Chapter 3

Eloise POV

Two weeks of marriage to Alphons Woodward felt less like a honeymoon and more like residing inside the caldera of a dormant volcano.

He was polite, but glacial. He slept in the room next to mine, a barrier of drywall and decorum between us.

We ate breakfast in silence, him reading intelligence dossiers on extortion rings, me burying my nose in art history journals. He draped me in emeralds to match my eyes and assigned a security detail on me that would rival the President's.

But I knew it was merely the calm before the storm.

Holden had gone silent. He had been stripped of his rank, his assets frozen by Alphons. He was a ghost.

And Jaidyn was the poltergeist.

I was in the greenhouse of the Woodward estate, pruning the white roses. The thorns were sharp, snagging the leather of my gloves. It was the only place I felt like myself.

"You have a heavy hand with the shears."

I turned. Jaidyn was standing in the doorway of the glass structure.

She shouldn't have been here. The estate was a fortress.

"How did you get in?" I asked, tightening my grip on the shears.

She smiled. It was a fragile, trembling thing. She looked pale, her skin almost translucent, like fine bone china. She was wearing a white sundress that made her look like a child.

"Holden still has friends on the payroll," she said softly. She took a step closer. "I just wanted to talk, Eloise. Woman to woman."

"We are not the same species, let alone the same gender," I retorted. "Leave before I call the guards."

"You stole him," she said, her voice dropping the sweet act for a heartbeat. "Alphons. You knew I was working on him before Holden. You knew I needed the protection."

"You need a psychiatrist, Jaidyn. Not a Don."

Then, she lunged.

It was so sudden, so clumsy. She threw herself at me, not to hit me, but to grab the shears. We grappled for a second. She was surprisingly strong for someone who claimed to be dying of heart failure.

"Let go!" I shouted, shoving her back.

She stumbled. But she didn't just fall; she threw herself backward. She tripped over a bag of potting soil and landed hard on the grass.

Then she screamed.

It was a ragged, bloodcurdling shriek, as if she were being gutted alive.

"My heart! Oh god, you hit me! You hit me in the chest!"

Before I could process the absurdity of it, the side door of the greenhouse shattered inward.

Holden was there.

He wasn't wearing his suits anymore. He was wearing tactical gear, his eyes wild and bloodshot. He had a gun in his hand, but he wasn't aiming it at me. He was looking at Jaidyn, who was writhing on the floor, clutching her chest.

"She tried to kill me!" Jaidyn sobbed, pointing a shaking finger at me. "She knew about my condition! She hit me right in the heart!"

"No," I said, stepping back. "Holden, look at her. She's acting."

Holden didn't look at her. He looked at me with a hatred so pure it burned.

"You monster," he spat.

"Holden, this is suicide," I said, trying to keep my voice calm despite the trembling in my hands. "You are on Alphons's land. If you touch me..."

"Alphons stole you," Holden said, walking toward me. "He stole my life. He stole my rank. And now you try to kill the only thing I have left?"

Two men in masks followed him in. Rogue soldiers. Men who had chosen the brother over the Don.

"Grab her," Holden ordered.

I raised the shears. "Stay back."

Holden didn't hesitate. He stepped into my space, ignoring the weapon. He backhanded me across the face.

The world exploded in white light. I tasted copper. I fell to my knees, the shears clattering away across the pavement.

"You're going to save her, Eloise," Holden whispered, grabbing a handful of my hair and yanking my head back. "You tried to take her life? Fine. You can give her yours."

He dragged me out of the greenhouse. I kicked, I screamed, but the sedative needle one of his men jammed into my neck worked fast.

The last thing I saw was Jaidyn standing up, brushing the dirt off her white dress, watching me with a smile that was sharp enough to cut glass.