Chapter 1
Giulietta canceled the wedding before anyone downstairs knew why.
She did it with one phone call.
“No ceremony,” she told her chief of staff. “Keep the guests in the ballroom until transportation is arranged. Nobody speaks to the press.”
Then she looked at Preston.
He was sitting on the edge of the sofa, breathing hard, one hand wrapped around the wrist she had twisted while taking the club from him.
Warren stood near the door.
For a man who had spent thirty years dominating corporate boardrooms, he recovered quickly.
“This is a family misunderstanding.”
Giulietta glanced at the golf club on the carpet.
“No.”
Warren lowered his voice.
“You don’t want police in a wedding venue full of people connected to your family.”
That was the first mistake he made after entering the room.
He expected the Marconi name to frighten Giulietta away from outside scrutiny.
Instead, she took out her phone.
Warren’s expression changed.
“Who are you calling?”
“My lawyer.”
“Giulietta.”
“And after her, the police.”
Preston finally stood.
“You’re going to have me arrested on our wedding day?”
“You swung a metal club at me.”
“You attacked me.”
“I disarmed you.”
“You threw me into a sofa.”
“After you swung a golf club at my head.”
Warren stepped forward.
One of Giulietta’s bodyguards moved between them.
She raised a hand.
“Don’t touch him.”
The bodyguard stopped.
That mattered.
Giulietta was not going to turn an attempted assault into a Mafia retaliation story Warren could use against her.
Her attorney, Naomi Mercer, arrived twenty minutes later.
Police followed.
Giulietta gave a statement.
So did Preston.
So did Warren.
The golf club was left exactly where it had fallen until officers photographed and collected it.
Giulietta did not ask hotel security to delete anything.
She did not tell staff what they had seen.
She did not use Warren’s son as leverage against Warren’s companies.
By midnight, the wedding guests were gone.
Preston left with his attorney after police instructed him not to contact Giulietta directly.
Warren paused near the elevator.
“You’re making a mistake that will cost both families millions.”
Giulietta stood in the hallway still wearing her bridal gown.
“The wedding is over.”
“I’m not talking about the wedding.”
That stopped her.
Warren immediately realized he had said too much.
The elevator doors opened.
He stepped inside.
Giulietta watched them close.
Then Naomi approached.
“What did he mean?”
May you like
Giulietta looked toward the empty bridal suite.
“I think we’re about to find out this was never only about marriage.”
