Page 51 of Her Royal Cowboy Billionaire
Reina sat on one of the leather Queen Anne chairs in front of Alex’s desk. “Nor can I. I respect her more for it. I am glad she puts her child’s needs first. She is an excellent mother.”
Alex moved to the front of his desk and leaned against it, facing his mother. “She is the best mother. I cannot wait to see her belly swollen and rounded with my baby.”
“I am not sure she will thank you for telling her that. Best to just tell her she’s beautiful.”
He pushed away from the desk and paced. “But that’s the point. She is beautiful, and being pregnant with my baby is the only thing that could make her even more beautiful to me.”
“Trust me on this, my son. You will thank me later.”
Alex put his hands in his pockets. “Women. I will never understand them. But I know, the sooner I get to Michele, the happier I will be. I have got to read through these last few documents and then I will be done.”
“I will let you go.” Reina stood.
Alex moved to her. “I love you, Mother.”
She cupped his cheek. “And I love you, Alex.”
Reina left his office.
Alex went back to reading the document. When he got to the bottom, he signed it. On to the next.Three days. Three days maximum and I will be satisfied I have done all I can do.
* * *
Michele was muckingout the stalls in the barn amidst the warm August air. She’d taken to wearing her gun belt since arriving back home from Batrovia. Not that she thought Nicolai would escape, but she was taking no chances.
“I’m not surprised to find you up to your knees in manure,” slurred Ed.
She sighed. “What do you want, Ed? You’re not supposed to be here. I’m going to send you to jail this time.” She kept her left side toward him. “I’m busy. Why don’t you just go away?”
“I want some more of what’s mine. You’re mine, Michele. Always were and always will be. No piece of paper can change that.”
“We’re divorced, Ed. We’ve been divorced for nearly six years. Go. Away.” She put the rake she’d been using to spread the fresh straw into her left hand and took her Colt out of its holster with her right.
He stepped forward, and then he squealed.
Michele turned, and her heart skipped a beat. Alex had Ed in a headlock.
“Hello, my love. I had not thought to surprise you this way, but Ed here will be really glad I have him and he was not shot. Is that a Colt I see in your hand?”
Her heart pounded in her chest, and her pulse raced.Alex.“I wasn’t about to let him manhandle me again.”
Ed’s eyes widened. “You were gonna shoot me?”
“Just a minor injury, so you’d leave me alone. You know, in the leg or the foot. I would not kill you as long as you stopped then. But if you kept coming, I would have had to kill you and that really leaves an unpleasant taste in my mouth.” She aimed her gun and cocked it. “All I have to do is pull the trigger and I won’t have you for a problem any longer.”
Ed pulled at Alex’s arm. “You’d go to prison.”
“No, I wouldn’t. It would be self-defense. All I’d have to do is say I thought my life was in danger when I came across a burglar in the barn. I didn’t realize it was my ex-husband until I turned on the stable lights and then it was too late.”
Ed rolled his eyes back and moved his head as much as he could toward Alex. “He’d know. He’s some sort of prince or something. He’d have to tell them.”
“Actually.” Alex tightened his hold on Ed’s neck. “Now that my father is gone, I am the king. I would tell them I came to find you accosting my fiancée, and she had to shoot you in self-defense. That is the truth. I have saved your life. You should thank me.”
She looked at him and smiled, then she uncocked the pistol and holstered it. “I’m going to have him let you go, Ed. But this is the last time. You come around here again and I will shoot you on sight. Do you understand?”
Ed tried to nod but couldn’t with Alex’s arm under his chin. “Yes, yes, I understand. I won’t be back. I promise. I’ll…I’ll leave the state. I promise I won’t be back.”
She believed him and felt relief she could stop wearing her gun to do chores. “I guess you can let him go then, Alex.”
