Page 114 of Velvet Chains

Rosie walked between Alek and Julian, holding their hands like a tiny peace treaty. She sparkled, literally—her shoes had glitter, and she insisted on wearing the tiara from last year’s Three Kings pageant. She looked like hope.

We were almost to our pew when Julian stopped.

I followed his gaze—and froze.

The Callahans were here.

Front left side. Their whole cursed dynasty occupying a full row like they owned the place. Men in black suits. Women in fur. Kids dressed like Christmas cards. Tristan closest to the aisle, Liam beside him.

And one seat in: Kieran.

He wasn’t looking at me. He didn’t need to. I felt him like gravity. A pulse in the earth.

Julian’s spine straightened, slow and stiff. I saw the shift in him before he said a word. Valerie clocked it too, leaned in, and whispered something that made his jaw twitch.

“This isn’t their church,” I said under my breath, too quiet for anyone but Alek to hear.

He nodded, eyes still forward. “It is tonight.”

We took a pew halfway back on the opposite side. Not because we were scared. But because I refused to give them the satisfaction of confrontation.

I made myself look straight ahead. Not left. Not toward him.

But Rosie didn’t get the memo.

The moment we sat down, she twisted in place, scanning the crowd like she was looking for someone.

“Key!” she whisper-shouted, pointing before I could stop her.

My stomach flipped.

Alek put a hand on her shoulder, gentle but firm. “Inside voice, Ro.”

She didn’t hear him. Or if she did, she didn’t care. Her arm shot into the air like she was trying to flag down a cab. “Hi, Key!”

Across the church, Kieran looked up.

So did the rest of the Callahans.

Tristan’s expression didn’t change, not really—but something in the stillness of it made my blood go cold. Adriana Callahan, with a toddler on her lap, watched me before leaning in and whispering something to him. Liam glanced at Kieran, brows rising just a fraction. A child seated between them—Tristan’s daughter, I thought—looked curious. Another kid, a boy her age, grinned at Rosie and gave her a little wave.

She waved back, delighted.

Julian turned to me, brows furrowed. “You know the Callahans?”

“Just…she must have seen him at the courthouse,” I said quickly, even though we both knew that wasn’t the case. “She liked his name.”

Julian’s eyes didn’t leave mine.

But the priest was talking and, eventually, he let it go.

Meanwhile…I was in a tailspin. I didn’t know why Kieran was here, why the whole family was here. He said he’d been trying to protect me from Tristan…but Tristan washere.A man who’d put a death threat on my name was here, and he’d brought his family, and maybe…

…what if he recognized Rosie? What if he saw the resemblance between my daughter and his?

What if he already knew?

We made it through the whole service. Rosie didn’t fall asleep. She yawned hard during communion and leaned against my side with alarming weight, but she didn’t conk out. Natalia whispered the liturgy in Russian. Valerie cried during “Silent Night.” Alek rubbed his temple when someone tried to hand him a candle and he accidentally dropped the matchbook.