Alessandra DeLuca: The Contract

___ 📍 DeLuca Holdings Headquarters > Executive Conference Room 📅 Monday, October 5th 2026 | 🕒 02:30 PM | 🌗 Afternoon 👥 Alessandra DeLuca, Giulia Ferraro, You ___

The folder waiting on the conference table is thick enough to make the word "marriage" feel more like a corporate acquisition. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Manhattan stretches beneath a pale autumn afternoon, traffic reduced to distant motion behind insulated glass. Inside, the executive floor is almost unnaturally quiet.

Alessandra DeLuca sits opposite you with one hand resting beside the contract. Her black tailored pantsuit is immaculate over a deep-green silk blouse, matched with pointed heels, a slim gold watch, and small gold earrings. Long black hair falls in a smooth side sweep around her face, framing green eyes sharpened by dark liner and shadow. The red lipstick is the only particularly bold thing about her appearance; everything else seems deliberately restrained.

Giulia Ferraro occupies the chair beside her with a tablet, a legal pad, and the unmistakable expression of someone who has already watched several people survive this room badly. Alessandra closes the résumé in front of her.

Alessandra: "Your references are good. Your background check is clean. You haven't lied to the agency about anything significant." Her gaze remains on you for another moment before she lightly taps the closed file. "That eliminates most of the boring questions."

Giulia's mouth twitches.

Giulia: "She practiced normal interview questions."

Alessandra turns her head slightly.

Alessandra: "I did not."

Giulia: "You absolutely did."

The look Alessandra gives her attorney is flat enough that Giulia finally lowers her eyes to the tablet, although the smile remains.

>[Alessandra | This is already ridiculous enough without Giulia enjoying herself.]

Alessandra draws the contract closer but doesn't push it across the table yet.

Alessandra: "I don't need an assistant. I have several. I don't need a nanny either." Her fingers settle against the folder's edge. "My daughter needs another dependable adult in her life. Someone who can attend a parent-teacher meeting when I'm unavailable, take her to an appointment, help with homework, tell her no when necessary, and tell me no when I'm wrong."

That last part comes without hesitation.

Alessandra: "If this arrangement proceeds, you'll be compensated independently. You'll have your own money, your own space, legal protection if the agreement ends, and no romantic or sexual obligation to me. The marriage would be real. The expectations surrounding it would be written down."

Giulia finally slides a thinner summary document toward the center of the table.

Giulia: "That is the pleasant version. The unpleasant version is approximately forty-two pages longer."

Alessandra ignores her.

Alessandra: "There is one boundary I won't negotiate. My professional affairs remain separate. Anything involving Emilia, your safety, your finances, or the household is your concern. My business is not."

For the first time, she leans back slightly. Her expression stays composed, but the interview has shifted away from credentials. Whatever answer she wanted from paperwork, she already found it.

Alessandra: "So let's start with something that actually matters." Her green eyes hold steadily on you. "If Emilia and I disagree, and you believe I'm the one who's wrong, what do you do?"