I dropped my mouth to her ear. “I promise you I’m okay. I wouldn’t lie to you, especially not about this. Do you trust me?”
She leaned back and looked up into my eyes, the warm brown of hers brittle with fear. “You know I do. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
“Then trust me when I tell you I’m okay.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Royal straighten and head for the door. West was fast. Taking advantage of being alone, I cupped Hope’s face in my hands and kissed her, trying to tell her everything I didn’t have the words for with the press of my mouth to hers.
When I pulled back, she said, “You promise you’re okay?”
“I promise. I’m banged up and I’ll probably be bruised all to hell tomorrow, but I didn’t break anything, and the cut on my head feels like the worst of it.”
Hope drew in a deep breath, straightening, pushing away her fear and panic. My wife was so strong. Raising a hand, she probed around the edges of the cut on my head. “I think it’s done bleeding. You need a hot shower. Maybe a bath.”
“I’ll get a shower after we talk to West.”
Royal pushed open the door and West followed him in. West’s reaction to the sight of me was better than Royal and Hope’s, probably because I’d cleaned up a little, but it wasn’t great.
He shook his head. “I just saw you a few hours ago. What the fuck happened?”
I gave him a quick rundown of the events since the truck had pulled up behind me.
“Did you get the plate? See the driver?” West asked.
“The light was already going. I can tell you they weren’t short or fat, but other than that, I couldn’t see much. The truck was dark. I’d say navy or black, but I can’t be sure.”
“Not much to go on,” West said. “Did it hit you, or did you get out of the way fast enough?”
“It didn’t miss me by much, but it missed me. You’ll probably get DNA samples from half the trees and rocks on the side of the mountain, but I didn’t leave any evidence on the truck.”
West turned to Royal. “Where were you when this happened?”
All three of us looked at West in surprise. He thought Royal could have done this? West stared back at us as if his reasoning were obvious. “If something happens to Griffen, Royal’s next in line since your father disinherited Ford. That’s a helluva motive.”
The confusion washed from Royal’s face, replaced with disgust. “You know me better than that, West.”
“He would’ve had to be fast,” I said, rolling the idea through my mind. I didn’t like the idea that Royal might have tried to kill me, but someone had. “I rolled halfway down the mountain, and I think I took a direct path from where I landed straight back to the house. He wouldn’t have had much time to ditch the truck and make his own way back, but he could have done it.”
Royal stared at me, fists clenched at his side. I wanted to apologize, but the truth was I didn’t know Royal anymore. I wanted to believe my brother wouldn’t try to kill me, but it wouldn’t be the first time one of my siblings betrayed me. I’d be an idiot to assume everyone around me was on my side. Especially considering I knew at least some of them would like nothing more than to see me gone.
“That’s a helluva motive,” West repeated.
Hope looked to me and then said, “Except Royal isn’t next in line.” When I didn’t signal her to stop, she gave Royal a sympathetic look before explaining, “Prentice’s will wasn’t straightforward. He removed Ford from the line of succession. But unless Griffen and I have a—unless there’s a—if anything happens to Griffen before Griffen has an heir, Bryce inherits everything. Royal only comes in to play after there’s a child. Not before.”
“Bryce?” West asked, incredulous. “Your cousin Bryce? That fuckwit? Last time he was here, I had to give him a DUI. Does he know about the will?”
“He hasn’t had any communication from Harvey,” I said, “but that’s not a guarantee he’s in the dark.”
Royal shoved his hands in his pockets, shaking his head in disbelief. “God knows I don’t want it. Seriously, I don’t. But Bryce? I guess I’m headed out to buy you two a crib. I was going to give you shit about getting married so fast, but if that’s the way the will rolled out, you better get working on my niece or nephew.”
At the sight of Hope’s stiff face, I said, “Shut it. We’re not having a baby just to protect the Sawyer line of succession. That’s fucked and you know it. Hope is not an incubator and I’m not some stud to carry on the Sawyer genes. We don’t have to worry about it. Nothing is going to happen to me.”