Chapter 2
The first thing Naomi requested was the hotel’s access log.
The bridal suite had been assigned only three active credentials.
Giulietta’s key.
Her maid of honor’s key.
And a master override held by hotel management.
Yet Warren had unlocked the door himself.
The hotel manager was horrified when Naomi asked how.
Records showed that Warren had requested temporary override access that morning.
His explanation had been reasonable enough.
He was the groom’s father.
He wanted emergency access in case the wedding schedule changed and the couple could not be reached.
The coordinator approved it without consulting Giulietta.
“When exactly did he request it?” Naomi asked.
“Ten twenty-three this morning.”
The ceremony had been scheduled for six.
Preston entered Giulietta’s suite at 5:31.
Warren unlocked it at 5:38.
Seven minutes.
Naomi stared at the timeline.
“He knew exactly when to come upstairs.”
Giulietta said nothing.
The wedding planner produced another detail.
Warren had personally changed the final schedule the night before.
A ten-minute private period had been added immediately before the ceremony.
Bride and groom — private family moment. No staff.
Giulietta had never noticed it.
There had been hundreds of last-minute adjustments.
Flowers.
Transportation.
Photographs.
Guest arrivals.
The line had looked harmless.
“Who requested no staff?” Giulietta asked.
“Mr. Hale.”
“Did Preston know?”
“I assumed so.”
Assumptions had protected Warren all day.
Downstairs, another problem was already developing.
The Hale family’s public-relations firm released a short statement saying the wedding had been postponed after a “private disagreement.”
Naomi called immediately.
“Withdraw it.”
The PR representative sounded confused.
“We were instructed to use approved language.”
“Approved by whom?”
“Mr. Warren Hale’s office.”
“When?”
A pause.
“I’d need to check.”
“Check.”
Twenty minutes later, the answer arrived.
The statement had been prepared before Preston ever entered the bridal suite.
Not released.
Prepared.
At 3:46 that afternoon.
Giulietta looked at Naomi.
“What did Warren expect to happen at 5:31?”
Naomi closed the file.
“We don’t know yet.”
Giulietta thought of Warren opening the door.
No surprise.
No concern for his son.
No question about why Preston was on the sofa or why Giulietta held the club.
Only an order.
Put that down.
May you like
You’re marrying into my family.
He had entered the room like a man arriving late to a conversation he already understood.
