Chapter 5 - A Marriage That Became Real
Genevieve's mother, Eleanor, moved into the Coretti penthouse.
The reunion with Charles was complicated.
He cried when he saw her.
She did not forgive him immediately.
Genevieve understood.
Some wounds required time.
Meanwhile, the public had become obsessed with the marriage.
Every newspaper wanted photographs.
Every television network wanted interviews.
Genevieve refused all of them.
Mateo refused even more aggressively.
One evening, she found him in the study reading a report.
“You're hiding.”
“Yes.”
“From reporters?”
“From everyone.”
She smiled.
“You're impossible.”
“You married me.”
“I was under pressure.”
“So was I.”
She sat across from him.
“Do you regret it?”
“No.”
The answer came immediately.
She looked down.
“I do.”
He paused.
“Regret marrying me?”
“No.”
Genevieve touched her wedding ring.
“I regret that I didn't know you before that day.”
Mateo's expression softened.
“So do I.”
The trust became the center of their investigation.
The accounts were scattered across twelve countries.
Someone had begun draining them.
They discovered a pattern.
Every stolen transfer passed through one private bank.
The bank was controlled by a woman named Vivian Mercer.
Genevieve remembered her.
She had attended the wedding.
She had congratulated Genevieve before the ceremony.
She had been one of Charles's closest financial advisers.
Mateo traced her.
She vanished.
Three days later, a man attacked Genevieve outside the foundation office.
Mateo stopped him.
The attacker carried Vivian's photograph.
“He works for her,” Mateo said.
Genevieve stared.
“Why would she target me?”
“Because you are the last person who can access the trust.”
They learned that Vivian had been working with Richard Harrington for fifteen years.
But Richard was not the leader.
Someone else funded him.
Someone with access to the federal investigation.
Someone powerful enough to manipulate indictments.
The name finally surfaced.
Senator Marcus Vale.
Genevieve knew the name.
He had been a friend of her grandmother.
Mateo recognized him too.
“My father hated him.”
“Why?”
“Because Vale tried to take over the trust twenty years ago.”
The same war had returned.
But now Genevieve was at its center.
One night, while studying documents, she fell asleep at Mateo's desk.
When she woke, a blanket covered her.
Mateo was asleep in a chair across from her.
She stared at him.
The feared mafia king looked strangely peaceful when he slept.
Genevieve reached out and touched his hand.
He woke immediately.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You were staring.”
“I was thinking.”
“Dangerous.”
She smiled.
“Maybe.”
They sat silently.
Then Mateo asked, “Do you still think this marriage is just a contract?”
Genevieve looked at him.
“I don't know.”
“Why?”
“Because contracts are easy.”
“And this?”
She touched his cheek.
“This isn't.”
His breathing changed.
He leaned closer.
She did not move away.
Their kiss was slow.
Careful.
Nothing like the chaos that had surrounded their wedding day.
When they separated, Genevieve whispered,
“That wasn't in the contract.”
Mateo smiled.
“No.”
“That was dangerous.”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
For the first time since the altar, she felt happy.
Then Mateo's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression became cold.
“What?”
Silence.
“Where?”
He looked at Genevieve.
“Your father.”
“What happened?”
“He was attacked in federal custody.”
Genevieve stood.
“Is he alive?”
“Yes.”
“Take me to him.”
Mateo nodded.
They rushed to the hospital.
Charles was awake.
Weak.
But conscious.
He grabbed Genevieve's hand.
“It's Vale.”
“What about him?”
“He knows the trust's final account.”
“What final account?”
Charles looked at Mateo.
“The account your grandmother never told anyone about.”
Genevieve frowned.
“Where?”
Charles whispered a number.
“Eight-fourteen.”
Mateo understood.
“The old railway vault.”
Charles nodded.
“It contains enough evidence to destroy everyone.”
Genevieve squeezed his hand.
“Then we'll get it.”
Charles shook his head.
“You don't understand.”
His eyes filled with fear.
“Your grandmother didn't create the trust to protect money.”
“What did she create it for?”
“She knew a war was coming.”
“What war?”
Charles whispered,
“The war between men who wanted to own the country…”
May you like
A pause.
“…and the women who could stop them.”
