Chương 5
Alessandro watched the elevator numbers climb until the display went dark.
Marcy shifted her tablet from one hand to the other.
Bianca remained near the dressing-room doorway, one hand closed around the bare finger where the ring had been.
For several seconds, none of them spoke.
Then Bianca said, “You embarrassed me in front of her.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“She asked me a question.”
“You could have lied.”
“I already did enough of that.”
The answer made Bianca flinch.
Marcy glanced toward the far end of the corridor, where two hotel employees had appeared with folded table linens and were trying very hard not to look interested.
“Mr. Moretti,” she said quietly, “I need permission to tell the banquet team to stop service.”
Alessandro rubbed a hand over his face.
“Yes.”
“And the officiant?”
“Tell him there will be no ceremony.”
“The musicians?”
“Send them home and pay them.”
Bianca laughed without humor.
“Of course.”
He turned toward her.
“What does that mean?”
“It means you can make every ugly thing tidy if you write enough checks.”
“You’d prefer I don’t pay people who came here to work?”
“That’s not what I said.”
“It sounded like it.”
“That’s your favorite trick.”
Marcy took a small step backward.
Bianca noticed and snapped, “You don’t have to stand there.”
“I actually do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I need instructions from both of you regarding guest communication.”
“You heard him.”
Marcy’s eyes remained neutral.
“I heard Mr. Moretti.”
Bianca stared at her.
Marcy swallowed and continued.
“I need to know whether you want a joint announcement or separate communication to your guests.”
“My guests are not being told anything yet.”
Alessandro exhaled.
“Bianca.”
“My father will be here in five minutes.”
“That doesn’t change anything.”
“You don’t know that.”
He stared at her.
Bianca lifted her chin.
“My father paid deposits that are nonrefundable.”
“I said I’ll reimburse him.”
“You think this is about deposits?”
“I think your father will make it about whatever gives him leverage.”
Her face sharpened.
“Do not talk about him like that.”
“He tried to renegotiate our prenuptial agreement three days ago.”
Marcy’s eyes flicked up before she could stop them.
Bianca’s cheeks reddened.
“That was between the attorneys.”
“He called mine directly.”
“He was protecting me.”
“He was trying to insert terms you and I had already rejected.”
“You rejected.”
“We agreed.”
“You decided, and I stopped arguing.”
Alessandro said nothing.
Bianca smiled faintly.
“There’s a difference.”
Footsteps sounded from the stairwell.
A broad man in a tuxedo emerged with Bianca’s mother behind him and one of the bridesmaids trailing several feet back.
Bianca’s father, Vittorio, took in the corridor in a single sweep and stopped when he saw Alessandro.
“What happened?”
Bianca turned toward him.
For the first time since Alessandro entered the dressing room, her face softened.
“Dad.”
He crossed to her.
His gaze dropped to her bare hand.
“What happened?”
Alessandro answered.
“The wedding is off.”
Vittorio looked at him as if he had spoken in another language.
“What?”
“Alessandro.”
Bianca’s mother moved past her husband.
She touched Bianca’s arm.
“Where is your ring?”
Bianca glanced toward the dressing room.
Her mother followed the look and saw it on the vanity beside the clippers.
“What in God’s name is going on?”
Vittorio stepped closer to Alessandro.
“You are not canceling my daughter’s wedding forty minutes before the ceremony.”
Alessandro’s jaw tightened.
“I’m canceling my wedding.”
“You gave your word.”
“So did she.”
Bianca closed her eyes.
“Dad, please.”
“No.”
Vittorio pointed toward Alessandro.
“This man doesn’t get to humiliate you and then walk away.”
Alessandro’s expression hardened.
“Be careful.”
“Or what?”
Marcy took another step back.
Bianca’s mother whispered, “Vittorio.”
He ignored her.
“You’ve been looking for a reason to bolt since Christmas.”
Alessandro’s eyes narrowed.
“Interesting.”
Bianca looked at her father.
“Dad.”
“You told him?”
Alessandro asked.
Bianca’s mouth opened.
Vittorio answered for her.
“She came to us because she was scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of being abandoned.”
Alessandro gave a short laugh.
There was no amusement in it.
“She was scared I might leave, so you tried to rewrite the prenup.”
“She wanted security.”
“She has security.”
“She has a house you bought before you met her, a lifestyle dependent on you, and a child who has never accepted her.”
Bianca looked stricken.
“Dad.”
Alessandro stepped forward.
“Do not bring Livia into this.”
“She is already in it.”
Vittorio’s voice remained controlled, but his face had reddened.
“Every decision in your life revolves around that girl.”
“She is my daughter.”
“And Bianca was supposed to become your wife.”
“Was.”
The word landed hard.
Bianca’s mother turned away.
Vittorio stared at Alessandro for a moment and then shook his head.
“You’re making the biggest mistake of your life.”
“No.”
Alessandro looked toward the dressing room.
The lock of Livia’s hair was gone, but the cosmetics still lay scattered around the clippers.
“I nearly made it.”
Bianca’s face changed.
Something brittle broke through her composure.
“You make me sound monstrous.”
Alessandro looked at her.
“I didn’t say that.”
“You don’t need to.”
“You cut her hair while she was asking you to stop.”
“I made a stupid decision.”
“Yes.”
“One stupid decision.”
“No.”
Her eyes flashed.
“What else?”
Alessandro hesitated.
That hesitation did more damage than an answer.
Bianca stared at him.
“What else?”
He looked at Marcy.
“Give us the room.”
Marcy nodded at once.
“I’ll start managing the vendors.”
Vittorio said, “You’re not dismissing me.”
“I wasn’t talking to you.”
“Alessandro.”
Bianca’s voice had dropped.
“What else?”
He glanced toward her parents.
“Do you want to do this here?”
“You brought up months of doubt in front of my family.”
“You brought them into it.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don’t get to turn this around now.”
Her mother touched Bianca’s elbow.
“Maybe we should go inside.”
Bianca pulled away.
“I’m staying right here.”
May you like
Alessandro rested his hands at his sides.
“Three months ago, Livia stopped asking you to take her to dance.”
