Chapter 6 - The Brother Who Came Back
The meeting location was an abandoned Callahan warehouse near the river.
Roman brought six men.
Vincent demanded he enter alone.
Roman ignored him.
I entered beside Roman.
Caleb stood beneath a single industrial light.
Alive.
Thinner.
Scarred.
But alive.
For eighteen months I had imagined this moment.
I had imagined slapping him.
Kissing him.
Screaming.
Instead, I simply asked:
“Why?”
His eyes filled when he saw me.
“Emily.”
“Why?”
He stepped forward.
Roman blocked him.
Caleb laughed bitterly.
“Still controlling everyone?”
Roman’s voice hardened.
“Where’s Vincent?”
“Safe.”
“From me?”
“From what you’ll do when you learn the truth.”
I pushed around Roman.
“Forget him. Look at me.”
Caleb did.
“You left me pregnant.”
“I was taken.”
“Then you escaped.”
Silence.
“You watched us from across the street.”
His face collapsed.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you come home?”
“Because they would’ve followed me.”
“Who?”
Caleb looked at Roman.
“My family.”
Roman’s men shifted.
Caleb explained that after Lily was conceived, he discovered someone had reopened the investigation into Sebastian Callahan’s death.
A hidden ledger showed payments connected to the Lake Geneva attack.
Caleb planned to expose them.
Then his brakes failed.
He survived.
Vincent rescued him.
Or claimed to.
For months, Caleb was medicated inside the private facility “for his protection.”
When he finally regained control, Vincent showed him photographs.
Me.
Pregnant.
Then Lily.
“If I contacted you, he said Roman would know.”
Roman’s expression darkened.
“You believed him?”
“You murdered Dad.”
“I didn’t.”
Caleb laughed.
“Of course.”
Then I asked the obvious question.
“If Vincent imprisoned you, why are you protecting him now?”
Caleb’s eyes shifted.
That hesitation told Roman everything.
“He’s listening.”
Caleb’s face changed.
Roman moved instantly.
He tore open Caleb’s jacket.
A microphone was taped inside.
Caleb grabbed his wrist.
Too late.
Roman ripped it free and crushed it.
The warehouse lights died.
Engines roared outside.
Roman shoved me behind a steel column.
His guards drew weapons.
No shots came.
Instead, a speaker activated.
Vincent’s voice filled the warehouse.
“Thank you, Caleb.”
Caleb went pale.
“For what?”
“For finally bringing Roman exactly where I needed him.”
Metal doors slammed shut.
Roman looked upward.
Red security lights appeared.
Vincent continued:
“Sebastian made one mistake.”
Roman’s jaw clenched.
“He believed one of his sons would inherit the Callahan empire.”
A second door opened above us.
Vincent appeared behind reinforced glass.
May you like
Then smiled.
“He never considered that neither of you was actually his son.”
