Royal Wedding Threat by Rachelle McCalla Page B

more than she pushed others? Maybeit was because he was an authority figure who often defied her. Or perhaps she had noticed how handsome he was, but told herself otherwise because she didn’t want to admit she might be attracted to him.
    Finally, in a small voice, she offered, “I’m sorry.”
    “It’s not your fault someone’s trying to kill you.”
    “Not that. I’m sorry for that, too, but I meant that I’m sorry to have yelledat you.” As she spoke the words, she realized just how much she meant them. Her thoughts flooded with the memory of clinging to Jason as he carried her down the rope on the island—of how terrified she’d felt because of the gunman, but how safe Jason had kept her. How could she have yelled at this man? He’d dived in front of a speeding car for her. If she’d doubted for a moment the impact of hisselflessness, she only had to recall how the car had dented his body armor.
    He’d risked so much for her.
    “Don’t cry,” Jason begged.
    Only then did Ava realize tears were flowing freely down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’m fine. Really, I’m fine.” She set her soup on the coffee table and swiped at the tears with her hands.
    Jason pulled the towel from around the heat pack and handedit to her. “You’re not fine, but that’s perfectly understandable given what you’ve been through today.”
    She clamped the cloth against her eyelids as though she could force the tears back. “I’m not the one who’s been through so much. You were hit by a car.”
    “What’s that?”
    Ava realized the towel had muffled her words. She peeked past it and met his eyes. “You were hit by a car. Youcould have been killed.”
    Jason looked back at her with apology on his face. She wasn’t sure how she expected him to respond to her tearful apology, but she certainly wasn’t expecting his resigned words, spoken in a grim voice. “I need to ask you a question.”
    “What?”
    “Did your mother have a life-insurance policy?”
    Ava swallowed. His words seemed to come from nowhere, and yet...hermother had been killed, hit by a car. Someone had tried to hit Ava with a car. The events were similar, but Ava didn’t see what insurance had to do with any of it. She answered hesitantly, though she was sure of her answer. “Yes.”
    “Who was the beneficiary?”
    “My father and me. But we haven’t gotten anything yet. The insurance company has it all tied up in court. There was a clause againstsuicide. They claim my mother stepped out in front of an oncoming car, deliberately.”
    Jason nodded solemnly. “How much was the policy worth?”
    “Half a million dollars. That may sound like a lot of money, but it’s fairly standard, hardly exorbitant. She qualified for a low rate because of her excellent health.” Ava quoted all she could remember, still not seeing clearly why Jason wantedto know. Unless... “You don’t think she was hit on purpose, do you?”

EIGHT
    J ason clenched his jaw, hating the conversation, hating the pain that stretched across Ava’s freckled face as she realized the reasoning behind his questions. He didn’t know what more to say, not without causing her further pain.
    She leaned away from him and shook her head slowly. “No. No. The only people who’d have any reason to do that—” Her voice caught, and she pressedthe towel to her eyes again.
    “How viable was your mother when your father withdrew life support?”
    Ava shook her head, red color flushing to her face as she lowered the towel and stood on shaking feet. “No. My father didn’t kill my mother.”
    “Isn’t that what you accused him of?” Jason recalled her words clearly, their meaning too stark for him to soon forget.
    “I didn’t mean itlike that.” She flung the towel down on the coffee table and walked toward the door.
    Jason didn’t know where she intended to go, but he couldn’t let her leave, not when a killer was out there somewhere, searching for her, hoping to finish the job.