Chapter 4 - No Wedding
Giulietta did not go alone.
She went visibly alone.
There was a difference.
Only the torn page from the false prenup folded inside her robe.
Elena's sedan sat crooked across two spaces.
"Elena?"
No answer.
A phone lay on the ground beside the rear tire.
Elena's phone.
The screen was cracked, but still lit.
"You always did hate instructions."
Rafael stepped out.
Giulietta hated that most.
"Where is she?"
"Safe."
"That's not a location."
"The wedding happens. You sign the revision. Elena comes back."
"How much?"
His mouth tightened.
"This isn't about money."
"Then it's about fear. Warren found something on you."
A fraction.
Giulietta took one step closer.
"What did he find?"
"Your father left debts."
"My father left enemies. Different thing."
"You don't know what he built."
"I know exactly what he built. That's why Warren wants control of it."
A car door slammed somewhere behind the pillars.
Giulietta saw it.
"Who else is down here?"
"Go upstairs."
"Where is Elena?"
"Go upstairs!"
Marco's voice came from the dark.
"She asked you a question."
Giulietta moved.
She grabbed Elena's phone and backed away as Marco and Nico closed in.
Rafael raised both hands.
"You don't understand. If the ceremony doesn't happen by noon, they trigger the debt clause."
"What debt clause?"
Rafael looked sick.
"Ask your father's accountant."
"He's dead."
"Then ask why he died two days after the Hale engagement was announced."
A horn sounded from the garage entrance.
Marco chased him.
Because Elena's cracked phone had unlocked in her hand.
On the screen was a photograph of an old Marconi ledger.
May you like
Across the bottom, Elena had typed one sentence.
YOUR FATHER NEVER OWED THE HALES A CENT.
