Chapter 13 - THE WEDDING THAT NEVER HAPPENED
The chapel was still decorated.
White roses.
Gold candles.
Rows of chairs.
Everything waiting for a wedding that would never happen.
Gavin stood at the altar.
The sight nearly crushed me.
Twenty-four hours earlier, I had imagined walking toward him in my wedding dress.
Now I walked toward him in black trousers and a coat.
He held another envelope.
“You came.”
“What do you have?”
He smiled sadly.
“Still straight to business.”
“Whatever charm you had is dead.”
He nodded.
“Fair.”
He held up the brass key.
“My father kept a safe.”
“Where?”
“In his office.”
“What’s inside?”
“Your father’s original files.”
I stared at him.
“Why would Richard keep them?”
“Insurance.”
“Against whom?”
“Everyone.”
I held out my hand.
“Give me the key.”
Gavin didn’t move.
“I want something.”
Of course.
“What?”
“Tell prosecutors I cooperated.”
I almost laughed.
“You haven’t.”
“I’m cooperating now.”
“You’re bargaining.”
“Yes.”
At least he finally stopped pretending.
“What else is in the safe?”
“Records proving my father ordered the sabotage of your father’s boat.”
My chest stopped.
“You knew?”
“Not until yesterday.”
“Do you expect me to believe you?”
“No.”
He handed me the envelope.
Inside was a copied email.
Richard Mercer to a security contractor.
MAKE SURE THE HART PROBLEM DOESN’T LEAVE THE MARINA.
I stared at it until the words blurred.
My father had been murdered.
Not an accident.
Not bad luck.
Murdered.
Gavin’s voice softened.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked at him.
“You don’t get to say that.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
“Why give me this?”
He stared at the altar.
“Because I spent four years thinking winning meant having more than everyone else.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Money.”
“Status.”
“You.”
He looked at me.
“And now I have none of it.”
“That’s called consequences.”
“I know.”
For once, he didn’t argue.
He placed the key in my hand.
Then he said, “There’s one more thing.”
I waited.
“My father didn’t choose you because of your money.”
I frowned.
“Then why?”
“Because your father hid evidence somewhere Richard could never find.”
I looked at the brass key.
“The safe?”
“No.”
Gavin shook his head.
“The safe tells you where.”
A chill went through me.
“Where?”
He looked around the wedding chapel.
May you like
Then pointed toward the altar.
“Under the place you were supposed to marry me.”
