Part 3. The Groom’s Name
Celia spoke about the wedding as if she were presenting a business deal.
Three hundred guests.
Politicians.
Defense contractors.
Executives.
Donors.
Then Mara asked one simple question.
“What is the groom’s name?”
Celia’s expression tightened.
“Lieutenant Commander Rowan Blake.”
The name hit Mara like a signal through static.
Years earlier, during a classified mission in East Africa, Mara had flown through impossible fire to extract a trapped special-operations team.
The team never knew her real name.
Only her call sign.
Raven.
One of the men she saved had been Rowan Blake.
Now he was marrying her sister.
Mara said nothing.
But Celia noticed the reaction.
And Helena, as always, mistook silence for weakness.
