Chapter 5 - Bakers Don’t Bring Surgical Shears to WeddingsKora returned to Mercer Street wearing her father’s old gray sweatshirt over the remains of her wedding dress.
Gino had offered to find clothes.
She refused.
Maybe because changing would make the day feel real.
Maybe because some stubborn part of her wanted Leo’s fingerprints preserved on every ruined piece of white lace.
Mateo was awake.
“You look terrible,” he said.
“So do you.”
“I was nearly blown up.”
“So was I.”
“Fair.”
She pulled a chair beside his bed.
“Show me.”
Gino handed her the report.
The explosive component traced back to Vale Urban Demolition.
Leo had created the company four years earlier.
“He planned it,” Kora said.
Mateo watched her.
“Yes.”
“Why marry me first?”
“That’s what we need to learn.”
Kora folded the report.
Mateo noticed the black pouch still strapped beneath her dress.
“You never explained the shears.”
“You know I was a trauma nurse.”
“That explains owning them.”
“Not bringing them to a wedding.”
Kora leaned back.
“I knew the wedding might become dangerous.”
“Why?”
“Because three weeks ago someone broke into my apartment.”
Mateo’s expression hardened.
“What was taken?”
“Nothing.”
“Then they were looking for something.”
“Yes.”
“Your mother’s evidence.”
“That was my assumption.”
“And you still came?”
“I needed Leo to believe I didn’t know.”
Mateo studied her for a long moment.
“You married a man you suspected might have killed your mother.”
“I almost married him.”
“You walked to the altar.”
“I never said I intended to finish the ceremony.”
That genuinely surprised him.
Kora reached into the pouch.
She removed a small digital recorder.
“I intended to get him talking.”
Mateo stared.
“You were wearing a wire?”
“A recorder.”
“To your own wedding.”
“Yes.”
He smiled despite the bandages.
“Kora Bell.”
“What?”
“I think everyone has dramatically misunderstood you.”
She looked down.
“People see what makes them comfortable.”
Mateo’s smile disappeared.
“Leo called you a bad investment.”
“He wasn’t the first.”
“You heard them.”
“All of them.”
Mateo’s jaw tightened.
Kora noticed.
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Get angry on my behalf.”
“Why not?”
“Because I don’t need it.”
Mateo nodded slowly.
“You’re right.”
The answer surprised her.
Most men argued when corrected.
Mateo didn’t.
Gino entered carrying a laptop.
“We recovered street camera footage from outside Saint Jude’s.”
He placed the laptop on the bed.
The footage showed Leo’s Mercedes arriving hours before the ceremony.
Two workers unloaded crates through the side entrance.
Then another car arrived.
Dominico.
He spoke with Leo.
No audio.
Ten minutes later, Dominico left.
Kora leaned closer.
“Go back.”
Gino rewound.
“What?”
“There.”
A third man stood behind Leo.
Baseball cap.
Gray jacket.
Face partially hidden.
Mateo stared.
“I know him.”
“Who?”
“My security coordinator.”
Gino’s face went pale.
“Rafael?”
Mateo nodded.
The implications settled over the room.
The chapel attack had required inside information.
Mateo’s schedule.
His security routes.
His seating position.
Kora whispered, “Leo didn’t do this alone.”
“No.”
Mateo’s expression became frighteningly calm.
“One of my own people helped him.”
Kora looked at the frozen video.
Rafael was holding something.
A folder.
On the cover was the logo of Kora’s former hospital.
She leaned closer.
“Zoom in.”
Gino did.
A handwritten label was visible.
BELL, KORA — INTERNAL INVESTIGATION.
The room became silent.
Mateo looked at her.
“Kora.”
She barely heard him.
Someone had kept her confidential termination file for three years.
And now that file had appeared outside the chapel hours before someone tried to kill her.
May you like
Her past was not separate from the wedding.
It was the reason for it.
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