I hoped he wouldn't think I was completely useless in that regard.
Maybe it was old-fashioned to save yourself for your wedding, but I had. I hadn't done it deliberately, but when you were Marlon Wynter's daughter, both men, and boys, had a tendency to give you a wide berth. Who would want to be the one to take his daughter's V-card? I was pretty sure no one would be stupid enough to risk their lives just to get into bed with me.
The driver started the Rolls-Royce. I sat in the back with Layla on one side and my dad on the other. We were only in the car for a matter of minutes, and before I could even get my head around it, we were pulling up in front of the church.
It was a pretty red stone building, with a graveyard surrounding it, a gravel path leading up to the front door, and black wrought-iron railings dividing the grounds from the road and pavement. Not that I could see much pavement. People were everywhere. Most of them in expensive suits or pretty dresses. I didn't recognise any of them.
The moment the car stopped, everyone extinguished cigarettes or put their phones away and hurried into the church. Harvey was nowhere to be seen, and I imagined he was already standing at the front of the church, with his younger brother, Leo Cornell, beside him as best man.
Was Harvey nervous, too?
"Are you ready?" my father asked me. I nodded. "As I'll ever be."
Someone must have got the nod as organ music began inside the church and the inner doors were swung wide open, giving us unfettered access.
I stepped through the arched doorway, hanging on tightly to my father's arm. I wanted to keep my line of sight straight and focus on my husband-to- be standing tall at the front, but the moment I caught sight of the pews filled with people, all of whom were staring at me, I couldn't help searching for a familiar face. I wanted to catch the eye of a friend or family member and
have them throw me a reassuring smile, but instead, it was someone else's eye I caught.
Standing near the back, his eyes narrowed, was the brother who hadn't
been asked to be best man.
Tam Cornell didn't approve of this union. I was surprised he'd even come.
While others wore bright colours and light-grey suits with flowers in the lapels to celebrate the wedding, he was dressed entirely in black. At well over six feet, with shoulders that filled out every inch of his suit and biceps pressing at the material of the sleeves, he made for an imposing figure. The black of his suit matched his thick hair and eyes that were almost as dark.
He caught my gaze and held it steady, not a spark of light about him. He was the eldest of the three sons, and so would be the one to take over everything, should something happen to his father, Samuel Cornell. He'd
probably imagined a future where he'd be king of the whole of this side of the river and didn't want to have to share it with my family. We were
ruining that for him now, except he didn't really have a choice. He wouldn't be able to hold off the Gilligans by himself, and he must know that. My father wouldn't have agreed to this either if there was any other way.
I hoped he wasn't here to stir up trouble. This was one day I'd like to get through without a fight breaking out.
I wrenched my eyes away from him, and my cheeks flooded with heat. I focused on the front of the church and the two men standing there, Harvey and Leo. Harvey watched me, and a smile touched my lips. He was
handsome in his three-piece suit, his wavy light-brown hair combed back from his face, his blue eyes a shade darker than the sky. That was one of Harvey's benefits—even though he was the son of one of the most powerful crime families in London, he looked like he should be playing polo on a field in Winchester and breaking for afternoon tea.
In one of the pews near the front of the church, I spotted my brother, Jayden, sitting beside some young woman I didn't even recognise. It was most likely his latest hook-up, or perhaps someone he'd picked up the night before and brought along for the fun of it. I didn't mind. I was just happy he'd come and that I had someone else here who actually gave a shit about me.
I reached Harvey's side. My father paused to face me, kissed my cheek, and leaned in to speak in my ear.
"I'm proud of you for doing this."
I bit back tears and nodded, and he stepped back, allowing me to join Harvey's side.
Harvey smiled at me. "You look beautiful," he whispered. "Thanks," I mouthed back.
The priest cleared his throat, and we both turned our attention him. "We gather here to unite these two people in marriage," he began.
"Their decision to marry has not been entered into lightly, and today they publicly declare their private devotion to each other."
I barely paid any attention to anything else he said. I couldn't help thinking about people in the congregation, staring, all their focus on me. I hadn't ever wanted to be the centre of attention, but now it was unavoidable. Harvey kept catching my eye, smiling at me. I hoped he was
happy with this arrangement and wasn't wondering what the hell he'd got himself into.
The priest cleared his throat again, and I realised it was time for the
marriage vows. Shit, this was it. No time to back out now—not that I'd ever intended on backing out. I wouldn't let my father down like that.
"Repeat after me," the priest said. "I, Harvey James Cornell, take you, Hallie Sophia Wynter, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness and in health, until death do us part."
Harvey repeated everything he'd said. My cheeks hurt from holding a smile for so long, but I didn't feel I could let it fall, not with everyone watching.
The priest addressed me. "Repeat after me. I, Hallie Sophia Wynter, take you—"
The unmistakable crack of gunfire exploded in my ears. In a split second, all hell broke loose. Members of the congregation dropped from the pews, hiding between the solid wooden benches, while others— predominantly the men—returned fire.
Whoever had started the shooting must have done so from near the big wooden doors and had already run. Some of the more prominent men from both families had given chase.
My ears were ringing, and something wet and hot dripped down my face. Feeling as though I'd woken in the middle of a nightmare, I lifted my trembling hand to touch my cheek. When I pulled my hand away, my
fingertips were red with blood. In shock, I turned to Harvey. He wasn't even my husband yet—the priest hadn't had time to finish the ceremony—but still I wanted him for support. But Harvey didn't seem to even be aware of me. Instead, he looked down at his chest and the bloom of red that was spreading across the front of his white shirt.
But it wasn't the wound in his chest that I couldn't take my eyes off, it was the damage that had been done to Harvey's handsome face. It dawned on me where the blood running down my face had come from. He barely seemed to have noticed, staring down instead at the red spot on his shirt, but then his knees folded beneath him, and he crumpled to the floor.
I opened my mouth and screamed.