The Millionaire's Royal Rescue

“No. There were cryptic messages and a couple of phone calls.”

“And they just left you alone after your wife died? Even though they didn’t get their information?”

“I was a man with nothing to lose and nothing to gain by then. I told the man on the phone that I’d go to the king and take my punishment before I’d give in to his blackmail.”

“Funny how you grew a conscience after my mother died.” Annabelle’s hands clenched at her sides as she tried to keep her emotions under control. “How could you do that? Do you know how much we loved and needed her?”

The older man’s eyes grew shiny with unshed tears and his face creased with worry lines. “I told you I didn’t mean for it to happen. It...it was an accident.”

“And then what? You made it look like a mugging gone wrong?”

Drago’s eyes narrowed. “What choice did I have? I couldn’t go to jail. Not with my wife so ill. And it was an accident.”

The man didn’t even hesitate as he spoke. Annabelle’s mouth gaped. The man seemed to think of himself as innocent. No wonder he’d gotten away with it for so many years. Without a guilty conscience to trip him up, it’d been easy.

“What did you do with my mother’s jewelry?” Perhaps it was stashed in the palace and could be used as evidence.

“I buried it.”

“Where?”

“I...I don’t know. It was a long time ago.”

“And you just stayed on at the palace, serving the king and acting like nothing ever happened?”

“What else could I do?” A tear splashed onto his weathered cheek. “The king needed me. I couldn’t let him down.”

But you could kill his sister without batting an eye? Annabelle wanted to tell Mr. Drago about the devastation he’d caused, but she had Grayson’s safety to think about. She couldn’t agitate this man any further. And there was nothing he could say that would bring her mother back to them.

And that was when she noticed movement behind Mr. Drago.

“What are you planning to do with us?” Grayson asked.

She figured that he must have seen her security team and the police moving into position behind the man. And Grayson was doing his best to distract Drago until they were ready to make their move.

“Do with you?” The man’s face broke into a smile. “You think I’m going to kill you too?”

What did one say to that in this very sensitive situation? Annabelle glanced at Grayson, willing him not to upset the man, who was obviously not quite all there.

Grayson shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“I’m just going to leave you stranded out here. No one ever visits this place. I’m surprised you found it.”

“How did you discover we were coming here?”

“It wasn’t hard to eavesdrop and do a bit of snooping—”

His words were cut off as the police signaled for Annabelle and Grayson to drop to the ground. Grayson leapt into action shielding Annabelle’s body with his own. Seco

nds felt like minutes as she was trapped between the concrete and Grayson’s muscled chest.

“All clear,” an officer called out.

Grayson helped her to her feet. “Are you all right?”

Annabelle nodded. With unshed tears blurring her vision, she said, “I’m so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen.”

He didn’t say anything. In fact, without another word, he turned his back to her. She blinked repeatedly as she watched him walk away. She had a sickening feeling that, although no shots had been fired, there had been a casualty today.