Chapter 3 - The Marriage That Was Never an Accident
Patrick refused to answer the question.
When Mave confronted him, he stared at the photograph for several seconds.
“I didn't want you to know.”
“That's become everyone's favorite sentence.”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You almost lost everything.”
“I know.”
“You didn't tell me about Rafe.”
Patrick looked down.
“He wasn't supposed to know either.”
“Why?”
“Because people were watching.”
“Who?”
Patrick shook his head.
“The same people who are watching now.”
Mave sat beside him.
“What happened eight years ago?”
Patrick finally told her.
He had been hired by Rafe's mother to audit a series of private accounts.
He found evidence that someone in the Calder family was selling information.
She asked him to keep quiet.
He refused.
Then Rafe's father discovered what he was doing.
He threatened Patrick.
Patrick went to Rafe.
Rafe helped him escape.
Mave stared.
“So Rafe saved you.”
“Yes.”
“And you saved him.”
“Yes.”
“Then why does everyone act like the Calder family and mine are enemies?”
“Because they needed us to be.”
“Who?”
Patrick hesitated.
“Rafe's mother.”
Mave froze.
“Why?”
“She knew someone would eventually try to take control of the family.”
“Silas.”
Patrick nodded.
“But there was another person.”
“Who?”
Patrick looked at Mave.
“Your mother.”
Mave's stomach dropped.
“My mother is dead.”
“Yes.”
“She died when I was five.”
“I know.”
“What did she have to do with this?”
“She was Rafe's mother's sister.”
Mave stared.
The room seemed to tilt.
“My mother?”
Patrick nodded.
“Your mother's name wasn't Elizabeth.”
Mave's voice broke.
“Then what was it?”
“Evelyn Calder.”
Silence.
Her entire childhood suddenly felt false.
Her mother had been a Calder.
Rafe was her cousin?
Patrick saw the horror on her face.
“No.”
“What?”
“Rafe isn't related to you.”
“Then how?”
“Evelyn was adopted.”
Mave stopped breathing.
“By whom?”
“Silas's father.”
Rafe stood in the doorway.
He had heard everything.
Mave turned.
“You knew?”
“I knew my mother was adopted.”
“You knew her original name?”
“No.”
Patrick looked at him.
“She was Elizabeth Callahan.”
Rafe froze.
Mave whispered:
“My mother.”
Rafe sat.
Everything they thought they knew was wrong.
Evelyn Calder was Elizabeth Callahan.
She had married into the Calder family.
She had changed her name.
She had hidden her past.
And she had spent years trying to protect her brother.
From Silas.
From the family.
From the network.
Until the night she died.
Rafe looked at Mave.
“Your mother was the reason my father lost power.”
“Why?”
“She exposed him.”
“What did she expose?”
“A human-trafficking pipeline.”
Mave went cold.
“No.”
Rafe nodded.
“She helped shut it down.”
“Then why would anyone kill her?”
“Because she knew who funded it.”
“Who?”
Rafe looked at Patrick.
Patrick whispered:
“A politician.”
The name that followed shocked them both.
Senator William Voss.
One of the most influential men in the state.
He had built his career on family values and public safety.
Behind closed doors, he had funded the criminal network.
Silas had been his intermediary.
Mave's father had discovered the money.
Rafe's mother had tried to expose it.
And both families had been manipulated into believing each other was responsible.
Mave sat in silence.
Then she looked at Rafe.
“Why did you marry me?”
He looked at her.
“I didn't.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“The legal marriage was arranged using a proxy.”
“But Jonah said—”
“I signed a contingency agreement before my attack.”
He looked down.
“But not for you.”
“Then for whom?”
“A temporary guardian.”
“Who?”
Rafe stared at her.
“Your father.”
Mave's heart stopped.
Her father's debt had been transferred because Patrick had been listed as Rafe's emergency legal guardian.
It made no sense.
Until Jonah explained it.
Patrick had been trusted by Rafe's mother.
The marriage had not been about saving Patrick.
It had been about protecting Mave.
The debt freeze was simply the legal mechanism.
Mave stared at Rafe.
“You knew.”
“I suspected.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I was unconscious.”
She laughed once.
“Fair.”
Rafe smiled.
Then his expression became serious.
“I want you to stay.”
Mave froze.
“For how long?”
“Until we find out who is trying to kill us.”
“That isn't romantic.”
“No.”
“What if I want to leave?”
“You can.”
“You would let me?”
“Yes.”
She studied him.
“What if I stay?”
His gaze held hers.
“Then I'll make sure you regret marrying a man who wakes up.”
She laughed.
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It is.”
Their first kiss happened three days later.
Not during a dramatic rescue.
Not in a hospital.
In the kitchen.
Mave was making coffee.
Rafe was standing beside the counter.
He reached for her mug.
She slapped his hand.
“That's mine.”
He smiled.
“You're territorial.”
“About coffee.”
“Good.”
She looked at him.
“What?”
He stepped closer.
“Your father told me once that you were stubborn.”
“You knew him that well?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He understated the problem.”
She laughed.
He kissed her.
Slowly.
Carefully.
She did not pull away.
But when they separated, Rafe's expression changed.
“What?”
He looked toward the window.
“We're being watched.”
Mave turned.
A car stood across the street.
Empty.
Rafe's phone rang.
He answered.
Silence.
Then a voice:
“You've made the wrong choice.”
Rafe's face went cold.
“Who is this?”
“Ask your wife what happened to her mother.”
The call ended.
Mave stared.
Rafe lowered the phone.
“We're not just dealing with the family.”
“What else?”
“Someone wants us to discover the truth.”
“Why?”
“Because when we do…”
May you like
He looked toward the car.
“…they'll know exactly where to find us.”
