Chapter 6: The Groom’s Bargain
I stared at the phone.
“You paid her to stop our wedding?””
Dante watched me carefully.
Samuel lowered himself into a chair.
Nathan spoke quickly.
“Not like this.””
“Then explain it.””
“I can’t over the phone.””
I laughed once.
“You watched me stand half-dressed in front of three hundred people, Nathan. You can explain over the phone.””
“Emma, please come back.””
“No.””
“My mother is gone.””
That stopped me.
“What do you mean, gone?””
“She left the cathedral.””
“Where?””
“I don’t know.””
Dante held out his hand.
I put the call on speaker.
Nathan heard his voice.
“Where is Margaret?””
Silence.
“Mr. Moretti.””
“Answer me.””
“I don’t know.””
Dante looked at Marco.
Marco was already typing on his phone.
I returned to the only question that mattered.
“Why did you pay Veronica?””
Nathan exhaled.
“Three days ago, I found something in my mother’s study.””
“What?””
“A file on you.””
My stomach tightened.
“What kind of file?””
“Your birth certificate. Your mother’s death certificate. Copies of property records.””
Dante’s expression darkened.
Nathan continued.
“There were photographs of you going back years.””
My skin went cold.
“How many years?””
“Since college.””
I sat down.
My wedding dress rustled beneath Dante’s coat.
“Your mother was watching me before we met?””
“Yes.””
Samuel muttered, “Jesus.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“I confronted her. She said your mother had stolen from our family and that you were trying to get close to me because of it.””
“And you believed her?””
“No.””
“Then what did you do?””
“I called Veronica.””
Of course he had.
Even now, the name hurt.
“What did you ask her to do?””
“I told her I needed time. I wanted her to create a reason to postpone the wedding.””
Dante’s voice was ice.
“For fifty thousand dollars?””
Nathan snapped, “I wasn’t paying her to hurt Emma.””
“What were you paying for?””
“To make the wedding impossible.””
My eyes closed.
“You could have spoken to me.””
“I panicked.””
“There’s that word again.””
“Emma—”
“You paid another woman to sabotage our wedding instead of telling your fiancée the truth.””
“I thought I was protecting you.””
I looked toward Samuel.
Another man who had lied to protect me.
I was beginning to hate that phrase.
“Did you tell Veronica to cut my dress?””
“No.””
“Did you know she would?””
“No.””
“Did you know your mother was involved?””
A pause.
Too long.
“Nathan.””
“I suspected.””
My throat tightened.
“And you still stood at the altar?””
“I thought Veronica would object during the ceremony. Something dramatic but harmless. Then we’d postpone everything and I could figure out what my mother was hiding.””
Dante gave a humorless laugh.
“You Whitmores have an extraordinary definition of harmless.””
Nathan ignored him.
“Emma, when Veronica cut the dress, I realized something had gone wrong.””
“So you did nothing.””
“I was trying to understand—”
“You were deciding which side to choose.””
Silence.
That was the truth.
Nathan finally whispered, “Yes.””
It hurt more because he admitted it.
I looked down at my mother’s lace.
“You chose wrong.””
“Emma, don’t end this because of the worst ten minutes of my life.””
I nearly laughed.
“The worst ten minutes of your life?””
He went silent.
I stood.
“We’re done.””
“Emma.””
“The wedding is over.””
“Please.””
“I’m hanging up.””
“Wait.””
Something in his voice stopped me.
“I found something else in my mother’s study.””
Dante leaned closer.
“What?””
“A second file.””
“On whom?””
Nathan hesitated.
“Dante Moretti.””
Dante’s face changed.
Nathan continued.
“There are payments from Whitmore Holdings to a company called Belladonna Security.””
Marco looked sharply at Dante.
Dante said, “Never heard of it.””
“There’s more,” Nathan said.
“The company was incorporated twenty-seven years ago.””
Samuel stood.
“Who owns it?””
“I don’t know. The ownership is hidden behind trusts.””
Dante’s voice hardened.
“Send everything.””
“I will.””
“Now.””
The call ended.
Marco immediately began searching.
Samuel paced toward the window.
“Belladonna.””
The word sounded different now.
Not a flower.
A code.
I looked at my mother’s letter again.
The embroidery.
The wax seal.
The hidden compartment.
“What if Belladonna wasn’t just my family symbol?””
Dante looked at me.
“What do you mean?””
“What if my mother used it to mark evidence?””
Samuel turned.
“She did.””
Everyone looked at him.
He walked to the metal box and removed one of the photographs.
In the bottom corner, barely visible, was a handwritten belladonna flower.
“She marked documents she had verified.””
Marco flipped through the ledger.
Several pages carried the same symbol.
Then he stopped.
“This page.””
Dante took it.
His eyes narrowed.
“What?””
Marco pointed to a payment dated two days after my father’s death.
Belladonna Security.
$250,000.
Authorized by C. Whitmore.
“Charles?”” I asked.
Samuel shook his head.
“Maybe.””
“Maybe?””
“Charles wasn’t the only Whitmore with that initial.””
Dante looked up.
“Who else?””
Samuel’s expression turned grim.
“Conrad Whitmore.””
Nathan’s grandfather.
The man who had supposedly died eighteen years ago.
I remembered the stories.
Nathan barely spoke about him.
A ruthless businessman.
Founder of Whitmore Holdings.
Patriarch of the family.
“What does Belladonna Security have to do with him?””
Samuel reached for another page.
“Conrad used private contractors when he needed problems handled quietly.””
Dante’s eyes hardened.
“My sister was a problem.””
“So was Michael,” Samuel said.
I looked at the payment.
Two hundred fifty thousand dollars.
Two days after my father died.
A transaction.
A price.
My father’s life reduced to a line in a ledger.
My phone rang.
Nathan.
I almost ignored it.
Then I answered.
“What?””
His voice was breathless.
“I found the Belladonna file.””
“Send it.””
“I’m trying, but Emma…”
“What?””
“There’s a photograph inside.””
I heard paper moving.
Nathan stopped speaking.
“Nathan?””
“My mother is in it.””
“That isn’t surprising.””
“No.””
His voice dropped.
“She’s standing beside your mother.””
I froze.
“When?””
“Twenty-seven years ago.””
Samuel came closer.
“What are they doing?””
Nathan didn’t answer immediately.
“Nathan.””
“They’re holding babies.””
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“What?””
“Two newborns.””
Dante stared at me.
Samuel went completely pale.
I could barely speak.
“Who are the babies?””
“There are names written on the back.””
My hand shook around the phone.
“Read them.””
Nathan inhaled.
“One says Emma.””
The room seemed to tilt.
“And the other?””
Nathan didn’t answer.
“Who is the other baby?””
May you like
When he finally spoke, his voice was almost unrecognizable.
“Nathan.””
