Chapter 5 - The Trap Begins
Giulietta didn’t break the engagement.
She expanded the guest list.
She made sure a deputy district attorney received an invitation through a charitable board connection. She made sure two banks with open concerns about Warren’s financing sent representatives. She made sure the wedding planner hired Marconi-controlled private security under the harmless label of event logistics.
And she quietly moved Luca.
Her son spent the wedding week not at the family townhouse, but at Antonio Marconi’s old Hudson Valley estate under the care of Giulietta’s brother Enzo and a retired NYPD captain who now ran Marconi security. Luca complained about missing the cake tasting. Giulietta kissed his forehead and told him she was handling grown-up nonsense.
“Is Preston in trouble?” Luca asked with the brutal honesty only children possess.
Giulietta smoothed his hair. “Yes.”
“Because he lies?”
“Yes.”
Luca thought about it. “Then I’m glad you know.”
That same afternoon, Warren summoned Giulietta to his office. He didn’t ask. He summoned.
He stood behind a huge desk, the city spread behind him like he owned that too. “Marriage requires structure,” he said. “Preston has a temper, but he comes from strong stock. A wife adapts.”
Giulietta sat across from him with crossed legs and a polite expression. “A wife or an investment?”
Warren smiled thinly. “In the right family, those can be the same thing.”
There it was. No affection. No pretense. Just acquisition.
Giulietta rose to leave. Warren’s voice stopped her.
“You should know something. Once my son wears that ring, your world changes.”
She turned. “You say that as if it’s a threat.”
“It’s a promise.”
As she rode down in the elevator, Giulietta texted Sofia three words: We keep going.
May you like
Because Warren had just confirmed the one thing she needed most.
He believed victory was already his.
