Page 66 of River Legacy
He shook his head. “Of course, the two of you have money. I forget who I’m dealing with. So why did you buy that old pickup?”
“I’ve never touched my inheritance. Maybe I was waiting for the day I needed it for something important.”
He sat fuming, hating his life, jealous of people who had options he’d never been provided, but mostly feeling sorry for himself. He finally couldn’t help himself. “What was wrong with me?” he asked. “I could have made you a good husband if you had been just a little nice to me.”
“You weren’t in love with me. Also, you work for my father, and I wasn’t in love with you,” she said. “It would have never worked. I never planned to ever marry, if you want to know the truth. After meeting Ryder, I’ve changed my mind. But I would never have let my father force me into marriage with anyone I didn’t love, with you or anyone else.”
“Maybe if you’d given me a chance, you might have fallen in love with me,” he said, hating how pathetic he sounded.
She smiled over at him. “It wouldn’t have worked. You didn’t want me. You wanted a little of my father’s life.” She shook her head. “Trust me, it wouldn’t have made you happy. Look at my father. Does he seem happy to you?”
Claude had never thought about it. He just assumed rich people lied about money not making them happy because they felt guilty.
They sat for a moment of silence, then Victoria looked around nervously. “Claude, this is your chance to make a clean getaway. It’s a mistake waiting for my father. He isn’t going to go with you. He’s going to stop you from getting on that plane.”
He studied her for a moment, thinking that she might be right. Maybe taking her father at gunpoint wasn’t the best plan. Leaving with Victoria in the jet to Dallas should show the man how serious he was. If Wen didn’t send him proof that the million had been deposited in his account, Claude might just dump her out over the mountains. He hadn’t bought any of her reasons for why she couldn’t have married him—let alone loved him.
“Let’s go,” he said and climbed out to go around to the passenger-side door. “I’m going to untie you, but I have a gun. I will shoot you if you give me any trouble. We’re just going to board the plane. I’ll have the gun in your back the whole time. I no longer have anything to lose, so keep that in mind.”
He cut the zip ties and dragged her from the vehicle as she reached back in for her phone.
Chapter Twenty-One
Victoria knew she should stall. She had to do whatever was necessary because there was no way she was getting on that plane with Claude. Ryder would be coming for her. When she’d heard his voice, her heart had leaped. He was alive. He wouldn’t hesitate to come after her because he felt the same way she did. She knew it.
With a start, though, she feared what would happen when he got here. Maybe it would be better if she was gone—even with Claude—on the plane to Dallas. She could always call him and let him know she’d be on the next flight back. She might be saving his life if she did.
She had no idea what her father would do—if he did anything. He might not show up at all. He might call Claude’s bluff: that was how he usually worked. Then again, the way he dealt with trouble wasn’t with guns but with lawyers. He had enough money to drag things out for years in the courts. It was why he always won. But he wouldn’t win this if he did show up.
“We should get on the plane and go,” she said to Claude. “Let’s not wait for my father.”
He turned her to face him. She felt his gaze surveying her expression. “What’s going on? There’s a reason you don’t want to wait for him or your boyfriend.”
“I don’t want you to kill them,” she snapped. “There’s no reason for bloodshed. You don’t want that any more than I do.”
Claude seemed to consider that for a moment. “Give me a minute.” He pulled out his phone. After a moment, he swore. “Your father hasn’t moved any money into my account.”
Victoria wanted to scream. Did he not know her father at all? Wendell Forester didn’t pay off blackmailers or kidnappers.
As if on cue, her father drove up, parked and got out. While he must have broken speed records to get here so quickly, he moved slowly now, looking calm. Claude had driven under the speed limit the whole way as if this was exactly what he wanted—a confrontation that ended in spilled blood. He wanted this showdown.
As three security men from the airport and several cops came running toward them, Wendell waved them away as he calmly advanced on her and Claude. “Drop that gun and let go of my daughter,” he said quietly. “You’ve made your point. I’m here.”
“But you haven’t put the money into my account,” Claude said, pressing the barrel to her side.
“I haven’t had a chance since you also wanted me here,” her father said without raising his voice.“I can transfer the money once you and I get on the plane. Victoria isn’t going.”
“Like hell,” Claude said and started maneuvering her toward the jet. “The three of us are flying back to Dallas now. There is nothing you can say to change my mind. If you call those guards over, I will kill your daughter, then you. Your choice.”
“Claude,” her father said, measuring his tone, “listen to reason. Victoria doesn’t want to leave yet. Let her go. You can take the plane. The deposit will be waiting for you when you get there, and before you land I will give you the million in severance pay.”
“You’re saying you’ll tear up my contract?”
“Consider it done,” Wendell said. “You’re right. You probably deserve it after everything I’ve asked of you. Most men wouldn’t have put up with me this long. How’s that? Now, let her go, and let’s get this plane to Dallas.”
Victoria could tell Claude wanted to believe him, but he’d known the man long enough that he was skeptical. She didn’t blame him.
“He thinks he can control me by saying he’s going to throw money at me,” Claude said after apparently giving it some thought. “He thinks I’m a fool. The minute I let you go, he’ll call those guards over here and have me arrested for kidnapping you. Wouldn’t matter that he paid me to go after you and use my good judgment as to how to handle you.” He turned to his former boss. “The thing is, Wen,this time I got it all on my phone. I can prove it was your idea, not mine, and that you blackmailed me into doing it.”
