Chapter 4 - The Dead Man's Bloodline
Amelia didn't sleep.
At 4:17 a.m., she called Eleanor Price.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
She stared at the laboratory report.
Anthony Voss.
She had heard the name before.
Everyone in Chicago had.
Declan's father had built the original Voss organization from dockyards and smuggling routes, turning a small criminal operation into one of the city's most powerful private empires.
He had died in a car bombing.
At least, that was what the newspapers said.
Amelia folded the report.
She had barely placed it back into the envelope when footsteps stopped outside her door.
Two sets.
Then three.
She grabbed her bag.
The lock began to turn.
Amelia backed away.
The door opened.
Declan stepped inside.
She couldn't breathe.
He looked thinner.
His face was harder.
Dark circles sat beneath his eyes.
And for one second, despite everything, Amelia saw the man who used to bring coffee to her studio at seven in the morning.
“Amelia.”
She took one step back.
“Don't.”
Declan stopped.
“I won't touch you.”
“You found me.”
“Yes.”
“You shouldn't have.”
His jaw tightened.
“I thought you were dead.”
“I wanted you to think I was gone.”
“I did.”
She laughed bitterly.
“You didn't look very heartbroken on television.”
His expression changed.
“Savannah wasn't my choice.”
“I heard you.”
“What?”
“Resolve quietly.”
Declan closed his eyes.
“Amelia, you heard one sentence without context.”
“I heard enough.”
He stepped forward.
She stepped backward.
His eyes dropped to her stomach.
The tiny movement nearly destroyed him.
“Is the baby okay?”
Amelia's voice was cold.
“You don't get to ask.”
“I have every right.”
“Not after announcing another woman's engagement.”
Declan stared at her.
Then he said quietly, “I never married Savannah.”
“Yet.”
“I was trying to keep you alive.”
Amelia laughed once.
“That line would almost work if your family didn't have armed men surrounding my home.”
Declan's expression sharpened.
“Those men weren't mine.”
“They knew where I was.”
“So did someone inside the clinic.”
He reached into his coat and placed a folder on the table.
“Your medical information was sold.”
Amelia stared at him.
“By whom?”
“We don't know.”
She looked at him.
“You came here because of the baby.”
“No.”
His answer was immediate.
“I came because of you.”
Silence.
She hated how much that hurt.
Declan glanced at the report sticking from her bag.
“What is that?”
Amelia hesitated.
Then handed it over.
The second Declan saw the name Anthony Voss, all color drained from his face.
“Where did you get this?”
“The clinic.”
He read the handwritten note.
His breathing changed.
Gavin appeared in the doorway.
Declan held up the paper.
“Get every file on my father.”
Gavin went rigid.
“Sir?”
“Every file.”
“You said those records were destroyed.”
“They weren't.”
Declan looked at Amelia.
“My father died in 2017.”
“I know.”
“He had no biological children besides me.”
Amelia's voice barely came out.
“Then why does the laboratory record say otherwise?”
Declan looked at the page again.
There was another line beneath the note.
A date.
Nine years ago.
And a name.
MATTHEW VOSS.
Declan stared.
Gavin cursed.
Amelia looked between them.
“Who is Matthew?”
Declan's voice was barely audible.
“My brother.”
Amelia frowned.
“You don't have a brother.”
“I was told I didn't.”
The room went silent.
Then a phone rang.
Gavin answered.
His face changed.
“Declan.”
“What?”
“They found Eleanor Price.”
“Where?”
“Dead.”
Amelia's stomach turned.
Gavin lowered the phone.
“She was killed twenty minutes ago.”
Declan looked at Amelia.
She understood his expression.
May you like
Someone knew they were together.
And whoever it was had already killed once.
