Scorched

“How was the interrogation?” Rachel’s eyes widened as the words popped out of her mouth. How could she make even the slightest of jokes right now?

“Unpleasant,” both Rafe and Adriane said with a grimace.

“Well, they must have realized you weren’t the bad guys,” Lia said as she sat up straighter.

“As a head of state, I have immunity under international law. Rafe, on the other hand, had to do a bit more of a song and dance to get the local cops to believe he really was who he said he was. It didn’t help that he lost his wallet somewhere,” Adriane said.

“Yeah, that was great,” Rafe said, a slight smile coming to his lips.

“Have you heard anything yet?” Lia asked, her eyes shadowed with worry.

Rafe walked over and scooped Ari into his arms, then sat down and held her close. He was furious with her for risking her life, but proud of her, too. Both she and Lia had been so brave. How could he have doubted their ability to help? Before he was able to say something to her, the doctor entered the hospital room. All eyes focused on him as they waited with bated breath for whatever he had to say.

“Mr. Grayson has made it through surgery successfully. The bullet entered his rib cage, cracking a rib, but missing all vital organs. Unless there are major complications, he will pull through this just fine. He’s asking for his wife.”

Lia didn’t hesitate. She jumped from the chair and rushed from the room. The rest of them breathed much easier. Everyone was going to be OK, and this nightmare looked as if it would finally have a happy ending.

“I’ve been so worried about you,” Rafe said as he looked over to his sister and held out a hand, gripping hers tightly in his. Adriane gave me the scare of my life when he said you’d been kidnapped by his power-hungry brother.”

“Thanks to all of you, I’m going to be just fine, Rafe. It seems you’ve been rescuing me in one way or another my whole life.”

“That’s what big brothers do, and apparently big sisters and best friends, too. We protect the people we love.”

“Well, you have done a damn fine job of it. Thank you both,” she said as she looked from Rafe to Ari.

“We’re family. Next time, you get to rescue me,” Ari said with a chuckle.

“Sounds like a deal,” Rachel said.

“Ari and I will go check up on Shane and let you and Adriane have a few minutes together,” Rafe said, then squeezed her hand. He nodded at Adriane before standing up with Ari in his arms and moving toward the door.

“I do have a wheelchair in here,” Ari said with a laugh.

“Ah, woman, don’t you know that I look for any excuse I can find to hold you tight?” he replied, their voices fading as they moved down the hallway.

Silence had fallen again as Adriane neared Rachel’s bed. Sitting on the edge, he took her hand and brought it to his lips, tenderly kissing her palm.

“I’ve been such a fool, Rachel — such a stubborn fool,” he said, his voice so quiet, she almost couldn’t hear him.

“You saved my life,” she said, unsure what else to say.

“Actually, your sister saved you. She is one very tough woman,” he said with a chuckle. “I was the one who put you in jeopardy.”

“Please don’t think that, Adriane. You can’t be held accountable for the actions of your brother. He was a very sick man, and I know he was guilty of evil in his lifetime, but I’m sorry you lost him today.”

Adriane stared at her in shock as she squeezed his hand. But all Rachel knew was that no matter what Rafe or Lia ever did, she would love them, and to lose one of them, no matter the circumstances, would rip a piece of her soul away. Adriane had to be hurting for his loss.

“It’s strange, because there’s a part of me mourning him. I had hoped one day to reunite with him, one day to have the brother back whom I used to love so much.”

“It’s OK for you to mourn him, Adriane. He’s your family, no matter what he did,” she reassured him.

“I’m just glad you are safe now, so very glad.”

“Our babies are healthy, too,” she said, and his shoulders visibly slumped as if he’d been afraid to ask.

“I’m so grateful to hear that.” His free hand stretched down and rubbed along the top of her stomach.

She was silent as she worried about what to say. Did she tell him how much she loved him — how she was ready to take him on whatever conditions he imposed? Nearly losing her life had made her realize she didn’t want to be away from him, even if she didn’t have his heart.

Wasn’t it better for their family to be together?

“Please forgive me, Rachel, forgive me for everything I’ve put you through. Forgive me for trying to force you into a marriage for the sake of our children. That was so wrong of me,” he whispered, and her heart thundered.

Was he taking it all back right when she was ready to accept?

“I don’t want to keep your children from you, Adriane. I know how much you already love them,” she said, trying to build up the courage to proclaim her love for him.

“Yes, I love them, but I love you too, Rachel. Even before I knew you were missing, I realized what a fool I’d been in my treatment of you. I was afraid of something because I’d never experienced it before, but love isn’t a thing to be afraid of. I don’t know why I acted in such a ludicrous fashion, but I do know that if I have to live my life without you, I will only be a shell of a man.”

“Is this real?”

Suddenly she was afraid to even hope. What if she really were still back in that shed, frozen and dying, and all this was nothing more than a dream?

“I love you, Rachel, truly, wholeheartedly, with everything that I have. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, not for the sake of our children, but because I can’t live without you. I want to have these babies, and I want ten more, not because I need heirs for Corythia, but because I want to see you in each of their faces. I don’t ever want to come so close to losing you again. These have been the worst few days of my life.”

The warmth in his eyes filled her soul. He meant what he was saying. She had no doubt.

With her vulnerability at an all-time high, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms where she felt safe, where she could be loved. She didn’t know how it was all going to work, but none of that mattered. They would figure it out along the way.

“I do love you, Adriane, so much that it hurts to imagine my life without you. I don’t want us to be apart for even one more day,” she said, choking up as he gently brushed her lips with his.

“Will you marry me, Rachel, do me the honor of becoming my bride?”

She looked at him with wide eyes. “Did I hear correctly? Was that a question, not a demand?” A small smile broke over her lips to take the sting from her words.

“Yes! I am pleading with you on bended knee to accept,” he said. “See?” Still clinging to her hand, he knelt down on the cold hospital floor.

“In that case, yes, it would be my honor to accept.”

He rose back up and crawled into the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms and taking her lips in a kiss of pure love. Rachel became lost in his embrace, forgetting time or reason. And she reveled in knowing nothing could hurt her now.

Adriane’s hand shifted and he rubbed her wrist, making her cry out. So much for her belief that nothing could hurt her! When he looked down and saw the angry welts from the ties Gianni’s men had used to bind her, his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

She wouldn’t want to be his enemy — that was for sure.

“You know you can tell me anything about the last few days, talk to me to get it all out. It will kill me to know what you went through, but I am here to listen,” he said, his thumb gently rolling across her bruised and abraded flesh.

Rachel thought back to the thin ropes that had bound her, to the night the man had threatened to rape her, to the taunts they’d thrown her way. Did she want to rehash all of that? No — not yet.