Chapter 2
Giulietta did not turn toward the mirror immediately.
She watched Warren instead.
His face gave her more.
One breath.
Held too long.
Then released.
Preston saw the light too.
His shoulders tightened.
Giulietta walked to the vanity.
She touched the edge of the mirror with two fingers.
“Camera.”
Luca looked toward it.
His face lost color.
One bodyguard removed the decorative frame.
A compact recording device had been built into the wall cavity.
Not hotel equipment.
Professional.
Directional.
Positioned toward the sofa.
Giulietta looked at the angle.
Then at Preston.
It captured where he landed.
It did not capture the corner where he first raised the club.
Her mouth curved.
Not a smile.
Understanding.
Preston stepped forward.
“You think we installed that?”
Giulietta looked at him.
“I think somebody wanted footage of me attacking my groom.”
Warren’s eyes narrowed.
“You did attack him.”
Giulietta’s gaze stayed steady.
“He swung first.”
“The camera won't show that.”
Silence.
Warren realized what he had admitted.
Preston looked at his father.
Giulietta’s capos did not move.
That stillness made the room feel smaller.
Warren corrected himself.
“I’m telling you what the angle appears to show.”
Giulietta nodded slowly.
“Of course.”
She looked toward Luca.
“Who authorized bridal-suite security?”
Luca’s throat moved.
“I did.”
The words settled heavily.
Giulietta stared at the man who had known her since childhood.
“You inspected this room?”
“Yes.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't find this?”
Luca’s hand closed around the folder.
“No.”
A lie.
She heard it in the pause.
So did Warren.
That was worse.
Giulietta stepped closer to Luca.
His eyes dropped for the first time she could remember.
“You taught me not to look at the mouth when someone lies.”
His breathing caught.
“You told me to watch the hands.”
Luca’s fingers immediately opened.
Too late.
Giulietta looked down.
The cuff of his suit had ridden back.
A small scrape crossed his wrist.
Fresh.
The bodyguard holding the mirror frame turned it over.
Inside the cavity, one mounting screw had a trace of dried blood.
Luca stared at it.
Warren became perfectly still.
Giulietta’s voice lost all warmth.
“You installed the camera.”
Luca looked at her.
Pain appeared in his eyes.
Not fear.
Something closer to shame.
“Yes.”
Preston exhaled.
Warren did not.
Giulietta’s capos shifted behind her.
She lifted one hand.
They stopped.
“Why?”
Luca swallowed.
His voice dropped.
“Because I was told it would protect you.”
Giulietta’s eyes narrowed.
“By whom?”
Luca looked toward Warren.
Warren’s face remained unreadable.
Then Luca shook his head.
“No.”
Giulietta waited.
Luca looked past her—
May you like
toward the corridor full of Marconi men.
“It came from inside our family.”
