Chapter 12 - THE WEDDING THAT BECAME A TRAP
Z
Victor wanted to cancel the wedding.
Aliyah refused.
For once, their argument lasted only thirty seconds.
“He wants us afraid.”
“He wants access.”
“Then give him access.”
Victor stared at her.
“You want to use our wedding as bait?”
“I want to stop running my life around Caleb Vance.”
“You are describing bait.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Nikolai agrees with me.”
Victor slowly turned.
Nikolai, standing near the door, looked betrayed.
“I said the plan possessed tactical advantages.”
“You agreed with her.”
“I did not realize you would ask directly.”
Aliyah smiled.
Victor did not.
The wedding remained scheduled for Saturday.
But everything else changed.
Federal agents disguised themselves as catering staff.
Anton, still recovering from the warehouse shooting, coordinated information from a secure location.
Jasmine attended carrying enough hidden recording equipment to produce a documentary.
Victor objected.
Aliyah overruled him.
The ceremony was held in a restored stone chapel outside Boston.
Elena’s foundation had once funded its restoration.
That mattered to Victor.
On Saturday morning, Aliyah stood before a mirror while Jasmine adjusted her veil.
“You’re weirdly calm.”
“I’m medicated by exhaustion.”
“Good.”
Aliyah laughed.
Then a knock came.
Nikolai.
He entered holding a small box.
“From Mr. Malenkov.”
Aliyah opened it.
Inside was the handkerchief embroidered with A.
A note sat beneath it.
FOR WHEN YOU DECIDE I AM MAKING A MISTAKE.
Aliyah smiled.
“He knows me.”
Nikolai cleared his throat.
“There is something else.”
His expression worried her.
“What?”
“We found a vehicle registered to one of Caleb’s shell companies three miles away.”
Aliyah’s heart accelerated.
“So he’s here.”
“Possibly.”
“Does Victor know?”
“Yes.”
“And?”
“He requested that I physically carry you out of the building if necessary.”
Aliyah gave him a look.
“I declined.”
“Smart.”
“I value my spine.”
The music began twenty minutes later.
Aliyah walked down the aisle alone.
She had considered asking someone to escort her.
Then she decided she did not need to be given away.
Victor waited at the altar.
For all his power, all his intimidation, he looked nervous.
That made Aliyah smile.
His eyes stayed on her.
Not the doors.
Not the security.
Her.
When she reached him, Victor whispered, “You came.”
“You sound surprised.”
“I am never certain what you will do.”
“That’s why you’re marrying me.”
“Apparently.”
The ceremony began.
For ten minutes, nothing happened.
Then Victor’s phone vibrated inside his jacket.
He ignored it.
It vibrated again.
Aliyah saw the calculation in his eyes.
“Check.”
He did.
A message.
UNKNOWN:
BEAUTIFUL CEREMONY.
Victor scanned the room.
Every guest had been screened.
Every exit guarded.
Another message.
LOOK UP.
Victor’s gaze lifted.
The chapel’s old balcony.
Empty.
Then a red light appeared against his chest.
Laser.
Aliyah saw it.
“Victor!”
She shoved him.
The gunshot shattered a stained-glass window.
Guests screamed.
Federal agents moved.
Victor covered Aliyah with his body.
Another shot struck stone.
“Northeast tower!” Nikolai shouted.
Victor pulled Aliyah behind the altar.
“You’re hit?”
“No.”
“Stay down.”
“You stay down.”
Gunfire exploded outside.
Then silence.
Thirty seconds later, Nikolai’s voice came over Victor’s earpiece.
“Shooter gone.”
Victor’s face became murderous.
Aliyah grabbed his lapels.
“No.”
He looked at her.
“You are not chasing him.”
“He fired at you.”
“He fired at both of us.”
“I need to—”
“You need to finish marrying me.”
Victor stared.
Around them, terrified guests were being checked.
The priest crouched behind a column.
Jasmine peered over a pew.
“Honestly, I’ve attended worse weddings.”
Aliyah laughed.
Victor looked almost offended.
“You want to continue?”
“Yes.”
“Someone just shot through a church window.”
“I noticed.”
“This is insane.”
“You know, that means a lot coming from you.”
The federal commander approached.
“The area is secure. We can evacuate.”
Aliyah looked at Victor.
He understood.
If they left, Caleb controlled the day forever.
Victor stood.
Then offered Aliyah his hand.
The priest cautiously returned.
Guests who wanted to leave were escorted out.
Most stayed.
Maybe Boston had become accustomed to Malenkov drama.
The ceremony resumed.
Victor’s vows were not elegant.
He had refused to write them down.
“Aliyah,” he began, “before you, I believed promises were mostly things people said shortly before disappointing each other.”
Aliyah’s eyes filled.
Victor continued.
“You taught me that trust is not certainty.”
His fingers tightened around hers.
“It is choosing someone while knowing they remain free to hurt you, leave you, disagree with you, and occasionally threaten to return expensive furniture.”
Laughter moved through the chapel.
Aliyah smiled.
“I cannot promise you a peaceful life.”
“That ship sailed.”
Victor almost smiled.
“But I promise your life will remain yours.”
Her breath caught.
“I will not decide what you are allowed to risk. I will not confuse love with ownership.”
The words cost him something.
She knew that.
“And whenever fear makes me forget, I trust you will remind me loudly.”
“Absolutely.”
The priest laughed.
When Aliyah gave her vows, she did not promise to save Victor.
She knew better.
“I promise I will never make your past compete with our future.”
His eyes closed briefly.
“I promise to call you out when you become unbearable.”
“You already do.”
“Please don’t interrupt my vows.”
“Sorry.”
“And I promise that when you forget you deserve a life beyond punishment, I’ll remind you.”
Victor’s eyes filled.
They exchanged rings.
When the priest announced them married, Victor kissed Aliyah beneath broken stained glass.
The guests applauded.
For ten perfect seconds, Caleb Vance did not exist.
Then Nikolai approached.
His face was grim.
“We caught the shooter.”
Victor looked at him.
“Caleb?”
“No.”
The man was brought into the chapel in handcuffs.
Aliyah recognized him immediately.
Mark Voss.
The man who had pushed the chair at the Red Lion.
His face was bruised.
He laughed when he saw the newlyweds.
“Congratulations.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Where is Caleb?”
Mark smiled.
“He wanted me caught.”
“Why?”
“So I could deliver his wedding gift.”
He looked at Aliyah.
“Your mother wasn’t the only parent who kept secrets.”
Aliyah frowned.
“My father left before I was born.”
Mark laughed.
“No.”
Victor’s expression changed.
Mark continued.
“Your father didn’t leave, Aliyah.”
May you like
He smiled directly at Victor.
“Caleb Vance is your father.”
