Chapter 3 - The Price of Arrogance"Ah," Giovanni said, his voice dropping into a silky, dangerous register that sent a shiver through the entire assembly. "The boy from Table Twelve."
Tyler puffed out his chest, emboldened by the sudden attention and desperate to reclaim his shattered pride in front of Vanessa and my family. "I'm not just some guy from a table. I’m family. That’s my cousin’s wedding. And she—" he jabbed a finger at me "—is a bitter, broke single mother who couldn't keep a marriage together if her life depended on it. She’s scamming you, mister. She probably tracked you down the second she saw your watch."
Vanessa stepped up beside Tyler, resting a hand on his arm, chiming in with a sweet, venomous purr. "It’s true, Mr. Fierro. Jessica has always had a habit of latching onto successful men because she can't stand being ordinary. We just want to save you from making a massive mistake."
I felt hot tears prick the backs of my eyes, not from sadness, but from a blinding, white-hot fury. I opened my lips to tear them both to shreds—to remind Tyler how he wept like a baby when his father cut him off, to remind Vanessa how she sneaked around behind my back while I was pregnant—when Giovanni moved.
He didn't yell. He didn't make a scene. He simply raised his left hand, signaling once more toward the perimeter of the room.
Within three seconds, two massive men in tailored suits—men with earpieces, flat noses, and the unmistakable posture of federal-grade protection details—materialized out of thin air, stepping directly behind Tyler and Vanessa.
"Security?" Tyler stammered, his bravado instantly evaporating as a heavy hand clamped down onto his shoulder, forcing him down a fraction of an inch. "Hey! What are you doing? I’m a guest here! My wife is—"
"Your wife is currently standing next to a man who owns the mortgage on the entire office building where your father-in-law employs you," Giovanni interrupted, his voice smooth as glass. He looked at Tyler with icy pity. "Let’s clarify a few things, Mr. Brooks. First, Jessica did not track me down. I hunted her down. Second, I am well aware of her past. I know she was married to a spineless worm who abandoned her when she was carrying his child—a child, I might add, who possesses more integrity in her baby finger than you have in your entire bloodline."
The crowd gasped. Vanessa clutched her pregnant stomach, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.
"And third," Giovanni continued, stepping closer until Tyler was forced to look up into his cold, amber eyes, "you claim she’s broke. You claim she lives in a small apartment. Let me enlighten you on a fundamental law of economics, Mr. Brooks: When a woman marries a Fierro, her past debts are erased, her present is secured, and her future becomes an empire. The apartment she was renting? I bought the building this morning. Her department-store dress? I had her measured for fifty more before we walked into this room."
My jaw dropped. I stared at him, my mind spinning. He bought my apartment building? This morning?!
"Now," Giovanni concluded, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper, "you have exactly five seconds to turn around, apologize to my wife for your pathetic display of verbal diarrhea, and leave this ballroom before I have my associates escort you out through the industrial garbage disposal. One... two..."
Tyler didn't wait for three. He turned on his heel, his face the color of spoiled milk, and practically sprinted toward the exit, dragging a stunned and furious Vanessa behind him.
Elena Fierro watched them go, her lips pressed into a thin, white line. She looked at Giovanni, then at me, realizing with absolute terror that her nephew hadn't been trapped—he had deployed a nuclear weapon into her carefully laid plans.
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"If you'll excuse us, Aunt Elena," Giovanni said politely, his arm sliding back around my waist. "My wife and I have a reception to finish, and then we have a daughter waiting at home."
Without waiting for a response, he turned me around and waltzed me away from the wreckage, straight toward the balcony overlooking the glittering Chicago River.
