Chapter 8 City Hall #3
Simone looked past me toward Naomi. "Good answer."
"I was not answering you."
"Still good."
Damon embraced me with the unnecessary enthusiasm of a man delighted not to be the most contractually compromised person in the room.
"A one-year marriage," he said. "Very modern."
"Your fake relationship leaked to the press. I would avoid advisory work."
"Mine became real."
Isla smiled at Naomi. "Ignore him. He believes his mistakes are now a curriculum."
"They are case studies," Damon corrected.
Audrey took Naomi's hand and examined the plain band. "You found the only piece of Beaumont jewelry without a gemstone."
"It required intervention."
Gideon shook my hand, his expression unreadable to anyone who had not known him for twenty years.
"Do not purchase anything she has not asked you to purchase," he said.
"Your growth has become repetitive."
"Learn faster than I did."
The warning held no humor.
I nodded.
Lunch was in a private room above a small Tribeca restaurant Naomi chose because it had no Beaumont connection, no tasting menu, and a manager who once hired Pierce Events for his daughter's wedding.
We ate handmade pasta at a long wooden table.
Sabine ordered champagne. Naomi drank half a glass and spent most of the meal talking with Simone, Isla, and Audrey about Northbridge.
Near dessert, Sabine placed a small envelope beside Naomi's plate.
"The foundation board meets next month," she said. "There is an open seat. Your experience would be useful."
Naomi did not touch the envelope. "Was the seat open yesterday?"
Sabine's eyes brightened. "Yes."
"Would you have offered it if I had refused the marriage?"
"I considered it."
"Consider again in October, after the trust review. If I join now, every decision I make will be described as Luca installing his wife."
"The work needs you now."
"Then hire Pierce Events when appropriate and listen when I speak as a vendor. A board title can wait until it belongs to me instead of the marriage."
My grandmother held her gaze, then took back the envelope. "October."
"If I still want it."
"Naturally."
Naomi returned to her conversation as if she had not just refused one of the most influential philanthropic appointments in New York over ravioli.
I did not join the discussion unless she asked me a direct question. I did not tell Sabine that the offer was excellent or Naomi that declining it was unnecessary. Both judgments belonged to the women making the decision.
Waiting remained unnatural.
I practiced.
At two thirty, our witnesses left in groups. Naomi and I stood on the sidewalk beneath a pale winter sun.
Her car waited at the curb. Mine stood behind it.
"You are not coming to the penthouse?" I asked.
"Tomorrow. I have an employee meeting at eight, a financing call at ten, and six boxes I have not packed."
"The trust household begins today."
"My legal residence changed today. My socks will follow tomorrow."
"Should I send help?"
She gave me a look.
"I withdraw the question."
"Good."
The platinum band flashed when she adjusted the strap of her handbag.
"Gabriel will meet you at the residence at nine," I said. "You will create your own access code. I will not receive it."
"What happens if I forget it?"
"Gabriel helps you reset it."
"And if you want to enter my rooms?"
"I ask."
"What if I say no?"
"I remain outside."
She studied me.
"You make it sound easy."
"I expect it will not be."
"Good answer."
The echo of Simone's words made me smile.
Naomi opened her car door, then stopped.
"Luca."
"Yes?"
"Take the other ring out of your pocket."
I touched the signet through the fabric.
"Why?"
"Because hiding it makes this look like a competition between your family and the marriage. I am not interested in competing with dead men and voting instruments."
I removed the gold ring.
"Which hand?" I asked.
"That is your decision."
I placed it on my right hand again.
The wedding band remained alone on my left.
Naomi nodded, apparently satisfied.
Then she got into her car and left.
I watched until the vehicle turned the corner.
Before entering my own car, I called Gabriel.
"Confirm every integration binder has been removed," I said.
"All physical copies are in Mireille's custody. The digital file has been restricted pending review."
"Naomi receives her copy directly from Priya, not from the household."
"I will handle it."
"And tomorrow, no welcoming line of staff. No flowers. No prepared wardrobe. No photographer."
Gabriel paused. "May I stock the coffee she requested during the gala planning meetings?"
The question was so ordinary that I nearly answered with more emotion than it deserved.
"Yes. But leave the package sealed. She decides whether it belongs in her kitchen."
"Her kitchen?"
I looked at the wedding band.
"The east-suite kitchenette," I clarified.
"Of course."
My wife had chosen her own transportation, kept her own name, scheduled her own arrival, and left me on a sidewalk less than four hours after our wedding.
The arrangement had begun exactly as designed.
Nothing about the ring on my hand felt temporary.