My stomach drops. "I have to face Alessandro?"
"Yes. And you have to do it with grace and dignity, and absolutely no hint that this is anything other than what we're saying it is—that you fell in love with someone else and the engagement had to end." Romeo's expression is grave. "Alessandro is furious, Giulia. His father is furious. They're accepting the settlement because they don't have much choice, but they're not happy about it. You need to be prepared for that." He pauses. “Papatold you about the plans?”
I nod. “He told me what Alessandro was doing. What you had planned for the Marchesis.”
“They’re not only angry at the insult, but they’re also angry that their chance to infiltrate us has been lost. Alessandro has lost face with his father as a result of this. It has layers of consequences, Giulia. And I need to know—weneed to know—that you’re capable of keeping your calm and being graceful throughout this.”
"I will be."
"And Luca will be there," Romeo continues. His tone makes me look up sharply. "He'll be standing beside me, representing the family. You two need to at least appear civil with each other. Can you do that?"
The question hurts more than it should, because the answer is that I don't know. I haven't seen Luca since last night. I haven't spoken to him or had any contact at all. For all I know, he's spent the last night working himself up into hating me even more than he did before.
"I'll try," I say finally.
Romeo nods, then stands. "Get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be difficult, and you need to be sharp."
He leaves, and I'm alone again with my thoughts and my guilt, and the terrible knowledge that tomorrow I'm going to have to face Alessandro Marchesi and tell him—to his face—that I'm breaking our engagement because I'm in love with someone else.
Someone who now wishes I didn't exist.
The meeting is scheduled for two in the afternoon at one of our family’s upscale restaurants that we own, a front for other less legitimate businesses. We’ll be able to be in a private room but in a public location, where business can be conducted away from prying eyes and listening ears, but feels more neutral than meeting on one of the family estates.
I spend the morning carefully getting ready. Appearances matter in this world, and I need to look like a woman who's made a choice she's confident in, not a girl who's been caught in a catastrophic mistake. I choose a dress that's elegant but not flashy, made of navy blue silk that falls to just below my knees with a modest neckline and cap sleeves. It’s conservative anddemure, nothing seductive about it. I do my makeup carefully, covering the dark circles under my eyes and adding just enough color to my cheeks that I don't look like I've been crying off and on since that awful night in my father’s office. My hair goes up in a neat chignon, and I add pearl stud earrings to finish it all off.
When I look in the mirror, I see Giulia Ciresa, daughter of the don, poised and controlled and perfectly put together. I don't see the terrified girl underneath who's about to face the consequences of her choices.
The drive into the city is silent. My father sits beside me in the back of the car, reviewing documents on his tablet, not speaking. Luca is in the front passenger seat, not looking back at me and not speaking, and Romeo sits on the other side of me, tension radiating from him. I sit in the middle, my hands folded in my lap, trying to breathe through the anxiety that's making my chest tight.
Luca hasn’t said a single word to me since he left my father’s office. He doesn’t look at or acknowledge me, even when we all step out of the car and head to the private room at the back of the restaurant. The curtains are drawn and the lights low, the soft buzz of lunchtime barely heard through the heavy wooden doors.
Not long after we all enter to wait, the Marchesi family arrives.
Alessandro’s face is tight with anger, reflecting his father’s. There are two other men I don't recognize—advisors or lawyers, probably, here to witness the formal dissolution and ensure the terms are honored. And then, of course, there is the Marchesi security, all in suits with the slight hint of a bulge beneath their jackets where I know weapons are. My stomach twists.
This could all end in violence. It’s not over yet. And if it does, it will be my fault.
Luca stands beside Romeo, slightly behind and to the left in the position of a second. His eyes haven’t met mine, not even once, but I can see the coldness there, the absolute absence of anything that might resemble warmth or forgiveness or even basic human compassion.
It’s like I'm a stranger. Like I'm nothing.
My father moves to greet Francesco Marchesi, and the two men shake hands with formal courtesy despite how much I know they hate each other. There’s no truth about anything in this room, no honesty. It’s all pretense, and my stomach roils again as there's a brief exchange of pleasantries that feels absurd given the circumstances, and then everyone takes their seats again.
I end up directly across from Alessandro, with my father on my right and Romeo on my left. Luca stands behind Romeo's chair, his expression professionally neutral, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Let's get this over with," Francesco Marchesi says, his voice clipped and businesslike. "We're here to formalize the dissolution of the engagement between my son Alessandro and your daughter Giulia. The terms have been agreed upon—a settlement of three million dollars, to be paid within thirty days, plus priority consideration for future business opportunities in the shipping sector."
My father nods. "Agreed. The funds will be transferred by the end of the week."
"And the reason for the dissolution?" Francesco's eyes move to me, and his gaze is sharp, making me want to shrink back in my chair. "For the record."
This is it. This is the moment where I have to tell Alessandro and his father that I'm breaking our engagement because I fell in love with someone else. I force myself to meet his father's gaze and keep my voice steady even though my heart is pounding so hard I can barely hear myself think.
"I've developed feelings for someone else," I force out. "It wouldn't be fair to Alessandro to enter into a marriage when my heart belongs to another man. And I cannot provide him the sort of wife he deserves."
It’s the most elegant way to say that I’m no longer a virgin. I know everyone across from us understands exactly what I’m saying. I’m for once grateful that I can’t see Luca’s face.
The silence that follows is absolute.
