Chapter 3 - The Man Who Came Back From the Dead
The name on Arthur's phone was Gabriel Calder.
Roman's younger brother.
Evelyn knew the story.
Everyone did.
Gabriel had disappeared eighteen months after her wedding.
His vehicle had been found near the Canadian border.
Blood inside.
No body.
After months without evidence of survival, the Calder organization had quietly accepted what everyone believed.
Gabriel was dead.
Apparently everyone had been wrong.
"Why would Roman bring him here?" Clara asked.
Arthur locked his phone.
"Because something has changed."
Evelyn hated those words.
"What?"
"If I knew, I would tell you."
"That's becoming a family tradition."
Arthur ignored the jab.
"You should leave the manor."
"No."
"Evelyn."
"No."
"Roman warned—"
"Roman warned me three years ago and then disappeared."
"This may be different."
"Good."
Arthur frowned.
"Good?"
"Maybe this time he'll explain himself."
The front gates remained closed that night.
Roman did not arrive.
Morning came.
Then afternoon.
Nothing.
By evening, Evelyn began to wonder if the information had been wrong.
At seven forty-three, the security alarm sounded.
Not the house alarm.
The gate.
Someone had entered the access code.
Only four people knew it.
Evelyn.
Arthur.
Clara.
Roman.
She stood.
Clara came from the kitchen.
"Is it him?"
Headlights appeared through the trees.
A black sedan moved slowly toward the manor.
Evelyn's body remembered Roman before her mind could prepare.
Three years collapsed.
She saw him standing with the leather bag.
Everything you need is here.
She heard herself answering.
I never asked for either.
The car stopped.
Roman stepped out.
He looked older.
Not dramatically.
Enough.
There was a thin scar near his temple.
His hair was shorter.
His shoulders seemed heavier.
But his eyes were the same.
Dark.
Controlled.
Impossible to read.
Then the passenger door opened.
Gabriel Calder emerged.
Alive.
Roman stared at the manor.
The changes were impossible to miss.
Exterior lights illuminated repaired stonework.
The greenhouse glowed in the distance.
Cars occupied the side lot.
A wooden sign near the drive read:
CALDER HOUSE FOUNDATION.
Roman's expression shifted.
"This wasn't here."
Gabriel followed his gaze.
"Apparently your wife got busy."
Roman looked at him.
"Don't."
"I'm just saying."
"Don't."
The front door opened.
Evelyn stepped outside.
Roman forgot what he had been about to say.
She was not the woman he had left.
Her body was still soft and full, and she made no attempt to disguise it.
But the fragility he remembered was gone.
She stood straight.
Strong.
Her blonde hair fell loosely around her shoulders.
No robe.
No trembling hands.
No chair waiting behind her.
Roman stared.
"Evelyn."
"Roman."
Three years.
One word each.
Gabriel shifted uncomfortably.
Evelyn looked at him.
"You must be Gabriel."
His eyebrows rose.
"You don't seem surprised."
"I had twelve hours."
Roman looked toward Arthur, who stood behind her.
Arthur shrugged.
"She asked."
Roman's jaw tightened.
"You shouldn't have told her."
Evelyn almost smiled.
"Still making decisions for me?"
Roman returned his attention to her.
"Can we talk inside?"
"No."
Gabriel looked between them.
"I could wait in the car."
"Excellent idea," Evelyn said.
Roman gave him a look.
Gabriel returned to the car.
Evelyn folded her arms.
"Talk."
Roman glanced toward the house.
"I heard about your health."
"Which part?"
"That you're better."
"I am."
His expression softened.
"I'm glad."
"Are you?"
Roman absorbed that.
"I deserve that."
"You deserve considerably more, but it's cold."
A laugh escaped him before he could stop it.
Evelyn stared.
She had almost forgotten what Roman looked like when surprised.
He became serious again.
"The danger isn't over."
"Of course."
"Evelyn—"
"You had three years."
"I know."
"Three years to write a letter."
"I wrote dozens."
"I received one."
"I never sent the others."
"That sounds like a Roman problem."
His mouth tightened.
"I stayed away to protect you."
"No. You stayed away because protecting me from a distance was easier than trusting me with the truth."
Roman said nothing.
She had hit something.
Good.
"Why are you here?"
"Gabriel knows who ordered the threat against you."
Evelyn's anger cooled.
"Who?"
"We don't know the name yet."
"You just said—"
"He knows where the orders came from."
Roman stepped closer.
"Someone inside my organization."
Evelyn stared at him.
"Your people wanted me dead?"
"One of them."
"Why?"
"That's what we're going to find out."
"We?"
Roman's gaze hardened.
"I'm not leaving you unprotected."
Evelyn laughed.
He looked genuinely confused.
"What's funny?"
"You."
"I'm serious."
"So am I. You don't get to disappear for three years and return expecting to become my bodyguard."
"I am still your husband."
There it was.
The sentence Evelyn had wondered whether he would say.
She stepped closer.
"Legally."
Roman's face changed.
She continued.
"Emotionally, you became a stranger the moment your car left that driveway."
He looked toward the house.
Children's laughter drifted through the open door.
"Who lives here?"
"People."
"How many?"
"Currently seventeen."
His head snapped toward her.
"Seventeen?"
"Don't worry. Your west wing survived."
"What happened to this place?"
"I fixed it."
"With the trust?"
"Initially."
Roman nodded.
"Good."
"I stopped using your money two years ago."
That stunned him.
"What?"
"The foundation supports itself."
"How?"
"Orchard. Greenhouse. Events. Rentals. Donations. Investments."
"You did that?"
Evelyn's expression sharpened.
"Try sounding more surprised."
"That's not what I meant."
"It sounded exactly like what you meant."
Roman rubbed his jaw.
"You changed."
"No."
She looked toward the illuminated manor.
"I stopped waiting."
Roman's gaze followed hers.
For the first time since arriving, he seemed to understand.
He had not returned to a frozen house preserving the memory of his absence.
Life had continued.
Without him.
Lily and June suddenly ran through the doorway.
They were nine now.
They stopped when they saw Roman.
Lily whispered something to June.
June whispered back.
Roman stared at them.
"They're Clara's?"
"Yes."
"They were little."
"That's what happens in three years."
Another blow.
Roman deserved it.
Clara appeared behind them.
Her face hardened when she recognized him.
"Mr. Calder."
"Clara."
"You remember me."
"I remember everyone who was here when I left."
"Interesting."
Evelyn hid a smile.
Roman looked at her.
"Can I stay tonight?"
She almost said no.
Then she remembered Gabriel.
The threat.
The unanswered questions.
"One night."
Roman nodded.
"Thank you."
"Guest room."
His eyes met hers.
"I assumed."
"You used to assume a lot."
Gabriel entered carrying two bags.
"Did I miss the reunion?"
"Yes," Evelyn and Roman said together.
Gabriel smiled.
"Definitely married."
Evelyn turned away.
Roman watched her walk inside.
Something painful settled in his chest.
He had spent three years imagining Evelyn surviving.
He had never imagined her thriving.
That night, Roman walked through the manor.
Every room contained evidence of her.
Schedules.
Children's artwork.
Fresh flowers.
Books.
Invoices.
Photographs.
A photograph in the hall stopped him.
Evelyn stood beneath an apple tree surrounded by women and children.
She was laughing.
Roman touched the frame.
He had never taken a photograph with his wife.
Behind him, Gabriel spoke.
"You thought she'd wait."
Roman lowered his hand.
"No."
"Yes, you did."
"I thought she'd be safe."
"That's not the same thing."
Roman turned.
"What are you trying to say?"
Gabriel looked toward the staircase.
"You protected her life and abandoned the rest of it."
Roman's expression darkened.
Before he could answer, a crash came from the study.
Both men moved.
Roman reached the door first.
It was open.
The room was empty.
A window had been broken.
On Evelyn's desk lay a black envelope.
Roman opened it.
Inside was a photograph taken that afternoon.
Evelyn standing at the front door.
Someone had drawn a red circle around her.
May you like
On the back were six words.
YOU SHOULD HAVE LET HER DIE.
