Chapter 7 - THE SECOND WEDDING
Genevieve put the wedding dress back on.
Not because Preston ordered her to.
Because she wanted him to see exactly what he had destroyed.
The mud had dried into brown stains along the skirt. Lace was torn at one shoulder. The veil was gone.
She looked nothing like the bride who had stood outside the groom’s room.
That woman had trusted Preston.
This one knew him.
Gabriel waited outside the bedroom.
When Genevieve emerged, his expression became unreadable.
“Say it.”
“This is a terrible plan.”
“You've said that.”
“I've developed stronger feelings.”
Despite herself, she smiled.
It disappeared quickly.
“Gabriel.”
“Yes?”
“If something happens—”
“No.”
“You don't know what I'm going to say.”
“I do.”
She stepped closer.
“Eleanor risked her life.”
“So are you.”
“So are you.”
Gabriel looked at her for several seconds.
Then he reached into his pocket.
Thomas Hayes's watch.
Genevieve stared.
“You left it downstairs.”
He fastened it carefully around her wrist.
“Bring it home.”
Her eyes burned.
Gabriel's fingers lingered for one second against her pulse.
Then he let go.
They arrived at the Whitmore estate shortly before midnight.
Preston's men searched Gabriel.
Genevieve carried the ring.
No visible weapons.
Inside the ballroom, candles burned beneath enormous chandeliers.
It looked almost like a wedding reception.
That was deliberate.
Preston stood at the far end.
Harrison was beside him.
And Eleanor sat in a chair between them.
Alive.
Genevieve exhaled.
Preston smiled.
“You came.”
“You have your audience.”
His smile tightened.
Gabriel walked beside her.
Harrison looked twenty years older than he had two days earlier.
“This has gone too far.”
Preston turned on him.
“You don't get to become moral now.”
Harrison flinched.
Genevieve saw it.
A fracture.
“You covered up my father's murder,” she said.
Harrison looked at her.
“Yes.”
Preston's head snapped toward him.
“Dad.”
“I won't die for you.”
“You pathetic—”
“You killed Thomas without my permission.”
Genevieve felt sick hearing murder discussed like a business disagreement.
Harrison continued.
“I told you to contain him legally.”
“He had everything!”
“He had suspicions.”
“He had Maria's records.”
Gabriel's voice cut through the room.
“So you killed Thomas for evidence your father had already spent twenty-two years hiding.”
Preston glared at him.
“My ring.”
Genevieve removed it.
She held it up.
“You mean Maria Navarro's ring?”
For the first time, Preston looked uncertain.
Gabriel watched him.
“You never knew what was inside.”
Preston's expression confirmed it.
Genevieve almost smiled.
“You've been chasing an empty ring.”
She tossed it.
Preston caught it.
Then stared at her.
“Empty?”
“The evidence is already with federal prosecutors.”
His face changed.
Eleanor closed her eyes in relief.
Harrison whispered, “God.”
Preston drew a gun.
Gabriel moved instantly in front of Genevieve.
“Don't.”
Preston laughed.
“You'd die for her?”
Gabriel said nothing.
He didn't need to.
Genevieve looked at the man standing between her and the weapon.
And suddenly understood something that terrified her more than the gun.
She loved him.
Maybe not safely.
Maybe not sensibly.
But undeniably.
Preston saw it too.
His face twisted.
“You knew him for three days.”
Genevieve stepped beside Gabriel.
“No. I knew you for three years.”
She looked directly at Preston.
“And somehow he earned more trust in three days than you deserved in all of them.”
Preston aimed.
A shot exploded.
Eleanor screamed.
Gabriel dragged Genevieve down.
Another gunshot.
Then silence.
Preston collapsed.
Harrison stood behind him holding a small revolver.
His hands shook violently.
He had shot his own son in the shoulder.
Federal agents crashed through the doors seconds later.
Preston was arrested.
Harrison surrendered.
Eleanor was freed.
Genevieve stood amid broken glass and overturned chairs, breathing hard.
Gabriel touched her face.
“You hurt?”
“No.”
His hand remained there.
Neither moved.
Then Declan entered.
His expression destroyed the moment.
“Gabriel.”
“What?”
“We have a problem.”
He handed him a phone.
Onscreen was live security footage from Navarro House.
Flames poured from the second floor.
Gabriel stared.
Then Declan said:
“They didn't come for you.”
He enlarged an image from the driveway.
A man was being forced into a vehicle.
Gabriel went pale.
Genevieve had never seen him look afraid.
“Who is that?”
May you like
Gabriel whispered:
“My father.”
