PART 2: THE SHADOWS OF THE BENNETT BROTHERS
Chicago Memorial Hospital was a chaotic blur of sterile white lights and rushing doctors. Emily was wheeled straight into emergency surgery to stabilize her skull fracture and attempt to save the twins. Caleb sat in the private waiting room, his hands shaking as he poured himself a glass of water.
The door clicked open, and Vanessa Price stepped inside. She wore an oversized trench coat and large designer sunglasses, looking more like an actress avoiding paparazzi than a worried family friend. She didn't offer Caleb comfort. Instead, she locked the door behind her and slapped him across the face.
"You idiot," she hissed, her voice a sharp contrast to her usual silky tone. "You told me she was dead! The news is already reporting that she’s in critical condition. If she survives this night, Caleb, we are both going to prison."
"Shut up, Vanessa!" Caleb snapped, grabbing her wrist. "I hit her hard enough to kill a normal person. She’s stubborn. But that’s not our biggest problem right now." He leaned in, his voice dropping to a terrified whisper. "Before I deleted it, her phone got a text. From the Bennett brothers. They told her to call them."
Vanessa’s face went entirely pale. The arrogant composure she usually maintained shattered instantly. "Jack and Ryan? That's impossible. Ryan is supposed to be serving a life sentence in a supermax facility, and Jack’s convoy was hit in the Middle East three years ago. There was no body, Caleb. They pronounced him dead."
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"Well, whoever wrote that text is alive enough to use a phone," Caleb said, his voice trembling. "And Emily was in contact with them. Why would my housewife wife be talking to the most dangerous operators this city has ever seen?"
What Caleb didn't know was that Emily wasn't just a housewife. Before marrying Caleb to protect her family’s legacy, Emily Bennett had changed her name to cut ties with her brothers' violent world. Jack and Ryan hadn't abandoned her; they had gone underground to systematically dismantle the corrupt political machine that Caleb’s family ran. And now, the monster Caleb had invited into his home had broken the one rule in Chicago: you never, ever touch a Bennett.
