Chapter 8 - THE BRIDE WHO FIRED FIRST
Savannah Calloway fired before Declan reached the church.
The bullet struck Dr. Kerr in the shoulder.
Chaos followed.
Patrick’s men scattered.
Savannah threw herself sideways, chair and all, as Vincent Voss collapsed behind a pew.
Gavin’s tactical team entered through three doors.
Declan went through the front.
Later, he told me the next ninety seconds felt slower than his entire life.
Patrick ran toward the sacristy.
Kerr screamed.
Savannah cut herself loose on broken wood.
Vincent remained on the floor.
Declan reached his father first.
“Dad.”
Vincent stared at him.
No recognition.
Declan’s face broke.
Then Vincent whispered:
“Eleanor?”
Declan closed his eyes.
“No.”
His father touched his face.
“Declan?”
Recognition.
Eight years.
One word.
Declan nearly collapsed.
But Patrick was escaping.
Savannah shouted.
“Back corridor!”
Gavin chased him.
Gunfire echoed.
Patrick vanished through a tunnel connecting the church to an old rectory.
By the time police and federal agents arrived, he was gone.
Again.
Savannah came to the safe estate under heavy guard.
I expected tension when we met.
Instead, she stood across from me wearing borrowed sweatpants and dried blood on one sleeve.
“You’re prettier than your medical file.”
I stared.
“That is possibly the worst apology I’ve ever heard.”
She laughed once.
Then winced.
“I deserved that.”
“Yes.”
She looked at my stomach.
“Is the baby okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Silence.
Then Savannah said, “I’m sorry.”
“For calling me?”
“For helping scare you.”
“Why did you?”
“Because I thought Declan would eventually choose you over the alliance.”
“He did.”
“I know.”
Her expression became sad.
“My father told me if the alliance failed, Eli would die.”
“Your brother?”
“Yes.”
“So you tried to find leverage.”
“Yes.”
I understood too much.
Fear makes people cruel in ways they later explain as survival.
“Where is Eli?”
Savannah’s face fell.
“I don’t know.”
Declan entered.
“Your brother is alive.”
She spun toward him.
“What?”
“We found him in a Calloway property outside Evanston.”
Her knees nearly gave out.
Declan caught her elbow.
“Gavin is bringing him.”
Savannah began crying.
Not delicately.
Not elegantly.
She covered her face.
For the first time, she stopped looking like a crime-family princess and looked twenty-eight.
Terrified.
Exhausted.
Human.
Hours later, Eli arrived.
Savannah held him for almost five minutes without letting go.
I looked away.
Then Declan approached me.
“My father is stable.”
“Does he remember?”
“Pieces.”
“Patrick?”
“Gone.”
“What happens now?”
“Now I end it.”
I hated the coldness in his voice.
“Meaning?”
He knew what I was asking.
“I find Patrick.”
“And?”
Declan remained silent.
“Declan.”
“He tried to kill my parents.”
“He kidnapped Savannah.”
“He put a price on you and our child.”
“Yes.”
“What exactly do you expect me to do?”
“I expect you to decide what kind of father you want to become before our baby is born.”
His jaw tightened.
“That sounds simple from outside.”
“No. It sounds difficult from inside too.”
I moved closer.
“If you kill Patrick because revenge feels better than justice, you become another man teaching our child that violence is inheritance.”
He stared at me.
“Our child.”
The phrase changed him.
I had said it naturally.
Our.
I noticed only after.
So did he.
Before either of us could speak, Vincent called from the medical room.
Not loudly.
But clearly.
“Declan.”
We entered.
Vincent looked weak.
His memory came in fragments.
Declan sat beside him.
“Dad.”
Vincent gripped his wrist.
“Patrick killed your mother.”
Declan closed his eyes.
“We think so.”
“No.”
Vincent shook his head.
“Not alone.”
The room went still.
“Who helped him?”
Vincent looked at Savannah.
Then at me.
“The Calloways.”
Savannah went pale.
“My father?”
Vincent nodded.
“Victor helped poison Eleanor.”
Savannah stopped breathing.
But Vincent whispered one more name.
“And Gavin Roarke’s father.”
Every eye turned toward the doorway.
Gavin stood there.
May you like
Motionless.
His face had gone white.
