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He said unevenly, “Let’s do this then.”
Igor and Noah nodded.
“And if we don’t make it out alive—-”
The two nodded again.
In spite of everything, the prince was unable to prevent his lips from twitching. “That was a joke,” he said mildly.
His two most trusted men stared at him blankly.
But then Igor, who had been with him from the very start, said finally, “It must be the end of the world.”
The prince laughed hoarsely. “That’s what my mother says.”
He had made his first joke during his adoption hearing, he had made a joke when he had asked Fawn to be his lover, and now—-
He was hoping his joke, however fucking lame it was, would be a good omen as well.
Because he needed every bit of luck he could get.
On his way to the hospital, he made a call to his friend Silver March, relaying his favor in terse terms.
Silver called him back after five minutes, and the man said succinctly, “Slade Wyndham’s agreed to stonewall the procedure. He’ll have admin dump a ton of paperwork on them,but it can only buy you an extra thirty minutes.” Silver paused. “Needless to say, you’ll be paying for all damages incurred.”
“He can charge me any fucking amount he wants, as long as it stops Fawn from going under the knife.”
“Good luck,” Silver murmured.
“Thank you.”
Fifteen minutes passed, and every minute felt like an eternity of suffering.
When they made it to the hospital, the prince and his men took the service elevator, knowing that they would meet less resistance this way. The three of them made it past both the police officers and private security employed by Bennett’s parents without being seen, but when they finally reached the private hallway leading to the operating room, the prince knew that bloodshed was inevitable.
Grant Bennett saw him first, and the younger man stiffened, his face turning white in shock.
Seeing it, his parents and Fawn’s mother followed his gaze, and so did the two lone police officers stationed outside the doors of the operating room.
Everyone tensed.
A second later, and the prince and his men were up against the police officers in a fast draw battle—-
The prince had his gun out first, followed by his men while the middle-aged but inexperienced officers were still fumbling for their weapons.
The prince slowly moved forward.
Noah stayed back, guarding the doors to the hallway.
Igor followed behind the prince, his gun trained on the officers.
The prince turned to Fawn’s mother. “I’m sorry we have to meet under these circumstances, but I have no choice.”
“Haven’t you hurt my daughter enough?” Dana’s voice shook with suppressed emotions.
“I’m sorry,” the prince said doggedly, but even so his grip on his gun remained steady, and the cold-blooded look in his green eyes didn’t ease, his gaze remaining on the police officers as he continued to make his way to the operating room.
When he reached the doors, he forced the police officers to move away.