Chapter 2 - The Marriage Neither of Us Wanted
The annulment hearing was scheduled for Monday.
By Sunday evening, my name was already appearing in newspapers.
Secret Moretti bride.
Mysterious marriage.
Political scandal.
The press knew more about my wedding than I did.
Gabriel shut down every interview request.
He also moved me to his townhouse.
I argued.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“I can go home.”
“Your family home is surrounded by reporters.”
“I can stay with a friend.”
“They've already followed you twice.”
I stopped.
“You know that?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“I have people watching.”
“For me?”
“For your safety.”
“I don't need a bodyguard.”
“You do now.”
I crossed my arms.
“You seem to decide everything without asking.”
Gabriel nodded.
“That's fair.”
Then he did something unexpected.
He placed a phone on the table.
“Three choices.”
I looked at him.
“Choice one, stay here.”
He put down one key.
“Choice two, I arrange another secure apartment.”
Another key.
“Choice three, I find you a completely independent security team that reports only to you.”
He placed the third key down.
“You choose.”
I stared at him.
“You're serious.”
“Yes.”
I picked up the third key.
“I want my own team.”
“Done.”
That became the first rule of our strange marriage.
I got to choose.
The next was that Gabriel slept downstairs.
The third was that he never entered my room without knocking.
And somehow those tiny things mattered more than all the extravagant gifts Luke had ever given me.
On Monday morning, his attorney arrived.
“The annulment can be completed.”
I signed every document.
Then Gabriel signed.
That should have been the end.
Instead, the attorney cleared his throat.
“There is a complication.”
I looked up.
“What complication?”
“The marriage is connected to a trust provision.”
Gabriel's expression darkened.
“We'll handle it.”
“No,” I said. “I want to know.”
The attorney hesitated.
“The Moretti family trust recognizes Gabriel as primary beneficiary only while he is legally married.”
“So?”
“The marriage must remain active for thirty days.”
I stared.
“You knew this?”
Gabriel nodded.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I intended to release you regardless.”
“But?”
“There would have been a fight.”
I understood.
The marriage wasn't just emotional.
It was financial.
Political.
Strategic.
The Callahan agreement depended on it.
Gabriel's control depended on it.
And somewhere behind the scenes, someone wanted me trapped in it.
“I'll stay thirty days,” I said.
Gabriel looked at me.
“You don't have to.”
“I know.”
“Then why?”
“Because if I leave immediately, someone else gets exactly what they want.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
He smiled faintly.
“Now you're thinking like a Moretti.”
“I'd rather not.”
He laughed.
It was the first time I heard his genuine laugh.
It softened his entire face.
I hated that I noticed.
That afternoon, he took me to Moretti headquarters.
Men stopped talking when we entered.
Some stared.
Others lowered their heads.
I whispered, “Do they always do that?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Fear.”
“You like that?”
He looked at me.
“No.”
That answer surprised me.
We entered his office.
I noticed his cane resting against the desk.
“You don't need that?”
“Sometimes.”
“What happened?”
“Three bullets.”
“Saving Luke.”
“Yes.”
“Would you do it again?”
Gabriel looked toward the window.
“For my brother?”
He hesitated.
“Yes.”
I hated how honest he was.
Then Luke entered.
He looked at me.
“I owe you an explanation.”
“You owe me much more than one.”
“I know.”
Gabriel stepped between us.
“Say what you came to say.”
Luke looked at him.
“You always hated me.”
Gabriel's face remained still.
“I protected you.”
“That isn't the same thing.”
“Leave.”
Luke ignored him.
“Claire, Isabella isn't the real reason.”
“What?”
“She's leverage.”
“For what?”
Luke looked at Gabriel.
“The family council.”
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
Luke continued.
“They want Gabriel out.”
I turned.
“Out of what?”
“Control.”
Gabriel said quietly, “Luke.”
But Luke kept speaking.
“They've been waiting for Gabriel to weaken.”
I looked at him.
“Then why marry me?”
“Because the old trust gives Gabriel power if he has a lawful wife.”
“And you planned to use me to protect him?”
“No.”
Luke swallowed.
“They planned to.”
The room went silent.
Gabriel stared at his brother.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You participated.”
“Yes.”
Gabriel's hand tightened around the cane.
Luke looked at me.
“I thought I could make the arrangement harmless.”
“You lied to me.”
“Yes.”
“You used me.”
“Yes.”
“And now you're sorry?”
“Yes.”
“Too late.”
Luke nodded.
“I know.”
He left.
I looked at Gabriel.
“You knew the council wanted you gone.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because you were already overwhelmed.”
“That's not your decision.”
“I know.”
Then he said something I didn't expect.
“I've spent most of my life deciding what other people could survive knowing.”
I looked at him.
“I don't need you to protect me from the truth.”
He nodded.
“I understand now.”
Over the next several days, I began working with his legal team to untangle the trust.
That was when I discovered something strange.
Three companies connected to the Moretti family had received payments from an unknown corporation.
The name was familiar.
Caldwell Strategic.
I remembered it because my brother's hospital bills had been routed through the company.
I stared at the paperwork.
“Gabriel.”
He looked up.
“That's the company that paid my brother's medical expenses.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“We assumed it was part of the charitable network.”
“Who owns it?”
His expression changed.
“We don't know.”
I turned another page.
The account numbers matched several transfers in the Callahan agreement.
My pulse quickened.
“The hospital bills.”
“What?”
“They were not random assistance.”
I pointed to the records.
“They were connected to the same company funding the political deal.”
Gabriel stood.
“Send everything to Arthur.”
His consigliere entered.
Gabriel handed him the file.
“Trace Caldwell Strategic.”
Arthur nodded.
“Already doing it.”
Then he looked at me.
“There is one problem.”
“What?”
“Someone knew Claire would look at the records.”
My stomach tightened.
“How?”
A photograph was placed on the desk.
Me.
Leaving the hospital six months earlier.
The day my brother nearly died.
Someone had been following me.
Gabriel's face became cold.
“You were targeted before the wedding.”
I looked at him.
“Why?”
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
May you like
Yet.
And neither of us understood that the answer was buried in the night my brother's car crashed.
