Royal Heir (Westerly Billionaire #3)(69)
“You think I care about dying? My days are numbered anyway. What I want is for my son to have what you denied me.”
King Tadeas shook his head sadly. “You want something that cannot happen. Send out the woman. Send your son with her. They’re both innocent of this.”
“You think I’m a fool? I send her out and I get nothing I want.”
“Your son lives. You might even live. Isn’t that what matters most?”
“This morning it might have, but not now. Maybe this is a better way for it to go. Tell your son the only way I send the woman out is if he comes in.”
Phillip spoke to the hostage expert, then said to Magnus, “You can’t go in. We lose all control if you do.”
Magnus asked for a bulletproof vest and conferred with the expert. “Tell him I need to see her. Tell him I don’t believe she’s alive.”
King Tadeas said, “My son will go nowhere near the cabin unless we know she’s alive.”
Davot snarled, “No, I am not sending you out, Erwin. You will stay and fight like a man, for once in your pathetic life.”
A moment later, Rachelle yelled, “Don’t send Magnus in. He’ll kill us both.” She cried out as if someone hurt her, and Magnus fought not to charge in right then. Instead, he secured the vest and motioned to his men that he was heading toward the cabin. Nothing would be achieved by staying where he was.
His father called to him, “Magnus.”
Delinda rushed forward, whispering, “Be careful.”
Magnus said, “I will.”
Phillip stepped closer and spoke softly. “All we need is a clean kill shot, Magnus. Get us one and it’s over.”
Magnus took the phone from his father. “You want my crown? I’ll abdicate. All I want is Rachelle.”
Davot said coldly, “He’s lying, Erwin. No, it’s not worth a risk. You think either of us are getting out of here alive?”
“You still can,” Magnus said as he walked closer to the cabin. “I could have killed you the first time, and I didn’t. I don’t want blood on my hands. Give me Rachelle, and you and your son will be free to leave, as long as you don’t return to Vandorra.”
“Shut up, Erwin. It’s impossible to think when you whine like that. I don’t want the woman, Magnus. I want you. Come in and I’ll release her.”
Magnus stood at the bottom of the porch. “Show her to me now. How do I know you didn’t just kill her? I’m not taking another step forward unless I can see her.”
The door opened. Davot held Rachelle by her hair in front of the open door, still bound at her feet, hands behind her back. She met Magnus’s eyes across the short distance. He had never seen a braver woman. He couldn’t tell her what to do, but he motioned quickly with his eyes for her to drop. With that, she threw her head back then forward violently, and fell to the floor when she broke free.
Magnus rushed forward, and a shot whizzed by him, piercing the wall and taking his older cousin out. A wave of movement crested behind Magnus as he reached Rachelle and pulled her off the floor. Erwin grabbed a gun and got off a shot at Magnus before he was also taken down by a sniper.
Hugging Rachelle to his chest, Magnus sheltered her from the sight of his men, ensuring neither cousin would ever be a problem again. He looked her over quickly. Her face was bruised, and she was probably in shock, but otherwise she looked unhurt.
He dropped to his knees and unbound her legs and arms. Once she was freed, he pulled her into his arms again and held her tightly, rocking her back and forth as he blinked back tears of relief. Only now that she was safe did he allow himself to face how close he’d come to losing her.
Delinda appeared beside them, her face wet from her tears. She touched Magnus’s arm in a silent request. He stepped back.
“I love you so much, Rachelle,” Delinda said as she wrapped her arms around her granddaughter and wept. “I’m so sorry.”
Rachelle burst into tears then. “I know, Grandmother. I love you, too.”
His father ordered the men to clean up the area while Phillip guided Magnus, Delinda, and Rachelle away from the scene. SUVs pulled up to whisk them away.
Phillip stood beside Magnus. “Do you want me here or at the hospital?”
“Hospital?” Magnus asked, looking over Rachelle again, this time noticing blood on her dress and face—more blood than he remembered.
“You’ve been shot, Magnus. Your arm.” Phillip called to a man to bring a roll of bandage over.
Only when Magnus looked down and saw the blood running down from a hole in his upper arm did it begin to hurt. It also made him unsteady on his feet. He’d never been good with the sight of his own blood.
“Is he okay?” Magnus heard Rachelle ask as if from inside a tunnel. He knew he should look away from his wound, but the world around it became dimmer and dimmer until he saw nothing at all.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The scare of being taken and nearly killed, followed by the frightening sight of Magnus dropping limply to the ground, sent Rachelle into a fog. She dropped and hugged his head to her chest, begging him not to die.
Phillip rushed to assure her that Magnus was suffering from nothing more serious than a small flesh wound and a lifelong inability to deal with the sight of his own blood. She didn’t believe him, couldn’t believe him, until Magnus shook his head and came to.