Chapter 3
The money problem began the next morning.
Giulietta chaired Marconi Capital, the legitimate holding company that controlled hotels, commercial property, food distribution, and several construction partnerships across Illinois and Wisconsin.
The Hale family owned a hospitality group with three luxury properties and a troubled riverfront redevelopment project in Chicago.
The marriage had never been required for the business deal.
But the two families had been negotiating a joint venture for almost a year.
Marconi money would stabilize the riverfront project.
Hale management would operate the completed hotel complex.
The deal was worth hundreds of millions over time.
Giulietta had nearly killed it forty-eight hours before the wedding.
Her chief financial officer, Daniel Price, had found a last-minute change buried inside the revised guarantee package.
If construction costs exceeded a specific threshold, Marconi Capital would absorb most of the additional debt while Hale Hospitality retained management control.
“That wasn’t in the term sheet,” Giulietta said.
“No.”
“Who added it?”
“Hale counsel.”
“Who pushed it?”
Daniel placed an email on the table.
Warren.
He had written that the revision was “administrative” and should be signed before the wedding weekend ended.
Giulietta had refused.
She told Preston they would revisit the deal after the honeymoon.
He became irritated.
At the time, she assumed he was embarrassed by conflict between their families.
Now the timing looked different.
Naomi reviewed the correspondence.
“Did Preston know you weren’t signing?”
“Yes.”
“When did you tell him?”
“The night before the wedding.”
“What did he say?”
Giulietta remembered exactly.
My father is going to lose his mind.
She had laughed.
Preston had not.
Naomi looked toward the financial documents.
“So Warren needs your signature.”
“He wants it.”
“Difference?”
“Needing something makes people stupid.”
Naomi raised an eyebrow.
“You say that as though swinging a golf club at your fiancée was the intelligent version.”
Giulietta almost smiled.
Then Daniel found another email.
Warren had requested that the revised documents be physically delivered to the hotel on the wedding day.
Why?
His lawyer’s note explained:
In case Ms. Marconi wishes to resolve outstanding matters before departure.
Departure meant honeymoon.
Giulietta looked at the timestamp.
May you like
The documents arrived at 4:50.
Forty-one minutes before Preston locked the bridal-suite door.
