bea. Ms Krueger had said she liked her style. Bea still didn’t quite understand what Ms Krueger had meant. She didn’t dress flashy or put too much makeup on like the other girls in the office. Nor could she afford to dress in expensive clothes. Not as she’d supported her alcoholic father since she had been sixteen.

Bea had had a crush on Alex since she’d first seen him in the elevator of the firm’s building. She’d had an interview for the mail clerk job and had been nervous. At that time, she hadn’t known who Alex really was. He had been a handsome stranger who had been kind enough to direct her to the human resource’s office and had wished her good luck. Later, Bea had found out the man was one of the firm’s owners. Whoa. Working for Alex had been a dream come true. Even though as her direct boss, Alex had turned out to be an arrogant and snappish jerk.

What’s up with that?

“Mr Larousse.” Bea prodded him gently. “I don’t know where your home is.”

He scrambled up to sit. Bea helped him stand. He staggered.