Chapter 2 - THE STOLEN CREDENTIAL
Penelope stared at the employee badge in her palm.
Her photograph looked back at her beneath the Lakeshore Grand’s gold logo. Nothing about the card appeared unusual. There were no scratches around the chip, no altered numbers, and no indication that a second badge carrying the same encrypted identity had just opened the hotel’s most secure floor.
“I’ve never given this to Bradley,” she said.
Matteo watched her face. “Has he ever had access to your apartment?”
“Not for two years.”
“Your purse?”
“No.”
“Your office?”
Penelope thought about the wedding preparations. Bradley had visited the hotel twice during the previous month. On both occasions, Madison had sent him to deliver documents.
“He was in my office last Tuesday.”
“Alone?”
“For maybe five minutes. I had to help a guest.”
Matteo took out his phone and sent a message.
The lounge door opened less than thirty seconds later.
A man in a charcoal suit entered. He was lean, silver-haired, and probably in his late forties. A pale line crossed his chin, and his eyes examined every corner before settling on Matteo.
“Lock the floor,” Matteo said.
The man nodded and pressed one finger to an earpiece.
Penelope tightened her grip on the badge.
“Who is he?”
“Luca Vescari. My head of security.”
Luca’s attention moved to her.
“This is Penelope Hayes,” Matteo continued. “My wife.”
Penelope nearly choked.
Luca did not blink.
“Understood.”
“No, not understood,” Penelope said. “Pretend wife. For one weekend. Possibly. We haven’t agreed to anything.”
Luca looked at Matteo.
Matteo’s expression remained perfectly calm.
Luca nodded again. “Understood.”
Penelope pointed between them. “That second ‘understood’ sounded exactly like the first one.”
“It was,” Luca replied.
Matteo walked toward the locked office at the far end of the lounge. Luca produced a key, but Matteo stopped him before he inserted it.
“Was the alarm armed?”
“Yes.”
“Any alert?”
“No.”
“Then use the mechanical override.”
Luca opened the door.
The office beyond it had no windows. A steel desk stood in the center beneath recessed lights. On the desk sat a black leather briefcase.
Matteo remained at the threshold.
“Penelope, did you enter this room today?”
“No. I don’t have access.”
“Did anyone ask you to?”
“No.”
He nodded to Luca.
The security chief opened the briefcase.
It was empty.
Matteo’s face did not change.
That frightened Penelope more than anger would have.
“What was inside?” she asked.
“Documents.”
“What kind?”
“The kind Bradley’s law firm should never see.”
Luca examined the case with gloved hands.
“No forced entry.”
Matteo looked toward Penelope’s badge.
“Someone used her credential to enter the floor, but this room requires a second authorization.”
“Whose?” Penelope asked.
“Mine,” Luca said.
She stared at him.
Luca’s eyes cooled. “I did not open it.”
Matteo stepped into the office.
A faint white powder marked the edge of the desk.
He touched none of it.
“Fingerprint dust?” Penelope asked.
“Transfer powder,” Luca said. “It adheres to skin.”
“Then whoever opened the case should have it on their hands.”
“Unless they wore gloves.”
Penelope remembered Bradley adjusting his cuffs.
“He wasn’t wearing gloves when he left.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Did he touch anything?”
“The marble table. His jacket. The door handle.”
“And you?”
“I touched you.”
The words sounded more intimate than she intended.
Matteo’s gaze held hers for a second too long.
Then he looked at Luca. “Seal the lounge. Collect prints and residue before hotel security arrives.”
Penelope frowned. “Why before hotel security?”
“Because I don’t know who cloned your badge.”
“You think someone who works here helped Bradley?”
“I think cloning an executive credential requires access to the hotel’s security architecture.”
He closed the briefcase.
“And I think Bradley came upstairs to make sure cameras recorded him confronting you.”
Penelope’s stomach tightened.
“So I would look connected to whatever was stolen.”
“Yes.”
“Why insult me?”
“Because cruelty is natural to him. That makes it useful as camouflage.”
She hated that explanation because it made sense.
Bradley had not merely followed her. He had positioned her beside the private office, loudly established their history, and forced her into an emotional confrontation. If security footage were reviewed later, she would appear angry and distracted.
Then she had grabbed Matteo Duca.
She had made herself even more memorable.
“Oh God.”
Matteo turned toward her.
“I ruined everything.”
“No.”
“I created a scene on a restricted floor while someone stole from an owner of the hotel.”
“You interrupted the theft.”
“The briefcase is empty.”
“But the person who entered may still be inside the building.”
Luca received a message through his earpiece.
“Hotel cameras show Jenkins entering the west elevator alone. He exited on the thirty-ninth floor eleven minutes later.”
“The private floor is forty-one,” Penelope said.
“Service stairs connect thirty-nine to forty-one,” Luca replied.
“Where is Bradley now?”
“In the ballroom with his family.”
Matteo’s eyes hardened.
“He returned to the wedding rehearsal?”
“Yes.”
Penelope looked toward the lounge doors.
Madison, Nathan, her parents, and nearly the entire wedding party were downstairs.
If Bradley had stolen something dangerous, he had carried it directly into a room full of people Penelope loved.
“I need to go down there.”
Matteo blocked her path without touching her.
“No.”
“My sister is downstairs.”
“So is the man who framed you.”
“That is exactly why I’m going.”
“And if he passed the documents to someone else?”
“Then standing here won’t help.”
Matteo studied her.
Penelope lifted her chin despite the fear pressing against her ribs.
“You said I need a husband until you find out who sent Bradley. Husbands generally don’t lock their wives in lounges.”
“Some do.”
“They’re usually terrible husbands.”
“True.”
“Then move.”
For one second, something like approval appeared in his eyes.
He stepped aside.
“You stay beside me.”
“That sounds like an order.”
“It is.”
“I already said no to marrying you.”
“You said no to a real marriage.”
“Correct.”
“You have not answered the other proposal.”
Penelope stared at him.
“You want to negotiate our fake marriage while someone is trying to frame me?”
“I prefer clarity before entering a room containing your former fiancé and both families.”
Luca watched them with the expression of a man reconsidering every career choice that had led him there.
Penelope crossed her arms.
“Fine. One wedding weekend. We pretend to be married. No real marriage license, no permanent promises, and absolutely no threatening Bradley’s life.”
Matteo considered.
“I can promise not to threaten his life.”
“That wording was suspiciously specific.”
“It was precise.”
“No broken bones.”
“Unless he attacks you.”
“No kidnapping.”
“Agreed.”
“No making him disappear.”
“I have never understood why people assume disappearance is practical. Bodies produce questions. So do missing attorneys.”
Penelope stared.
“That was not reassuring.”
“It was not intended to be.”
“And you get one dinner.”
“Yes.”
“Public place.”
“If you prefer.”
“No guns on the table.”
“An oddly specific request.”
“I’m adapting.”
His mouth moved slightly.
“Anything else, Mrs. Duca?”
She pointed at him. “Only during the wedding weekend.”
“Of course.”
Luca cleared his throat. “We should move.”
They took a private elevator to the ballroom level.
Before the doors opened, Matteo removed his phone and spoke quietly to Luca.
“Search Jenkins without alarming the guests. No visible weapons. Lock loading access and monitor every exit.”
Luca nodded.
Penelope looked at Matteo. “If Bradley has the documents, what happens?”
“That depends on whether he understands what he stole.”
“And if he does?”
“Then your rules become inconvenient.”
The elevator doors opened.
Music drifted from the rehearsal ballroom.
Madison stood near the stage in a white cocktail dress, laughing with Nathan. Their mother adjusted flowers while their father argued cheerfully with the bartender about bourbon.
Bradley stood at the center of the room.
He saw Penelope.
Then he saw Matteo beside her.
His face changed.
Madison hurried over.
“There you are! Bradley said you were handling something upstairs.”
Her attention shifted to Matteo.
“And you are?”
Penelope opened her mouth.
Matteo placed a hand at her waist.
She felt his warmth through her blazer.
“I’m Matteo.”
Madison looked between them.
Penelope forced a smile.
“My husband.”
The silence that followed could have swallowed the entire ballroom.
Her mother dropped a seating chart.
Her father stopped speaking mid-sentence.
Nathan nearly spilled his drink.
Madison’s mouth opened.
“Your what?”
Penelope heard Bradley laugh from behind them.
“She’s lying.”
Matteo turned.
Bradley had regained some of his confidence now that he was surrounded by family and witnesses.
“You met him upstairs,” Bradley said. “I watched you.”
Madison looked at Penelope. “What is happening?”
Penelope’s heart pounded.
Matteo’s hand remained steady at her waist.
She could end the lie now.
She could admit she had panicked.
She could accept Bradley’s laughter and spend the rest of the weekend reassuring everyone that there was no drama.
Again.
And again.
Instead, she slipped her hand into Matteo’s.
“We kept it private,” she said.
Her mother stared. “For how long?”
Matteo answered smoothly.
“Six months.”
Penelope squeezed his fingers in warning.
He squeezed back.
Bradley’s expression sharpened. “That’s impossible.”
Matteo regarded him.
“You seem unusually invested in my marriage.”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Brad, let it go.”
“I’m telling you she’s making this up.”
“Why would she?”
“Because she’s embarrassed.”
The familiar contempt returned to Bradley’s voice.
Then Luca entered the ballroom and approached Matteo.
He whispered something.
Matteo’s face became still.
Penelope knew immediately that the news was bad.
“What?” she asked.
Luca glanced at the families.
Matteo answered without looking away from Bradley.
“The stolen documents were found.”
Relief moved through Penelope.
Then Matteo continued.
“They were inside your office.”
The ballroom tilted around her.
Madison whispered, “What documents?”
Penelope looked at Bradley.
He was no longer smiling.
Matteo’s hand tightened around hers.
Someone had cloned her badge.
Someone had placed stolen property in her office.
And now every camera in the hotel would show that Penelope Hayes had publicly claimed the victim of the theft as her husband.
A perfect attempt at self-protection.
Or a perfect confession.
Hotel security entered through both ballroom doors.
Behind them came two Chicago police detectives.
One of them looked directly at Penelope.
“Ms. Hayes, we need you to come with us.”
Matteo stepped forward.
“She goes nowhere without me.”
The detective frowned. “And you are?”
May you like
Matteo’s expression did not change.
“Her husband.”
