Chapter 7 - The Cancellation of Gianna MorettiThe main sanctuary of St. Jude’s was filled with a tense, suffocating silence.
The priest had reached the crucial moment of the ceremony. “If any man can show just cause why they may not be lawfully joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace.”
The heavy double doors at the back of the cathedral slammed open.
Cash Mercer walked down the central aisle, his white shirt stained with blood, his suit jacket discarded. Beside him walked Marin Holloway, her clothes soaked from the rain, her face pale but determined. Behind them came ten of the Mercer family’s heaviest captains, their weapons visible beneath their long coats.
A collective gasp rippled through the pews.
Donato Moretti stood up, his hand instantly reaching inside his coat. “What is the meaning of this, Mercer? Who is this... this street girl?”
Gianna Moretti spun around, her beautiful lace veil swinging. Through the sheer fabric, her eyes were wide with a sudden, animalistic panic. “Cash? What are you doing?”
Cash stopped at the foot of the altar, looking up at the woman who was supposed to be his wife.
“The wedding is off, Gianna,” Cash said, his voice carrying to every corner of the vast cathedral.
“Are you insane?” Donato roared, stepping into the aisle. “You insult my daughter? You insult the Moretti name in front of the entire city? This means war, Mercer!”
“War started two days ago, Donato,” Cash said, tapping his phone.
The massive projection screens on either side of the altar—usually reserved for displaying hymn lyrics—instantly flickered to life. Instead of religious texts, they displayed a series of recorded video confessions from Teddy’s doctor, detailing the exact chemical composition of the poison used on the suture thread, along with wire transfer receipts from the Moretti bank accounts in Switzerland to Teddy Vance’s private holding company.
The sanctuary went dead silent. Even the priest stepped back, his hands shaking as he clutched his Bible.
“Your daughter didn't come to unite our families, Donato,” Cash said, stepping closer to Gianna. He reached out, his fingers grabbing the edge of her expensive Venetian lace veil, and with one violent pull, tore it from her head, throwing it onto the stone floor. “She came to destroy me. And she used a traitor in my own house to do it.”
Gianna stared at him, her beautiful face twisting into a mask of pure, unadulterated hatred. She didn't deny it. She didn't cry. She reached into the folds of her silk wedding gown, pulling a small, pearl-handled derringer.
Before she could raise it, Marin lunged forward, her nurse’s training overriding her fear. She grabbed Gianna’s wrist, twisting it downward. The gun fired with a loud, deafening crack, the bullet shattering a marble tile near the altar.
The Mercer captains instantly swarmed the altar, disarming Gianna and pinning Donato to his pew before a single Moretti guard could draw their weapon.
“Get them out of my sight,” Cash said, his voice flat and empty of any emotion. “The Moretti family is banned from the Baltimore harbor. If I see a single one of your ships in my sector after midnight, I will sink them myself.”
As the Morettis were dragged out of the cathedral in handcuffs, the remaining guests sat in stunned, terrified silence.
Cash turned to look at Marin, who was standing near the altar, her chest heaving, her hands stained with the dust of the shattered tile. He walked over to her, his eyes locked onto hers with a deep, unyielding intensity.
May you like
“You saved my life twice today, Marin Holloway,” he said.
“I told you,” she whispered, her voice shaking. “I’m a very useful woman.”
