Chapter 5 - THE SISTER’S SECRET
Mara found Emilia in the east greenhouse.
The rain had stopped, but water still traced the glass ceiling. Moonlight covered the rows of white roses Emilia cultivated herself.
She stood with pruning shears in one hand.
“You should be resting,” Emilia said without turning.
“You were at Fulton Street.”
The shears stopped.
Emilia slowly faced her.
“What?”
“I heard your voice on Caleb’s recording.”
Emilia’s expression did not change.
Mara closed the greenhouse door behind her.
“You said he was loyal to the wrong brother.”
For a moment, Emilia appeared almost bored.
Then she set the shears down.
“Does Rowan know?”
“Not yet.”
“Why come to me first?”
“Because if I tell him, he may kill you before I get answers.”
A faint smile touched Emilia’s mouth.
“You have understood my brother quickly.”
“Were you involved in the explosion?”
“No.”
“Were you there?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Emilia walked between the rose bushes.
“Caleb called me.”
“Why?”
“He wanted information about our mother.”
“Rowan told me about the child she lost.”
“Stolen,” Emilia corrected. “Not lost.”
“Who was he?”
Emilia looked toward the glass.
“Our half brother’s name was Julian.”
“Was?”
“I do not know if he is alive.”
“Caleb did.”
“Caleb believed he did.”
Mara stepped closer.
“Tell me what happened.”
Emilia removed her gardening gloves.
“Caleb discovered that my mother’s father arranged the adoption. Thomas Calder helped conceal it years later. The baby was sent to a family connected to the Petrovs.”
Mara’s skin chilled.
“Julian became Russian.”
“He was raised among them.”
“Then he could be part of the Petrov organization.”
“Yes.”
“Caleb found him?”
“He thought so.”
“Who?”
Emilia hesitated.
“Viktor Petrov’s eldest son, Adrian.”
Mara knew Adrian Petrov by reputation.
Elegant. Educated. Violent.
The same man her father had agreed she would marry to settle the debt.
“So the Petrovs wanted me to marry Rowan’s brother.”
“If Caleb was right.”
“Why would they want that?”
“Because your marriage to Caleb would have united the Whitlocks and Graves. After Caleb’s death, marrying you to Adrian would transfer Whitlock assets to the Petrovs while giving Adrian a claim to Graves blood.”
“An unofficial claim.”
“In our world, blood becomes official when enough guns agree.”
Mara stared at the roses.
“And you?”
“I wanted to know whether Julian was alive.”
“So you met Caleb.”
“Yes.”
“Who attacked him?”
“I never saw.”
“Your voice was recorded after the explosion.”
Emilia looked at her sharply.
“No.”
“I heard you.”
“I met Caleb at eight thirty. I left before ten.”
“The recording was created after the explosion.”
“Then someone copied my voice.”
Mara considered her.
“Or you are lying.”
“Yes.”
Emilia’s honesty resembled Rowan’s.
It made trusting either of them difficult.
“Why didn’t you tell Rowan about the meeting?”
“Because he would have stopped us.”
“Why?”
“Rowan does not want a brother.”
The statement surprised Mara.
“Why not?”
“Because a hidden heir threatens everything he controls.”
“That sounds like the answer you want me to believe.”
Emilia’s mouth tightened.
“You think Rowan is above fear?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The greenhouse door opened.
Rowan entered with Marcus behind him.
His eyes moved from Mara to Emilia.
“What happened?”
Mara watched Emilia.
“Your sister was explaining why she met Caleb on the night of the explosion.”
Rowan went completely still.
Marcus reached for his weapon.
Emilia laughed softly.
“Always dramatic.”
“Is it true?” Rowan asked.
“Yes.”
“You lied to me.”
“You never asked.”
Rowan crossed the space between them.
Marcus moved, perhaps expecting violence.
Rowan stopped inches from his sister.
“What did Caleb find?”
“Julian.”
The name visibly affected him.
“Where?”
“Inside the Petrov family.”
Rowan looked at Mara.
She saw calculation replacing shock.
“Adrian,” he said.
Emilia nodded.
Marcus cursed.
Rowan turned toward him.
“Did you know?”
“No.”
“Caleb suspected you were Julian.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“I knew he was investigating me.”
“And you did not mention it?”
“I assumed he had another one of his paranoid theories.”
“His paranoia may have kept him alive.”
Marcus looked away.
Mara asked Emilia, “If you left before the explosion, where did you go?”
“Home.”
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“No.”
“How convenient.”
Emilia picked up her gloves.
“I have answered enough questions.”
Rowan caught her arm.
“Not nearly enough.”
She looked down at his hand.
“Let go.”
“You hid information that may have gotten Caleb killed.”
“And you hid that you wanted his fiancée.”
Silence exploded through the greenhouse.
Marcus stared at the floor.
Mara felt heat rise into her face.
Rowan released Emilia.
His voice dropped.
“Do not bring Mara into this.”
“She has always been in it.”
Emilia looked at Mara.
“You think Caleb’s death created this marriage? It did not. It simply gave Rowan permission.”
“That is enough,” Rowan said.
Emilia ignored him.
“Caleb knew. Everyone knew except you.”
Mara’s chest tightened.
“That does not make Rowan responsible for the explosion.”
“No,” Emilia said. “But it gave someone a perfect motive to frame him.”
“Who?”
“Adrian.”
Rowan shook his head.
“If Adrian is Julian, why frame me?”
“Because he believes you stole his family.”
“He never knew us.”
“He knew your life should have been his.”
Rowan stepped away.
Marcus’s phone vibrated.
He read the message.
“We have movement at the south perimeter.”
Rowan drew his gun.
“Details.”
“Two vehicles breached the outer gate.”
The greenhouse lights went out.
Glass shattered.
Rowan threw Mara to the ground as bullets tore through the rose bushes.
Marcus fired toward the broken wall.
Emilia crawled behind a stone planter.
Men entered through the shattered glass wearing black masks.
Rowan covered Mara with his body.
“Stay down.”
One attacker rushed from the left.
Mara saw him before Rowan did.
She grabbed the fallen pruning shears and drove them into the attacker’s thigh.
He screamed.
Rowan struck him across the jaw and took his weapon.
More gunfire sounded outside.
Marcus pursued another intruder through the western door.
Emilia picked up the wounded attacker’s pistol.
She fired twice with practiced precision.
One masked man fell.
Mara looked at her.
“Gardening skill?”
“Family education.”
The remaining attackers retreated.
Rowan’s soldiers flooded the greenhouse.
Within minutes, the estate was secure.
Three attackers were dead.
One survived.
Rowan dragged him upright and removed his mask.
The man was young.
Perhaps twenty-five.
A black crown tattoo marked his neck.
“The White Crown,” Mara whispered.
The prisoner smiled through bloody teeth.
“Mrs. Graves.”
Rowan pressed the gun beneath his chin.
“Who sent you?”
The man looked at Mara instead.
“The dead man wants his bride back.”
Mara’s pulse stopped.
“Caleb?”
The attacker laughed.
Rowan struck him.
“Where is Caleb?”
“You married his woman.”
Another strike.
“Where?”
The prisoner’s smile widened.
“He is closer than you think.”
Then his jaw moved.
Marcus grabbed his face, but it was too late.
The man bit through a poison capsule hidden in his back tooth.
His body convulsed.
He died on the greenhouse floor.
Mara stared at him.
The dead man wants his bride back.
Hope and terror twisted together inside her.
Rowan turned toward Marcus.
“Double every guard.”
Marcus nodded.
“Lock down the estate.”
“Yes.”
“Bring Thomas Calder here.”
Marcus hesitated.
“He will refuse.”
“Then explain that refusal will be interpreted as a confession.”
Marcus left.
Emilia wiped blood from her cheek.
“What now?”
Rowan looked at Mara.
“Now we find out whether Caleb is sending messages.”
Mara’s throat tightened.
“And if he is?”
Rowan’s expression gave nothing away.
“Then I return what belongs to him.”
The answer should have comforted her.
May you like
Instead, it cut deeper than she expected.
Because some small, disloyal part of her had already begun wondering whether she belonged to Rowan at all.
