Chapter 31 Calder #2
I watch Kade’s face carefully. See the way he goes absolutely still. The way hope and dread war in his expression. He’s always wanted Roman’s approval more than any of us. Always pushed harder, worked longer, and been more ruthless in his attempt to earn a place at the table.
Now, Roman’s about to destroy him.
“You spend your whole life trying to be worthy,” Roman continues, his voice thick with alcohol and contempt. “Trying to prove yourself. Trying to earn what your brothers got by birth. And no matter how hard you try, it’ll never happen.”
“I’ve done everything you asked,” Kade says, and there’s a rawness in his voice that makes my chest ache. “Everything.”
“You have, but that doesn’t matter, because at the end of the day, you’re not a real Bishop.”
The words hit like a sucker punch to the gut.
Kade goes pale. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, did I forget to mention that?” Roman laughs, the sound vicious. “You’re my son, Kade. Biologically speaking, but your mother…” He takes another drink. “Your mother was Emma Porter.”
The room tilts. I feel it in my bones, in my blood. Feel the revelation explode through the space like a grenade, sending shrapnel in every direction. Sawyer makes a sound, something between a gasp and a curse. Levi’s mouth falls open. Saint’s hand tightens on mine, her nails digging into my palm.
And Kade. Kade just stares at Roman like he’s been shot. Like the bullet is still lodged in his chest and he’s waiting to see if he’ll bleed out.
“Emma Porter,” Kade repeats, his voice hollow. “Allie’s mother.”
“That’s right. Twenty-six years ago, she made the mistake of catching my attention.
We had an affair. She got pregnant. Tried to leave town with you in her belly, but I convinced her that wouldn’t be wise.
” Roman’s smile is cold. Satisfied. “So after she had you, I took you. Raised you as a Bishop because I could. It was the ultimate fuck-you to the Porter family. Taking their heir and making him my weapon.”
“You took me.” Kade’s words come out flat. Dead. “You took me from my mother.”
“I saved you from a life of mediocrity. The Porters are nothing. Weak. Soft. I gave you strength. Purpose. A legacy.”
“A legacy.” Kade laughs, and the sound is broken. Jagged. “You raised me to destroy my own family. To hate my own blood. And you think that’s a gift?”
“I’m calling it justice. Emma Porter thought she could refuse me. Thought she could take what was mine and run. I showed her what happens when people try to leave this family. When they think they can defy me.”
Roman finishes his drink and pours another.
The whiskey is affecting him more now, loosening his tongue, stripping away the calculated control he usually maintains.
“You want to know the best part? I told her if she ever tried to see you, if she ever tried to contact you or claim you as hers, I’d kill you myself.
She spent twenty-six years living ten miles away from her own son, watching him grow up, and never said a word. ”
“Stop,” Elena snaps from the end of the table.
It’s the first time she’s spoken all night. The first time I’ve heard her voice do anything but whisper in years. We all turn to look at her. She’s sitting rigid in her chair, hands folded in her lap, her face the color of snow. But her eyes are full of something I rarely see there. Anger.
“Stop talking,” she says again, her voice stronger now. “You’ve said enough.”
Roman turns to her, eyebrows raised. “You have something to add, dear?”
“Emma Porter is a good woman. A kind woman. You destroyed her life because she dared to say no to you, because she had the strength to resist you when I didn’t.
” Elena’s hands tremble, but she keeps her gaze locked on Roman.
“You’ve tortured her for twenty-six years, letting her see her son but never hold him.
Never tell him the truth. That’s evil, Roman. Even for you.”
“Watch yourself.”
“Or what? You’ll hit me again?” Elena stands, her chair scraping back. “You’ll lock me in a room? Threaten me with violence? I’ve lived with your violence for thirty years. There’s nothing you can do to me now that you haven’t already done.”
Roman’s face darkens. “Sit down.”
“No.” Elena looks at Kade, and there are tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I should have told you years ago. Should have found a way to let you know the truth, but I couldn’t. I was afraid. Afraid of what he’d do. Afraid of—”
“I said sit down!” Roman’s voice is a roar. He surges to his feet, knocking his chair backward with a crash. Elena flinches but doesn’t move. Doesn’t run. Just stands there, facing him down for maybe the first time in her life. I realize this is it. This is the moment everything breaks open.
I start to push back from the table, ready to move, ready to put myself between them. But Saint’s hand stops me. She’s looking at me with those dark blue eyes, and I can see the fear there. The plea.
Don’t. Not yet.
She’s right. If I move now, Roman’s attention will shift back to me. Back to Saint. Better to let him focus on Elena. Better to let this play out.
Kade is still sitting frozen, his face a mask of shock and pain and betrayal. The news about his mother has gutted him. I can see it in every line of his body, in the way he’s holding himself like he might shatter if he moves.
Roman moves toward Elena, and she takes a step back.
“You want to defend Emma Porter?” Roman’s words are slurred now, his movements loose with alcohol. “You want to stand up for the woman who tried to steal from me? Who thought she was better than me?”
“She was better than you,” Elena says quietly. “She still is.”
The slap comes fast. Elena’s head snaps to the side, the sound echoing through the dining room. She stumbles, then catches herself on the edge of the table. Blood trickles from the corner of her mouth where Roman’s ring catches her lip.
“Don’t talk about things you don’t understand,” Roman says.
“I understand perfectly.” Elena touches her mouth, looks at the blood on her fingers. “You’re a monster. You’ve always been a monster. And you raised our sons to be monsters too.”
“Mom,” Sawyer says, his voice strained.
Elena doesn’t look at him. Doesn’t look at any of us. She keeps her eyes on Roman, and there’s something defiant in her gaze now. Something that’s been buried for so long I’d forgotten it existed.
“Kade is Emma’s son,” she continues. “And you stole him from her. You’ve tormented him his whole life, making him work for approval that you knew you’d never give. Making him hate his own heritage. Now you’re telling him the truth, only so you can hurt him further. You’re using him like a tool.”
“He is a tool.” Roman’s voice is cold. Flat. “You’re all tools. Weapons I’ve forged to do what needs to be done, and when tools break, when they betray me…” He looks at me. “They get discarded.”
Kade makes a sound. Something between a sob and a laugh. “Emma Porter is my mother.”
“Yes.”
“And you took me from her. Raised me to hate her. To hate her family. To—” He stops, runs his hands through his hair. “Jesus Christ. Allie. Allie’s my sister.”
“Half sister,” Roman corrects. “Different parents. Though Emma did adopt her, so I suppose technically—”
“Shut up.” Kade’s voice is low. Dangerous. “Just shut the fuck up.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” Kade stands, his chair crashing to the floor behind him. His face is flushed, his hands shaking. “My entire life has been a lie. Everything you told me. Everything you made me believe about myself. About my place in this family. It’s all bullshit.”
“Kade,” Roman says, his tone a warning.
“What? You going to hit me too? Going to remind me that I’m not a real Bishop? That I’m just Emma Porter’s bastard that you stole because you could?” Kade laughs, and it’s the most broken sound I’ve ever heard. “Go ahead. Do it. Add it to the list of ways you’ve destroyed me.”
Roman moves fast for a drunk man. His hand locks around Kade’s throat, slamming him back against the wall beside the china cabinet. The dishes rattle. Elena cries out. Saint’s nails dig into my palm hard enough to draw blood.
“You want to know why I never gave you the approval you craved?” Roman’s face is inches from Kade’s, his voice dropping to something quiet and vicious.
“Because you’re not worthy of it. You’re Emma Porter’s mistake.
A reminder of the one woman who dared to refuse me.
And every time I look at you, every time you open your mouth and beg for my attention like a fucking dog, all I see is her. ”
Kade’s face is turning red. He claws at Roman’s hand, trying to breathe.
“You want to be a Bishop?” Roman continues.
“You want that so badly? Then earn it. Stop whining. Stop questioning. Stop acting like you deserve something just because I let you carry the name.” He releases Kade suddenly, and he drops to the floor gasping.
“But let’s be honest, we both know you’ll never earn it.
At the end of the day, you’re not my son, not really. You’re hers, and that makes you weak.”
Kade stays on the floor, his hand at his throat, his eyes full of something that looks like death.
Roman has finally gone too far. Not with me. Not with the FBI betrayal. Not even with the revelation about Emma Porter. But with this. By stripping away the one thing Kade has clung to his entire life—the belief that he belonged. That he mattered. That he was worthy of the Bishop name.
Roman has destroyed him. I don’t know if there’s anything left to save.
“This dinner is over,” I say, breaking the silence.
Roman turns to look at me, surprised. Like he’d forgotten I was here.
“Over?” He laughs. “We’re just getting started. We still need to discuss your punishment. What I’m going to do to you and that little whore you brought into my house.”
“Don’t call her that.”
“I’ll call her whatever I want. She’s nothing. A witness who should’ve died weeks ago. The only reason she’s still breathing is because you developed a conscience at the worst possible time.” Roman moves toward the table again, reaching for the whiskey bottle. “That’s about to change.”
I stand, pulling Saint up with me. “We’re leaving.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Try to stop me.”
The words hang in the air. A challenge. A line drawn.
Roman goes very still. Then he smiles, and it’s the coldest thing I’ve ever seen. “You think you’re brave now, Calder? Because the FBI is listening? Because you’ve got your little insurance policy?” He taps his chest, right where my wire is hidden. “You think that’s going to save you?”
“I think you’re drunk and you’ve said enough to bury yourself ten times over. So yes. I think it’s going to save me.”
“Then you’re stupider than I thought.” Roman moves around the table, slow and deliberate.
“The FBI can’t move without evidence. And evidence needs to be admissible.
Needs to be obtained legally. You think they’re going to be able to use anything from tonight?
A recording made without a warrant? In a private home?
With a wire that you illegally placed?” He laughs.
“Your agent friend should have explained the law better.”
My stomach drops.
Reese said it would be admissible. Said we had legal standing because—
But I can see in Roman’s eyes that he’s thought this through. That maybe he’s known longer than I realized. Known and let me hang myself.
“So here’s what’s going to happen,” Roman continues, his voice casual now.
Almost friendly. “You’re going to give me that wire.
Your brothers are going to hold you down while I beat the location of every FBI contact out of you.
And then we’re going to solve the problem of your wife once and for all. ”
He pulls a gun from his waistband and points it at Saint.
“Or we can just start with her.”