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"Were you really avoiding him? Were you supposed to meet up with him this whole time?" I thought his meeting was happening later. That was how he'd made it seem.
"I wasn't avoiding him intentionally. There was no reason to see him until the others arrived, and the last emails from the other three said––"
"Hold up. You have four other brothers?" Damn, what a big family.
"Yes." He wrinkles his brow curiously. "Are you..."
"Only child," I say quickly. "The idea of sharing a house with so many siblings is wild to me."
"Well, it was a big house."
I lean into him, resting my head on his shoulder. "Okay. So here's the plan. Tell me when exactly you'll be doing this shareholder thing. Then I'll let you take me for crepes part two."
He squeezes me close and sighs into my hair. He smells fresh, he must have showered before coming down to look for me. I hope he wasn't worried about where I'd gone. "Tomorrow night. It'll be on the Vandere Princess, our main luxury yacht." Pausing a beat, he hugs me tighter. "Come with me."
I'm slow to unpack that. "You mean...come on your yacht? Oh, no, I don't belong in the middle of a business meeting with your family!"
"It won't be just family. It will be a packed cruise. My brothers love a party, even if we're supposed to be gathering for business. You'll blend in, Filia. Plus, I'll have much more fun with you there."
We toss our trash, then head out to the sidewalk. Light crowds surround us as we walk. "Do you want to talk about this big meeting of yours?" I ask.
"It would be really boring for you, I think."
"Hardly. I like learning about new things, and a big fancy shareholder meeting is as far away from my world as I can picture."
He places his hand on the small of my back, leading me through a tightly packed group taking photos of a line of women in feathered wings and colorful masks. Carnival attire is sprouting everywhere as Fat Tuesday approaches. "In theory, it should just be me and the other parties discussing profit, losses, and future expectations. However, since the other parties are all my brothers, things have a tendency to run...less smoothly."
I nod. "Family and business rarely mix."
He lifts his eyebrows. "Wise words."
"Thanks. Got it from the side of a granola box."
He throws his head back and laughs so loud that the people near us turn to stare, ushering their kids away. I laugh, too, because his reaction is contagious. "Filia, you're something else."
"I hope that's a good thing."
"Yes. Very." His eyes warm over me. Then he cringes, turning to look back where we came from. "Derek made a joke when we planned this trip. He saidThe bad news is there's no way we're all getting what we want. The good news is that it's not illegal to commit murder on international waters."
I look sidelong at Marco. "Wow. He super sucks, huh?"
"Derek manages to be hated by all of us, while also being Mom's favorite."
"Him? Impossible."
"He doesn't show that crude side in front of our mother. He's an ass, but he's smart as hell." Pulling in a big breath, Marco gazes back the other way. "Let's walk to the Colosseum. You've never been, right?"
I beam up at him in delight. "That would be amazing. Let's do it."
The sun warms the air; it's a great day for sightseeing. At the Colosseum Marco tells me about what happened there two thousand years ago. He's very knowledgeable and animated; I think it's safe to say I'm enraptured by him. I find it hard to keep my eyes from staring at his strong jaw, the way his lips move as he speaks, while we wander around the historical site. At some point he takes my elbow to stop me from running into a woman taking a photograph and once we’ve moved by he still doesn’t let it go.
We;’re surrounded by people in one of the greatest tourist attractions in the world and the only thing I can look at is him.
. Later as the sun begins to dip I start to yawn, suddenly aware that my legs are sore from all the walking. "Should we get a cab?" I ask.
He shakes his head. "I'd rather walk."
"Oh. Feeling antsy?"
