The Scion: A Billionaire Romance (The Holbrook Cousins Saga Book 3)

by Alina Jacobs

  Wes walked around the back of the house and, for a moment, thought he saw Liz standing in the doorway. He almost called to her. Then he heard a squawking sound on the path behind him. He whirled around. "Robert?" Wes looked at the man. "What are you doing here?"

  "What are you doing here?" Robert retorted. The man seemed nervous, and he was pushing something on a cart.

  Wes started to walk over to his COO. "What's that?" he asked, motioning to the cart.

  "Uh, nothing," Robert said. "Rhonda wanted me to deliver the cake for the baby shower."

  "Why are you delivering a cake?" Wes asked, suspicious. "You don't bake."

  He could tell Robert was sweating. The man seemed jumpy, and alarm bells were going off in Wes's head.

  Robert took off and started running, pushing the cart with the cake, and Wes took off after him.

  "Don't you dare," Rhonda said, stepping into the path.

  "I know you're up to something," Wes said loudly. "I'm calling the police."

  "Then they'll figure out that you're here," Rhonda said. "You'll be arrested too."

  "Then so be it," Wes said, dialing 911.

  As the phone rang, out of the corner of his eye, he saw motion, and he instinctively jerked to the side. There was a bang from the gun.

  "Fuck!" Wes yelled, dropping the phone. He felt a burning sensation in his arm, and he grabbed the wound. The bullet had cut him, but fortunately, it didn't seem deep. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled at Robert. "You shot me."

  "And you missed," Rhonda said. "Kill him."

  Robert pointed the gun at Wes.

  "What is your emergency?" Wes heard coming from his phone. He and Robert both looked at the phone on the ground. Before Robert could grab it, Kal bounded over and lunged at Robert, latching his teeth around the man's neck.

  The dog and the man tumbled to the ground, and Wes launched himself at Robert, tackling him and grabbing the gun. He threw the weapon into the bushes. Their grappling had knocked over the cart with the cake, and it lay in pieces on the ground.

  "You destroyed it!" Rhonda screeched and plunged her hands into the ruined cake. She pulled out a package with wires all wrapped in a plastic bag. Then she kicked off her shoes and started running back toward the door to the estate.

  "Kill him!" she screamed over her shoulder. Robert pulled out a knife, slashing at Wes. Robert was bleeding pretty badly, and Kal lunged at him again. Wes grabbed the knife from Robert and ran after Rhonda.

  He could hear sirens in the distance. He was closing in on Rhonda. They were almost to the door. He tackled her, and the bomb bounced. He heard something crack and smelled an acrid burning scent.

  "Shit," Rhonda said. They both dove over a low wall as the bomb went off.

  In the seconds after the explosion, Wes lay in the dirt, discombobulated. Blinking and trying to recover his bearings, he smelled bitter smoke and felt the heat of flames. Rhonda had landed on top of him but absorbed most of the bomb blast. Wes pushed her lifeless body off and looked up. The estate was an inferno. Flames roared up from the large hole in the side of the historic building.

  As he ran around to the other side of the building, he saw people sticking their heads out of the windows, gasping for air.

  Carter and Mark and Grant had climbed out of the windows and were scaling down the walls. Wes looked around wildly then ran to the garden and grabbed a ladder that was propped against a tree.

  "Go, go!" he told himself.

  "Put it here!" Grant yelled. The pain in Wes's arm was forgotten as he propped the ladder up against the building. Grant climbed down to hold it steady. Carter stood balanced on a decorative stone ledge and helped people climb down the ladder.

  Wes helped people down the ladder. Eric came up beside him.

  "You were able to escape another way?" Wes asked as a police officer ran up and squeezed beside Wes to assist people.

  "The main stairs were smoky," Eric said, his eyes watering. "I could barely see. I was trying to find Liz. Did you see her?"

  "She went down to help Rhonda with the cake," Kate said, coughing as she ran up to them, her feet bare.

  "The bomb. She was there," Wes said and sprinted around to the other side of the house. She couldn't be dead.

  Above the roar of the flames, he heard Kal barking and howling as he danced just out of reach of the flames. Liz must still be inside.

  Steeling himself, Wes ran inside the burning building. Wes knew he only had a few seconds, and he tried to hold his breath to avoid inhaling the toxic smoke.

  He pushed his way through the debris. Just inside the foyer, trapped under fallen beams, he saw Liz slumped on the floor. He gave her the air in his lungs.

  Not stopping to see if she was breathing, Wes picked her up, mashing her face against his chest to try to keep her from breathing in the toxic smoke. As he pressed through the fire, he accidentally took a breath. It was scorching.

  Panting, he carried Liz through the inferno and as close as he could to the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles.

  "Wes," she said as he set her down on the lawn.

  "Need… medical…" he tried to gasp out, sinking to his knees.

  "Wes!" Liz screamed as he collapsed on the lawn from smoke inhalation.

  71

  Liz

  Liz couldn't remember the explosion. One moment she was waiting inside for Rhonda to return, then the next she had been thrown backward. Then came the fire. She hadn't realized it at first. She was too dazed, but she felt the heat and saw the flames creep closer to her.

  Liz knew she needed to escape, but she couldn't even figure out which way was up. Liz had a strange feeling that she was going to die, but she wasn't scared.

  As she felt herself float away, she saw a figure in black.

  The grim reaper, she thought. But it was Wes. He kissed her and blew air into her lungs, and she felt slightly better. By the time she figured out that he had saved her, they were safely outside.

  "You rescued me, again," she said, turning to him. He looked sick and scared. He gasped silently and clawed at her, then collapsed on the lawn.

  "Wes! Help! Somebody, help!" she screamed. She shook him, but he didn't move. "He's dead. Oh God, he's dead!" The flashing lights of the fire trucks were giving her a headache. The whole house was ablaze, and she couldn't think.

  "Find a medic," she told herself. "Help!" she screamed, running toward the fire trucks.

  She passed by Brandy, who was standing out in the middle of the lawn. Her parents were next to her, gazing in shock at the burning house. Brandy snapped her attention to Liz.

  "You ruined my party!" she screeched. "You did this! You let this happen!"

  "Shut up!" Liz yelled at her and slapped her in the face.

  Brandy screamed at her, but Liz was already gone.

  She grabbed one of the firemen wrapped in heavy clothing. "Please," she said, trying to keep it together long enough to give the information. "I think he's dead."

  The fireman grabbed a bag out of the truck along with a canister of oxygen and started yelling into his radio as he ran after Liz.

  Wes was still lying where she'd left him. Kal was whimpering next to his body. The fireman dropped the bag and started strapping the oxygen mask on Wes. Liz couldn't help it. She started sobbing.

  "Liz!" Grant called, running over to her. "I'm so glad you're alive. What the… Is that Wes?"

  Liz could barely nod. A medical team hurried over a few moments later and took over from the fireman, loading Wes onto a stretcher. Another medic put an oxygen mask on Liz and Grant and forced them both into a nearby ambulance.

  "We're not supposed to have all of you in the ambulance, but we need to go to the hospital. You all breathed in smoke," the EMT said as she checked Wes's vitals and monitored Liz's and Grant's breathing. "Fire smoke is toxic and very deadly. You think you're fine one moment, then boom, you're dead."

  Grant was surprisingly calm Liz thought as she took deep cleansing breaths. It
had to be the military training.

  Liz spent the next few hours in the hospital, watching as scores of other people were brought in for smoke inhalation and minor burns.

  "Is everyone okay?" she asked Kate when Kate hurried to Liz's bed.

  "You're the worst case," she said.

  "What about Wes?"

  "He's in bad shape too," Kate admitted. "He breathed in a lot of smoke, but I'm sure he'll wake up. Don't worry about him. He's tough."

  Liz was admitted to the hospital and moved to a private room. She lay awake as the nurses periodically came in to monitor her.

  She finally dozed off but stirred when she heard her parents whispering in the corner.

  "I just can't believe…"

  "So horrible…"

  "…dead…"

  "Is he dead?" Liz croaked out.

  "Who?" her mother asked, rushing to Liz's bed.

  "Wes. Is he dead?" Liz started to cry.

  "No, sweetie," her mother said. "We were just talking about Robert and Rhonda. The police found their bodies. Kate said Robert looked like he'd been mauled by a dog."

  "Kal!" Liz said, trying to sit up. "Wes's dog. You have to find his dog."

  "Calm down, Liz," her father said, pushing her back against the pillows. "It's dark, and the whole place is condemned."

  "You have to," she pleaded. "He'll want to see his dog when he wakes up."

  Her father wiped away her tears.

  "I'll inform Kate," her mother said.

  Liz felt slightly better in the morning. She ate a light breakfast, then the hospital released her.

  Ginny hugged her when she saw her in the hallway.

  "How's Wes?" Liz asked, hugging her sister-in-law.

  "He's… not great."

  "Is he awake?" she asked.

  "No," Ginny said, her face sympathetic.

  "I need to see him."

  Her parents exchanged a look with Ginny, but Ginny took Liz by the hand and led her to another wing.

  The Holbrooks were waiting in the sitting room that had a glass wall looking into Wes's hospital room.

  "Only one person is allowed in at a time," Allie said. "His sister is in there now."

  "Liz," Grant said as she started to cry. "He inhaled a lot of smoke. It's extremely toxic. You're lucky you didn't die."

  "All of you are lucky," Allie said. "You all breathed in a lot of smoke, helping people escape."

  Dana came out of the room and hugged Liz. The nurse waved her inside.

  "You can see him now, but I only want you in there for a minute," the nurse said, handing her a face mask.

  Liz crept into the room. Wes was lying still on the bed. There was no pillow; he was flat on his back. Most of his face was obscured by a ventilator, and the room reeked of smoke. She stroked his dark hair, leaving her finger tips coated in soot.

  "It's okay, Wes," she said. "I'm going to find your dog, then I'll be back."

  When she stepped out of the room, the doctor came in to speak to them.

  "I need to update you on your brother's condition," she said to Grant. The doctor looked at Liz. "This is for family members only," she said.

  "Liz is his fiancée," Grant lied then doubled over, coughing.

  The doctor looked annoyed. "You need to go home and rest," she admonished. Grant nodded.

  "As you know, Wes inhaled a deadly amount of smoke. It's incredibly poisonous and can cause permanent brain damage. We have him intubated, and hopefully, that will mitigate some of the worst of the effects. It's a lot of stress on the nervous system, but he's stable for now. Someone who has not been admitted for smoke inhalation can stay with Wes. The rest of you need to go home and rest."

  "I'll stay," Dana said. "The rest of you go home, at least for a few hours. You all smell like a campfire."

  After hugging everyone goodbye, Liz left with Ginny and Eric.

  "We have to go to the Holbrook estate," she said.

  "Liz…"

  "I need to find Kal."

  "Who's that?" Eric asked.

  "Wes's dog," Ginny said. Eric was driving, and she was in the back seat with Liz.

  "I'll go look for him later," Eric said.

  "I need to go now!" Liz cried.

  "We don't even know if they'll let us inside," Eric sighed.

  "We can try."

  "Fine," Eric said.

  They drove up the long drive. In the daylight, the damage to the house was stark.

  "Oh dear," Ginny said.

  The middle of the historic house had caved in and was a smoking black crater.

  Liz opened the car door and stood up; the air was smoky, and it irritated her lungs.

  "You can't be here," the fire marshal said, hurrying over.

  "I need to find my boyfriend's dog," Liz said, her voice cracking. The fire marshal grumbled.

  "Please!" Liz said. "He's big and fluffy and—"

  "You have five minutes," the fire Marshall told her.

  The three of them wandered around, calling for Kal. Liz tried to whistle, but her mouth was dry.

  "Give me your phone," she said to Eric. She pulled up a video of an interview Wes had given, made sure the phone was connected to the car's Bluetooth, put the speakers as loud as they could go, and hit play. Wes's voice blared out over the grounds, and a few moments later, Liz was rewarded with a familiar bark.

  "Kal!" she said. The dog limped over to her.

  "We should take him to the vet," Ginny said. "Kate took Gus and Margot. I'll call over so they're expecting us."

  "Wes will be glad to see you when he wakes up," Liz said to the dog, hugging him to her chest.

  "If he wakes up," Eric muttered.

  72

  Wes

  The first thing Wes was aware of as he awoke was something in his throat. He tried to claw at it; it was suffocating him. There was yelling then a pinch in his arm, and he drifted back to sleep.

  He tried to fight it—he needed to tell them about Rhonda. He needed to tell them about the bomb, and he needed to know that Liz was okay.

  The next time he woke up, he felt slightly more alert. The thing in his throat was gone, and he could breathe.

  "Hi, Wes!" Liz said. She was there, and she was alive. He tried to speak but couldn't. "The nurse said you're going to have some trouble speaking for a week or so, but you'll be back to normal soon." She stroked his head, and her hand was a soothing balm on his face.

  "Are you okay?" he finally asked, his voice barely coming out in a whisper.

  Liz smiled at him, and it was radiant. "Don't worry about me. We were all so concerned about you."

  "Hey, bro," Grant said. Wes tried to turn his head to look at his brother, but his neck was stiff and sore.

  "I found Kal," Liz said. She showed him a video clip of Kal playing with Gus and Margot.

  As she chattered on about the dogs and Grant and how they were all living in Nancy's house and the condition of the estate, tears started leaking out of his eyes. This was his fault. All of it. He never should have gone along with Robert's plan. Liz and his entire family could have been dead right now.

  "Oh, don't cry," Liz said. "Everything's okay."

  "I'm sorry," he whispered.

  "I know," she said. Wes blinked, and Liz rearranged the oxygen tube that ran over his ears and under his nose.

  "Don't worry about anything. Just concentrate on getting better," she said.

  Grant reached over and tousled his hair. "Ugh, you stink. They didn't do a good job of bathing you. I can still smell the smoke."

  "Aren't you supposed to hate me?" Wes asked softly.

  "You're the only brother I have," Grant told him.

  Over the next few days, Wes grew stronger. Liz was in the hospital every day, and his cousins and siblings rotated in and out.

  Once Wes was released, his health improved even more.

  "Are you sure you can make it up the stairs?" Liz asked him.

  The Holbrooks were all crowded at Jack and Nancy's house. We
s had spent the first few days out of the hospital in a bed Jack had set up in one of the sitting rooms. Now he was moving upstairs.

  "This has been quite a lot of excitement," Nancy said. "Liz has been such a dear, helping take care of you."

  Even though Wes had only been out for a few days, he still felt weak.

  "Yes, she has," Wes said. "I don't deserve it."

  "Look," Liz said. "You're just tired. Lay down." She arranged the pillows on the bed and helped him lie back. Liz was an organized and efficient caregiver. She made him do physical therapy and forced him to see a psychiatrist.

  Wes grew stronger during the day, but at night he lay awake. When he closed his eyes, he saw Liz helpless against the flames, his family members and friends pulled out of the burning building. He saw Roger's and Rhonda's bleeding corpses.

  The Holbrooks were being nicer to him, and even Eric came around to offer a begrudging truce.

  "I'm not saying I forgive you for what you did to my sister," Eric said, "but, well, you did save us. If the bomb had gone off upstairs, my entire family would be dead." He motioned to Liz. "And you saved her from the fire."

  "Don't forgive me," Wes said. "It was all my fault."

  "If blame is going around," Mark said, coming into the dining room, where Wes and Eric were talking, "then a lot of it is on me. Rhonda was my girlfriend. I let her into our lives. I can't sleep; I feel sick about the whole thing."

  "You didn't know," Grant said. He had come in with Mark and was carrying a large folder.

  "Listen to this," Grant said as he spread out the contents of the folder on the table. "Rhonda had this crazy scheme. She was going to kill us all, Dana included, and you were going to inherit the money. Then she was going to force you to marry her. She had Liz wait downstairs so she would be away from the bomb blast. Robert was supposed to keep Liz prisoner to force you to go through with the marriage."

  "That's insane! How did you find out?" Liz asked.

  "Did Rhonda write that down?" Wes asked. "Seems out of character for her. She's usually smarter than that."