Chapter 3 - Leonardo Asked Bianca What She Wanted, and Her Answer Put Both Families at Risk.
Bianca chose the meeting place.
Not Leonardo’s office.
Not Moretti property.
A restaurant in Tribeca with glass walls and too many witnesses for anyone to confuse conversation with command.
Sienna was not invited.
Good.
Her contract did not make her part of every family discussion.
Leonardo told her afterward only what Bianca authorized him to share.
That mattered too.
“She wants out.”
There.
They were sitting in a rehearsal studio Sienna rented by the hour.
She had an audition in forty minutes.
Leonardo had come because they needed to rehearse a story about their “first date” before a charity gala.
Romance as blocking.
Ridiculous.
Sienna stretched one ankle.
“Out of marriage?”
“Out of the family business.”
There.
She stopped.
“All of it?”
“Most.”
There.
“Why?”
Leonardo looked toward mirror.
“Because her father moved assets into a trust structure that ties distributions and voting rights to continued service.”
There.
“Can he do that?”
“Some of it.”
There.
“Some is questionable.”
Good.
“Does Bianca have a lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“Independent?”
“Yes.”
Good.
“Then why does she need you?”
“She does not.”
There.
Sienna looked at him.
“Good answer.”
“She wants me not to make a private deal with Donato that leaves her exposed.”
There.
“What deal?”
Leonardo’s father had already proposed one.
If Leonardo agreed to merge two port-operating subsidiaries, Dario would stop pushing marriage announcement.
There.
“Your father is replacing marriage with merger.”
“Yes.”
“And Moretti?”
“Would likely agree.”
“And Bianca?”
“Would lose leverage.”
There.
Sienna sighed.
“These people need hobbies.”
Leonardo almost smiled.
Then:
“Bianca asked me to delay any agreement for sixty days while her lawyers challenge the trust.”
There.
“What did you say?”
“Yes.”
Good.
Then Sienna narrowed eyes.
“Why sixty?”
“Because my father wants deal before quarter end.”
There.
“And our contract is ninety.”
“Yes.”
There.
The fake romance now bought time.
Not only for Leonardo.
For Bianca.
That changed the shape.
Sienna looked at him.
“Did you tell her about my contract?”
“No.”
There.
“Why?”
“Confidential.”
Good.
“Did you tell her I’m an actress?”
“She already knows.”
“Everyone knows I’m an actress.”
There.
“You know what I mean.”
“Yes.”
Good.
Then:
“She thinks we’re real?”
Leonardo paused.
“I did not confirm or deny private details.”
There.
Sienna stared.
“That is lawyer language.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not a lawyer.”
“I employ too many.”
Good.
The gala happened Saturday.
At the Metropolitan Museum? Maybe too public/exact current not needed. Use private arts foundation.
Sienna wore black.
Leonardo wore tuxedo.
They had rules.
Public handholding okay.
Arm around waist if she nodded.
Kiss only if mutually signaled and brief.
No surprise.
There.
Ridiculous to rehearse.
Useful.
At gala entrance, photographers shouted.
“Leonardo!”
“Sienna!”
“Over here!”
There.
Sienna had done red carpets with off-Broadway premieres attended by forty people.
This was different.
Flashbulbs.
Questions.
“Are you engaged?”
“Is this serious?”
“Leonardo, what happened to Bianca?”
There.
The last one made Sienna’s smile tighten.
Leonardo’s hand rested at her waist after she nodded.
He said:
“Ms. Moretti is a friend and respected colleague.”
There.
Good.
“No engagement announcement?”
“Not tonight.”
There.
Then one reporter called:
“Sienna, how does it feel to steal Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor?”
There.
She smiled.
“Is he eligible?”
There.
Laughter.
Leonardo looked at her.
Almost laughed.
Good.
Inside, Dario approached.
“You’re enjoying this.”
There.
Sienna replied:
“I’m at a gala.”
There.
“That is usually the assignment.”
His eyes narrowed.
Then Leonardo said:
“Father.”
There.
A warning.
Dario looked at his son.
Then left.
Sienna waited.
“Was that threatening?”
“No.”
“Was it rude?”
“Yes.”
Good.
She nodded.
“Useful distinction.”
There.
Later, during dinner, Leonardo’s hand under table did not touch her.
Still.
Sienna found herself noticing absence.
Annoying.
She focused on food.
Then an older board member named Arthur Vale approached.
He was not family.
He chaired one Vitali shipping subsidiary.
He spoke quietly to Leonardo.
“Donato is furious.”
There.
“About?”
“Bianca filed petition this afternoon.”
There.
Leonardo’s face changed.
There.
Sienna looked away.
Not her information.
Arthur continued:
“She is challenging the trust’s service conditions and related-party transactions.”
There.
Dario did not know yet? Probably yes soon.
Arthur said:
“Your father thinks you encouraged her.”
There.
“I did not.”
“Will he believe you?”
“No.”
There.
Good.
Arthur looked at Sienna.
Then stopped speaking.
Correct.
Later, Leonardo told her in car:
“Bianca filed.”
There.
“Good for her.”
“Yes.”
“Your father blames you.”
“Yes.”
There.
“Does that make me more useful?”
Leonardo looked.
“No.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
There.
“If my father sees you as leverage, you become less useful and more exposed.”
There.
Sienna’s stomach tightened.
“What does exposed mean?”
“Press pressure.”
There.
“Investigators digging through your finances.”
There.
“Family associates contacting you.”
There.
“Not necessarily physical danger.”
Good.
He did not dramatize.
Then:
“I want to modify the contract.”
Sienna sat straighter.
“How?”
“Your remaining compensation becomes guaranteed now.”
There.
“Even if you leave tomorrow.”
There.
Her breath stopped.
Two million.
Guaranteed.
No ninety-day performance dependency.
“Why?”
“Because your exit right is not meaningful if leaving costs you your mother’s treatment.”
There.
There.
He had understood.
Money as gravity.
Sienna stared.
“And in exchange?”
“Nothing.”
There.
She laughed once.
“That is never true.”
He looked.
“You can have your lawyer review amendment.”
“Obviously.”
Good.
Then:
“Why really?”
Leonardo took time.
“Because my family situation changed after you signed.”
There.
“Your risk increased.”
There.
“I do not want compensation to become pressure.”
Good.
That mattered more than compliment.
Sienna looked out at city.
Then:
“If I sign the amendment, I may stay.”
Leonardo’s face changed.
“You do not have to.”
“I know.”
There.
“Good.”
The next day her lawyer, Mara Levin, reviewed.
The amendment was real.
Remaining compensation escrowed irrevocably.
Sienna could stop performance at any point for any reason.
No repayment.
There.
Confidentiality remained limited to private family/business information, not unlawful conduct.
Good.
Security optional.
No exclusivity beyond scheduled appearances.
Auditions remained hers.
There.
Mara leaned back.
“This is unusually fair.”
There.
“That sounds suspicious.”
“It is.”
Good.
“Would you sign?”
“I’m not you.”
There.
Correct answer.
Sienna signed.
Not because Leonardo asked.
Because the money no longer required her to stay.
There.
Then she stayed.
Choice.
That changed something between them.
Dangerous.
Not romance yet.
Freedom.
Two weeks later, Sienna landed an understudy role in a Broadway revival.
Not lead.
Not glamorous.
Paid.
Real.
She called Leonardo because schedule conflict with a family dinner.
“Move the dinner.”
he said.
There.
She blinked.
“You can?”
“Yes.”
“Your father?”
“Can eat another night.”
Good.
“What if it hurts the performance?”
“The contract says career commitments take priority when reasonably scheduled.”
There.
He remembered.
Good.
Then:
“Congratulations.”
There.
No gift.
No flowers.
No call to producer.
Good.
Sienna smiled.
“Thank you.”
Then he said:
“Who are you understudying?”
She told.
He knew actress.
Of course.
“Do not contact her.”
Sienna said immediately.
Leonardo almost laughed.
“I wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
There.
Her career remained hers.
Then Bianca called Sienna directly.
There.
Sienna hesitated before answering.
“Hello?”
“Is this a bad time?”
“No.”
There.
Bianca sounded tired.
“I wanted to thank you.”
“For what?”
“For making Leonardo difficult.”
Sienna laughed.
“I think he arrived that way.”
There.
Bianca continued.
“He refused the merger.”
There.
“Because of your petition?”
“Because I asked him to wait.”
Good.
Then:
“My father thinks you’re the reason.”
“I’ve heard.”
“Does that scare you?”
There.
Sienna took time.
“Yes.”
Good.
“Enough to leave?”
“No.”
There.
“Why?”
The answer came too fast.
“Because I’m not being forced to stay.”
There.
Bianca went quiet.
Then:
“That matters.”
“Yes.”
There.
It mattered more than Sienna understood yet.
Because every day she stayed after the amendment was no longer purchased by the contract.
It was chosen.
That made the performance safer.
It also made Leonardo more dangerous to her heart.
Before the next public appearance, Sienna also asked Leonardo to change one part of their rehearsal process.
Until then, his assistant had sent briefing packets listing names, relationships, preferred topics, and what affection would look convincing in each room.
Useful.
Also strange.
Sienna said:
“I want a column called what we do not owe.”
There.
Leonardo looked.
“What?”
“No answering questions about marriage.”
There.
“No kissing because a photographer shouts for one.”
There.
“No explaining my mother’s illness.”
There.
“No pretending I know private family history you haven’t actually told me.”
Good.
Leonardo took the pen.
Added the column himself.
Then:
“No answering questions about your finances.”
There.
“No career favors.”
There.
“No using your acting work as evidence that you are available for extra performance.”
Good.
They kept the page.
Oddly, the list of what they did not owe made the public relationship easier to perform.
Boundaries reduced improvisation.
That was something Sienna knew from theater too.
May you like
Actors work better when everyone knows where the stage ends.
Before leaving the gala that night, Sienna also wrote one sentence in her phone notes: If a role changes, renegotiate the role. She had learned that in theater. It applied here too. A performance agreed under one set of facts did not become permanent consent when the facts changed. She sent the sentence to Mara, who replied with a single word: Correct.
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