Chapter 5 - Preston Drops the Mask)
Elliot did not open the door.
Marco sent two security men to his building and instructed Elliot to remain inside until they arrived.
Patrick and Preston left six minutes later.
The hallway camera recorded everything.
No crime.
No threats.
Just two men appearing after midnight at the apartment of the employee who had accidentally discovered a forty eight million dollar transfer.
Giulietta watched the footage twice.
Preston looked relaxed.
Almost amused.
Patrick looked terrified.
"Patrick's not the architect," she said.
Naomi nodded.
"He looks like a man being managed."
"Can we flip him?"
Marco asked.
Naomi closed her laptop.
"Eventually. Not tonight."
Giulietta drove home at two thirty in the morning.
Preston was waiting outside her apartment.
She saw him through the glass lobby doors.
He held flowers.
The performance was almost impressive.
Giulietta walked in.
Preston smiled.
"Couldn't sleep."
"So you bought roses at two in the morning?"
"Twenty four hour florist."
"Convenient."
He kissed her cheek.
She allowed it.
"Where were you?" he asked.
"With Marco."
His smile stayed in place.
"Again?"
"Wedding business."
"At two thirty?"
"My family works late."
Preston followed her into the elevator.
The doors closed.
He leaned against the wall.
"Do you trust me?"
Giulietta looked at him.
"Should I?"
"That's not an answer."
"Neither was yours."
The elevator began climbing.
Preston's expression cooled.
"My father thinks Marco is trying to interfere with us."
"Your father thinks anyone he doesn't control is interfering."
"See, that's the kind of thing I'm talking about."
"What kind of thing?"
"You've changed."
The elevator reached her floor.
Giulietta stepped out.
Preston followed.
"Maybe I'm paying attention."
"To what?"
She unlocked the apartment.
"Everything."
He stopped in the doorway.
For several seconds, they looked at each other.
Then his smile returned.
"Let's not do this."
Giulietta went inside.
He placed the roses on the counter.
"I love you."
"Do you?"
Preston turned.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"It means I asked a question."
"You think I'd marry you if I didn't?"
"You haven't married me."
"Not yet."
The phrase landed differently now.
Not yet.
He came closer.
Giulietta stayed still.
"After the wedding," he said, "things are going to settle down."
"What things?"
"All this independence warfare."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Independence warfare."
"You know exactly what I mean."
"No. Explain it."
He sighed.
"We're building a life together. You can't keep running to Marco every time you dislike something."
"And you can't keep running to Warren."
"That's different."
"Why?"
"Because he's my father."
"Marco is my uncle."
"He's not your husband."
"Neither are you."
That hit him.
His jaw flexed.
Preston moved close enough that Giulietta could smell bourbon.
"You enjoy doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Making me look small."
"We're alone."
"You know what I mean."
"Actually, I don't."
He grabbed her wrist.
This time harder.
Giulietta looked down.
Then up.
"Let go."
"Stop pushing me."
"Let go."
"Why do you keep making everything difficult?"
She twisted her arm free.
Preston stepped forward again.
Giulietta picked up a heavy glass candleholder from the counter.
Not dramatically.
Not threateningly.
She simply held it.
Preston noticed.
For the first time, uncertainty appeared in his face.
Giulietta spoke quietly.
"If you put your hands on me again, this relationship ends before you finish the movement."
His eyes went cold.
"You'd hit me?"
"If I needed to protect myself."
His mouth curled.
"You're unbelievable."
"No. You just believed the wrong things about me."
Preston stepped back.
He looked at the candleholder.
Then at her.
The charming mask returned so quickly it was almost frightening.
"Okay."
He lifted both hands.
"Okay. I screwed up."
Giulietta said nothing.
"I'm under a lot of pressure."
"From your father."
"From everything."
He rubbed the back of his neck.
"I'm sorry."
She remained silent.
"Do you want me to leave?"
"Yes."
That surprised him.
"Giulietta."
"You asked."
He stared at her for a long moment.
Then he walked to the door.
Before leaving, he turned.
"My mother used to do this."
Giulietta's blood chilled.
"Do what?"
"Turn every disagreement into proof my dad was some kind of monster."
He laughed without humor.
"She learned eventually."
Giulietta gripped the candleholder.
"What did she learn?"
Preston's eyes held hers.
"That families survive when people understand their place."
Then he left.
Giulietta locked the door.
Only after the elevator began descending did she breathe.
She called Marco immediately.
"He's escalating."
"What happened?"
She told him.
Marco was silent long enough that Giulietta knew exactly how angry he was.
Finally he said, "You need to stay somewhere else."
"No."
"Giulietta."
"If I disappear, they know."
"They already suspect."
"Not enough."
She walked to the window.
Far below, Preston exited the building.
He did not get into his car immediately.
Instead he stood on the sidewalk and looked up.
Toward her apartment.
"Marco."
"Yes?"
"I think Preston knows I'm testing him."
"Then the timetable changes."
Giulietta watched Preston finally enter his car.
"Maybe."
"What are you thinking?"
She looked at the wedding invitation on her kitchen table.
"I'm thinking we stop reacting to them."
Marco was silent.
"And?"
"We give Warren exactly what he wants."
Twenty minutes later, Giulietta sent Preston a message.
I'M SORRY TOO. LET'S FINISH THE PAPERWORK TOMORROW.
Preston replied in twelve seconds.
I LOVE YOU.
Then another message arrived.
DAD WILL BE RELIEVED.
Giulietta smiled coldly.
The following afternoon she signed the medical authorization.
At least, Warren believed she did.
Naomi had created a nearly identical version with one invisible difference.
A tracking code embedded inside the document file.
Whoever uploaded it would lead them directly to the next step of the conspiracy.
Six hours later, the file appeared on a Hale Capital server.
Nine minutes after that, Patrick Dorsey accessed it.
Four minutes later, Warren opened a new account at North Atlantic Private Bank.
The account name made Marco stare at the screen.
MARCONI EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT VEHICLE.
Giulietta leaned forward.
"What happens if they activate that account?"
Naomi answered.
"They start moving your family's assets."
"When?"
"Probably immediately after the wedding."
Giulietta looked at the date.
Sixteen days remained.
Then Elliot called again.
This time he was crying.
Patrick had summoned him to the office.
And on Patrick's desk Elliot had seen something far worse than forged financial documents.
A letter from a physician.
May you like
Dated two days after Giulietta's wedding.
The letter already declared her psychologically incapacitated.
