Chapter 9 - The Truth Behind the Heart
Caleb stopped and turned back.
Evelyn stood up from the bed, stepping softly across the hardwood floor toward him. Her eyes were swollen and red, her face streaked with tears, but for the first time in months, the crushing terror that had shadowed her every movement was gone.
She reached up to her neck, unclasped the silver heart necklace she had worn every single day since he had met her, and held it out to him in her open palm.
“He put a microphone inside it,” Evelyn whispered, her voice trembling. “Six months ago, when Vance kidnapped Sophie, he gave me this necklace. He told me if I ever took it off, or if I didn't place that listening device in your office, he would send me Sophie’s fingers one by one in the mail.”
Caleb looked down at the silver heart resting in her hand.
“Why didn't you tell me, Evelyn?” Caleb asked softly, his eyes searching hers. “When you first met me, when you fell in love with me... why didn't you come to me when Vance grabbed her?”
“Because I was terrified of what you were!” Evelyn cried out softly, tears spilling down her cheeks again. “I loved you, Caleb! God help me, I loved you more than my own life! But to the rest of the world, you’re the head of the Boston mafia! You’re a man who commands killers! I thought... I thought if I told you Vance had my sister, you would just treat her like collateral damage. I thought you’d start a war and get her killed!”
She reached out and gripped the lapels of his suit jacket, her knuckles white.
“I tried to protect her, and I tried to protect you!” she sobbed. “Every night I lay next to you, I wanted to tell you! I wanted to scream the truth! But I was trapped! I thought if I gave Vance the shipment intel, he’d let Sophie go and we could run away before you found out!”
Caleb raised his hands and placed them gently on either side of her face. His thumbs wiped away the wet tears from her cheeks.
“You proved your loyalty to your blood, Evelyn,” Caleb said, his voice deep and steady. “In my world, family is the only thing that matters. You fought for your sister with everything you had.”
“And I betrayed the man I love,” she whispered, looking up into his eyes with overwhelming guilt. “I put a bug in your office. I risked your life and the lives of your men.”
“No,” Caleb said gently. “You were forced into a trap by a monster. But Vance made one critical mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“He didn't realize that I love you enough to tear this city apart to bring your sister back,” Caleb murmured.
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Evelyn choked back a sob, throwing her arms around Caleb’s neck and burying her face into his chest. Caleb wrapped his heavy arms around her, pulling her close, holding her tightly against him as the weight of the last six months finally shattered into pieces.
Behind them, Sophie watched her sister and Caleb through tear-filled eyes, smiling weakly before drifting back into a safe, peaceful sleep.
