Bertram's secretary came sprinting toward him, face drained of color.
"Mr. Delgado, Miss Pruitt has been kidnapped!"
In an instant, all the blood left Bertram's face.
Before I could even react, he was already tearing past me. I looked up and caught a flash of his dark eyes, wild with panic.
But his gaze barely grazed me before he bolted past, heading for the stairwell behind me.
In that split second as our paths crossed, his shoulder slammed into me and sent me crashing to the floor.
The bodyguard trailing him stepped on the back of my hand without breaking stride.
I winced against the sharp bite of pain and watched Bertram's retreating figure, stumbling in his desperation, growing smaller down the hallway. Something inside my chest seized and went still.
I'd already heard the panic in his voice over the phone. I'd known. But seeing it with my own eyes still sent a blade twisting through my heart.
After a moment, I tugged weakly at the corners of my mouth.
Of course. Bertram had always been this way.
The second anything involved Alexis, nothing else in the world existed for him.
On the hospital rooftop, a man with a savage, contorted face held Alexis hostage. A knife gleamed at her throat, the blade pressed flat against her skin.
Alexis was sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face.
As more people crowded onto the rooftop, the man retreated toward the edge, his agitation spiraling into something feral and unhinged.
His bloodshot eyes locked onto Bertram.
"Bertram Delgado! All I wanted was one heart to keep me alive. But you'd rather give this bitch heart after heart after heart than spare me a single one. Fine. Then don't blame me for taking it with my own hands!"
Bertram's burning gaze fixed on the thin line of blood trickling down Alexis's neck. His face was a mask of composure, but his hands trembled at his sides.
He drew a slow breath. "A heart from someone with cardiac disease. How long do you think that would keep you alive?"
I stood in the corner of the crowd, watching the scene unfold.
Then, in the next instant, a pair of familiar eyes found mine through the press of bodies.
Before I could process what was happening, Bertram had pulled me into his arms.
"Only a heart from someone healthy would be worth anything to you."
His voice rang out, clear and deliberate, right beside my ear. My body went rigid. I lifted my gaze to his cold, hard face, and every drop of blood in my veins turned to ice.
He knew. He knew the kidnapper wanted a heart to save his own life, and he'd shoved me forward anyway, painting a target on my back.
All of it, every last bit, just to save Alexis.
The betrayal crashed over me like a wave, so massive it nearly dragged me under.
The kidnapper's frenzy only intensified. "You think finding a compatible heart is that easy?! You're trying to trick me into swapping hostages so you can save this bitch. Dream on!"
Bertram's expression didn't waver. "Her heart won't keep you alive for long. But if you take her instead..." His gaze dropped to me for a fraction of a second. "You'd have leverage over the person I love. I can find you a compatible heart."
The kidnapper hesitated, suspicion flickering across his face as his eyes settled on me.
And Bertram, catching the shock in my eyes, looked away with something almost like guilt. His voice dropped to a murmur only the two of us could hear. "Prue, you've trained in self-defense. I know you can hold out until the police arrive."
I stared at him, eyes wide.
I'd already braced myself to be used as a shield. But I never imagined he'd say it to my face with such shameless audacity.
Before I could fire back a single word, the kidnapper barked his command. "Fine! Bring her over. We trade, one for one!"
Bertram pushed me forward. There wasn't a flicker of hesitation in those deep, dark eyes.
I took it all in, and a bitter laugh echoed somewhere inside me.
A sacrificial pawn who could be discarded at any moment in this game had no right to hope for even a scrap of genuine feeling.
Just as the exchange was about to happen, the kidnapper threw his head back and let out a jagged laugh.
"You'd throw away your own wife to save this bitch, and you call her the one you love? What a joke! Today, I'm killing HER!"
Before the last word left his mouth, he kicked Bertram aside and raised the knife high.
Laughing like a man possessed, he lunged for Alexis's chest.
"Alexis—!"
Bertram's pupils contracted to pinpoints. He shoved me away with all his strength and threw himself over Alexis.
And I lost my balance completely, pitching backward off the edge of the rooftop.
The wind screamed louder and louder in my ears. Above me, the man with terror blazing in his eyes for the woman he loved grew smaller and smaller, shrinking into nothing.
