Chapter 2
Vincent produced a cream envelope.
He handed it to her.
“Open it.”
She hesitated.
Then she tore the envelope.
Inside were six pages.
Bank records.
Loan agreements.
Transfer authorizations.
One document carried her father’s signature.
Another carried her own.
Elena’s blood ran cold.
“I never signed this.”
“I know.”
She looked at Vincent.
“What is it?”
“The document giving Vale Capital the right to seize Marlowe Shipping if your family defaults before midnight tonight.”
Her eyes moved rapidly across the page.
“No.”
“Look at page four.”
She did.
A second signature authorization appeared.
This one was unmistakable.
Her mother’s.
Elena looked toward the front pew.
“Mom?”
Margaret Marlowe stopped crying.
Her face crumpled.
Henry whispered, “Margaret, don’t.”
That was when Elena understood.
The betrayal had not begun with Adrian that morning.
It had begun inside her own house.
Vincent leaned close enough that only she could hear him.
“If you walk out of this church alone, Elena, the Vales own your family company by midnight.”
Her fingers tightened around the documents.
“And if I leave with you?”
Vincent’s gaze held hers.
“They don’t.”
“How?”
“I purchased the debt seventeen minutes ago.”
She stared at him.
“You what?”
“Every dollar.”
“Why?”
His answer came quietly.
“Because four years ago, when nobody important was watching, you saved thirty-seven families who worked for me.”
Elena’s lips parted.
She knew exactly what he meant.
Vincent continued.
“And because whatever happens next, you deserve to discover who betrayed you before someone else decides your future for you.”
He offered his hand again.
This time he did not tell the room she belonged to him.
He simply asked her.
“Do you want to leave?”
Elena looked at Adrian’s empty place.
Then at her father.
Then at her mother.
Finally, she looked at Vincent Moretti.
And placed her hand in his.
Outside, rain had begun falling.
Cold October rain streaked the windows of the black sedan as Vincent’s driver pulled away from the cathedral.
Elena sat with six feet of wedding dress gathered around her and stared straight ahead.
Vincent sat across from her.
For three blocks, neither spoke.
Then Elena slapped the documents against the leather seat.
“Start talking.”
Vincent glanced at the red mark still visible on his cheek.
“I suspected that was coming.”
“You deserved worse.”
“Probably.”
“Do not charm me.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You announced to five hundred people that I was yours.”
“I apologized.”