Chapter 1 - The Woman Who Stopped the Wedding
Chloe Henderson stumbled between the cathedral pews and shouted:
“Arthur, don’t drink the wine!”
Arthur Romano turned from the altar and saw the silver ceremonial chalice beside his marriage certificate.
A dark fingerprint marked its polished stem.
Then Chloe collapsed.
Arthur moved before anyone else understood what was happening.
He crossed the space between them with the speed of a man who had spent most of his adult life learning how to reach danger before danger reached him.
Chloe’s knees struck nothing.
His arm caught her waist first.
His other hand caught the back of her shoulders.
She fell against him instead of the marble.
“Chloe.”
For two months, Arthur had forced himself not to say that name.
Now it came out like a prayer.
Her eyelids fluttered.
Rainwater clung to her brown hair. Her lips had almost no color. Her breathing was shallow and uneven.
“Look at me.”
She tried.
Her cream-colored wrap slipped from one shoulder.
Then her coat opened.
Arthur saw the curve beneath her ivory lace dress.
Everything inside him stopped.
Not slowed.
Stopped.
His gaze remained fixed on her stomach.
There were few things capable of frightening Arthur Romano.
At thirty-four, he controlled businesses stretching from Chicago to New York. Men twice his age lowered their voices when he entered a room. His enemies knew he could wait years to settle a debt.
But Arthur stared at Chloe’s pregnant belly with naked fear.
His tattooed hand moved toward it.
He stopped before touching her.
“How far?”
Chloe swallowed.
“Thirty weeks.”
Arthur looked at her face.
Then her stomach.
Then her face again.
He counted.
Chloe watched him do it.
His jaw tightened.
“Mine?”
The question hurt more than she expected.
“Whose else would it be?”
Behind them, someone gasped.
Arthur seemed to remember that almost a thousand people were watching.
He didn’t care.
Vivian Croft did.
She stood beneath the cathedral’s white flowers wearing a gown that probably cost more than Chloe’s diner earned in a year. Her bouquet of red roses trembled slightly between manicured fingers.
Vivian’s father, Harrison Croft, rose from the front pew.
“This is absurd.”
Chloe jerked her head toward the altar.
“The wine.”
Arthur looked down.
“What?”
“Don’t drink it.”
“Why?”
“I heard them.”
Her vision blurred again.
Arthur tightened his arm around her.
“Heard who?”
“Two men. At the diner.”
Harrison stepped into the aisle.
“What exactly is this woman accusing my family of?”
Arthur looked at him.
The entire cathedral changed.
Moments earlier, Arthur had been a groom.
Now he was Arthur Romano.
“Sit down.”
Harrison’s face hardened.
“You’re humiliating my daughter.”
“I said sit down.”
Vivian whispered, “Dad.”
Something in her voice made Chloe look at her.
Fear.
Not embarrassment.
Not anger.
Fear.
Chloe had seen that expression before.
That was what had disturbed her when she first entered.
Vivian had recognized her.
“Arthur,” Chloe whispered.
His attention immediately returned to her.
“The cup.”
Arthur glanced toward one of his security men.
“Marco.”
A broad-shouldered man near the front pew moved instantly.
“Nobody touches that chalice.”
The priest stepped backward.
Guests began whispering.
Phones appeared.
Arthur ignored all of it.
“Call an ambulance.”
“No hospital.”
Chloe tried to sit upright.
Arthur stared at her.
“You can barely keep your eyes open.”
“They’ll know where I am.”
“Who?”
“The men from the diner.”
Arthur’s expression darkened.
“You think they followed you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Chloe.”
“I don’t know.”
Another wave of pain struck behind her eyes.
She squeezed them shut.
Arthur felt her body tense.
“What’s happening?”
“Headache.”
“How bad?”
She didn’t answer.
“Chloe.”
“My doctor said my blood pressure was high.”
His face drained.
“How high?”
“I was supposed to rest.”
“And instead you walked here?”
“You were going to drink poison.”
Arthur stared at her.
Even now.
Even after he had disappeared without an explanation.
Even after she had discovered his engagement through television.
Even while carrying a child he hadn’t known existed.
She had come to save him.
“You should hate me,” he said quietly.
“I do.”
The answer landed harder than any bullet ever had.
Chloe opened her eyes.
“But I didn’t want you dead.”
Sirens sounded outside.
Arthur lifted her.
Chloe gave a weak protest.
“I can walk.”
“No.”
“Arthur—”
“No.”
He carried her toward the side entrance.
Vivian stepped forward.
“Arthur.”
He stopped.
For the first time since Chloe collapsed, he looked at the woman he had been seconds away from marrying.
Vivian’s face was white.
“Where are you going?”
“With her.”
“Our wedding—”
“Is over.”
Harrison exploded from the pew.
“You cannot do this.”
Arthur turned.
“The woman carrying my child just walked through freezing rain to warn me that somebody intended to murder me at your daughter’s wedding.”
“You have no proof.”
Arthur looked toward Marco.
“Test the wine.”
Marco nodded.
Vivian whispered, “Arthur, please.”
Chloe heard something beneath those words.
Not heartbreak.
Warning.
Arthur apparently heard it too.
His eyes narrowed.
“What do you know?”
Vivian looked at her father.
That single glance was enough.
Harrison grabbed her arm.
“Say nothing.”
Arthur took one step toward him while still holding Chloe.
“Take your hand off her.”
Harrison released Vivian.
Vivian looked close to tears.
“I didn’t know about the poison.”
Arthur’s voice became quiet.
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
Before Vivian could answer, paramedics entered.
They checked Chloe’s blood pressure.
The first medic looked at the second.
“How far along?”
“Thirty weeks,” Chloe murmured.
“We need to move now.”
Arthur’s stomach tightened.
“What is it?”
“Her pressure is dangerously high.”
They transferred Chloe to a stretcher.
Arthur stayed beside her.
As the paramedics rolled her toward the cathedral doors, Chloe caught Vivian watching.
Their eyes met.
Vivian mouthed two words.
Chloe couldn’t hear them.
But she understood them.
I’m sorry.
Outside, reporters were already gathering.
Arthur climbed into the ambulance.
Marco reached him before the doors closed.
“Boss.”
Arthur saw something in his lieutenant’s expression.
“What?”
Marco glanced toward Chloe.
Then lowered his voice.
“We tested the chalice.”
Arthur waited.
Marco’s next words erased every remaining doubt.
“There was enough poison in that wine to kill you before the reception.”
Arthur looked back toward the cathedral.
Harrison Croft stood beneath the doorway.
But Vivian was gone.
Then Arthur’s phone vibrated.
An unknown number had sent him a photograph.
It showed Chloe asleep in her apartment the previous night.
Underneath were five words:
THE BABY WAS NEVER YOURS.
A second message began appearing.
Arthur opened it.
May you like
It contained only a name.
And when he read who had sent it, his face went completely still.
