Angus smiled. “Whatever you say, cousin.”
Win stepped closer to the gunman, who was still writhing in pain. Angus looked over and grimaced. “He’s losing blood.”
“I got it.” Walker dropped down beside the man and got to work.
“Should have learned from last time,” Win said.
“Last time?” Angus repeated.
“It’s the same guy who kidnapped me before—I recognize the tattoo on his hand. My parents kicked his ass back then—”
“The fuck you say!” the man ground out as Walker tended his wound. “Your parents paid me off.”
“They paid the ransom?” Angus asked. She knew why he was surprised; she’d already told him she was rescued.
“You’re a liar,” Win told the man.
He grunted in pain as he tried to sit up, but Walker pushed him back down. “Your parents are the liars. They paid me to kidnap you. Paid me to do it again. Should have offered you half to hide out in some spa in Thailand. Would’ve been easier.”
“Paid you to—” What an outrageous lie. “Why would my parents pay you to kidnap me?”
“Flagging polling numbers. Same as last time. Your dad was losing. You got him the pity vote. Made his career. They didn’t tell you, did they?” He laughed, then coughed and groaned.
Win turned to Angus, who was staring back at her.
Her mother had lied about having cancer—
No—
Win put out a hand to grab on to something to steady herself, but there was nothing there.
Had her parents lied about the kidnapping, too?
No—her mother wouldn’t have—not when she’d spent weeks in a dark room—alone—
No—
Vienna had saved her. Had doted on her for months. Had kept her so close.
Had sat with her through her nightmares—
Had… caused them?
Win let out a breath and with it the last of the belief that her parents had ever loved her at all—
“Win?” Angus lunged to catch her.
And the world went dark.
This time he caught Win. Lowered her gently to the ground. Heard the approaching sirens with relief and cradled her to his heart while around him chaos reigned.
He’d almost failed to protect her—again. Had gotten the shot off that took out her would-be captor but almost been too late.
He didn’t deserve Win. Never had—
“Where’s her injury?” EMTs swarmed around him. Soon they lifted Win onto a stretcher and guided Angus into one of the ambulances with her. He answered their questions automatically, his mind running over the scene in the woods again and again and again as Douglas and the would-be kidnapper were taken away in ambulances, too.
What if the kidnapper had succeeded? What if he’d been real, rather than sent by Win’s parents? What if Angus had lost Win—lost the baby?
“Hey, you all right?” one of the EMTs asked as the edges of Angus’s vision went black.
He shook his head, fought to breathe regularly. Win—his child—gone.
“Hey, buddy, talk to me,” the EMT said. “What’s your name?”
“Angus. Angus McBride.”
“Your wife is fine. She’s breathing, heartbeat is regular. She’s got no injuries.”
“She passed out,” Angus said.
“Shock. Looks like you’re feeling a little of that, too.”
Angus wanted to deny it, but he felt like the ambulance was rolling on the crest of a wave, and the edges of his vision were blurring again.
Win. The baby—
“You okay?”
Angus wasn’t sure. This had never happened on the battlefield. He’d always been proud of the way he held up under fire. He wasn’t sure why he was struggling now—except that it had been Win who’d been in danger—
He was grateful when they reached the hospital and he could stagger out of the ambulance, breathing fresh air into his lungs. He was calming down now that the crisis was over—now that Win was safe, being cared for by professionals. He followed them in as they wheeled her gurney to a room. Once again he was impressed with how quickly a doctor came to see her.
By the time Win woke up, she’d done a thorough check and confirmed that Win was fine, although they drew blood to run some tests. Angus reached for her hand and squeezed it. “How do you feel?”
Win blinked. Took in her surroundings. “Not again,” she groaned.
Angus chuckled in relief. If she’d regained her sense of humor, she must be okay.
“I’m fine. Why do I keep fainting?”
“The doctor said you might be anemic.”
“What… happened?”
But in the gap between the two words, he could see she remembered for herself.
“Someone attacked me—because my parents paid him to.”
“Brian Wells,” Angus said. Boone had texted him the information he’d learned from Cab Johnson, the local sheriff. “Apparently he works at a subsidiary of Manners Corp at one of its foreign bases of operation. Security.” Angus wondered what else that had entailed if the man had been hired to kidnap Win—twice.
Win hugged her arms against her chest as if cold. He moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
“He worked for my mom,” she said. “She’s behind all this.”
“I guess so. I’m sorry.”
She gave a kind of desperate laugh. “I might as well not have parents at all.”
“Win.”
“I’ve been alone my whole life.”
Damn, he knew that pain. When his mother had left, it had clawed his heart right out of him.
“You’ve got me. Always will. You’ve got Avery, and Riley and Savannah… You’ve got all of us.”
She shook her head. “Do I? Because I feel like I’m alone.”
Angus ached for her. He knew what she was talking about; he’d felt something similar the weeks and months after his mom left. The gulf between human beings could stretch so wide. Sometimes, when you were hurting too badly, it seemed impossible to bridge. But it wasn’t. He’d learned that in time.
Angus folded her into his embrace and rocked gently with her, back and forth. That was a realization you couldn’t explain to anyone else. It was something each person had to learn for themselves.
He wouldn’t leave her alone, though. He’d stay right here.
It took some time, but finally Win relaxed against him. When he felt her tears hot and wet against his neck, he knew
