Chapter 6 - THE MAN SHE ALMOST MARRIED
Preston had always been patient.
That was what made the truth so difficult to reconcile with Genevieve’s memories.
He remembered birthdays.
Called her after difficult board meetings.
Brought coffee when she worked late.
Sat beside her through Thomas’s funeral.
Held her while she cried.
And apparently, weeks earlier, he had paid a mechanic to kill the man whose daughter he intended to marry.
Genevieve sat in Gabriel’s kitchen at four in the morning staring at nothing.
“I slept beside him.”
Gabriel remained across the room.
“I told him things.”
No answer.
“He knew how guilty I felt because Dad and I argued the week before he died.”
Gabriel's jaw tightened.
“What did you argue about?”
“Preston.”
That hurt most.
“Dad asked me to postpone the engagement. I accused him of trying to control me.”
“You couldn't know.”
“I should have.”
“No.”
Genevieve looked up.
Gabriel’s voice was quiet.
“That's how men like Preston survive. They make other people responsible for not discovering their lies sooner.”
Something inside her loosened.
Not healed.
Just loosened.
She looked down at her father's watch.
The velvet box was still gone, lost during her escape, but she had kept the watch itself after police recovered it near the cathedral.
“I need to stop him.”
“We will.”
“No. I need to.”
Gabriel understood the distinction.
So they built a trap.
Genevieve called Preston at noon.
“I want Eleanor.”
“You want a lot of things.”
“I have the ring.”
Silence.
“I'll exchange it.”
“For my mother?”
“For Eleanor and the original paperwork from Hayes Logistics.”
Preston laughed.
“You've been spending too much time with Navarro.”
“Maybe.”
“Has he touched you?”
Genevieve's expression hardened.
“That's what you're asking?”
“You were supposed to be my wife.”
“You murdered my father.”
“You don't understand what Thomas was doing.”
“Then explain it.”
“He was destroying everything our families built.”
“Our families built nothing together.”
“They could have.”
There it was.
Entitlement disguised as destiny.
Genevieve lowered her voice.
“Tonight. Hayes Pier Nine.”
Preston agreed.
Federal agents would be nearby.
Chen had finally reached a prosecutor outside Harrison’s influence.
The evidence from the Meridian had triggered warrants.
But Eleanor remained missing.
At 9:00 p.m., Genevieve stood alone inside the warehouse at Pier Nine.
Gabriel hated the plan.
She knew because he had said so seventeen times.
He was positioned nearby.
So were Chen and federal agents.
Preston arrived alone.
Or appeared to.
He wore a dark coat.
For one horrible instant, Genevieve saw the man she almost married.
Then he smiled.
“There's my bride.”
“Don't call me that.”
His smile disappeared.
“The ring.”
“Eleanor first.”
“She isn't here.”
Genevieve’s pulse jumped.
“That wasn't the agreement.”
“You really thought you were negotiating?”
Preston stepped closer.
Genevieve backed toward the marked position.
“Why my father?”
“He found the accounts.”
“So you killed him?”
“I solved a problem.”
Her stomach turned.
“Fifty thousand dollars.”
“What?”
“That was what he was worth to you?”
Preston sighed.
“Your father made his choice.”
“And the wedding?”
“That could have been real.”
Genevieve almost laughed.
“You murdered my father and still think I could have loved you?”
“You did love me.”
Past tense.
He heard it too.
Rage flickered across his face.
“You think Navarro loves you?”
Genevieve said nothing.
“He wants the evidence.”
“So do you.”
“I want what's mine.”
“Hayes Logistics isn't yours.”
“It would have been tomorrow.”
Preston reached inside his coat.
Genevieve froze.
Gabriel's voice exploded through the warehouse.
“Hands where I can see them.”
Men appeared on the catwalk.
Federal agents moved from the opposite entrance.
Preston smiled.
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Genevieve dropped behind a crate.
Someone grabbed her.
She fought.
“Genevieve!”
Gabriel.
He pulled her behind a steel support as bullets struck metal.
Emergency lights flickered on.
Preston was gone.
Chen ran toward them.
“He had another exit.”
Then an agent shouted from outside.
They found Preston’s abandoned car.
In the trunk was Eleanor's scarf.
Blood on the fabric.
No Eleanor.
But beneath the driver's seat was a burner phone.
One recent photograph remained.
Eleanor sat tied to a chair.
Behind her was a distinctive stained-glass window.
Genevieve recognized it immediately.
“My wedding venue.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“The cathedral?”
“No.”
She enlarged the photograph.
“The Whitmores' country estate.”
Then another message arrived.
A video.
Eleanor lifted her bruised face toward the camera.
Preston stood behind her.
“If you want her alive,” he said, “bring Gabriel Navarro.”
Genevieve looked at Gabriel.
The video continued.
“And Genevieve?”
May you like
Preston smiled.
“Wear the wedding dress.”
