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His brother flagged a waiter and asked for a bottle of Scotch. A wary silence followed.
“Thank you for coming,” Nate said at last. “How did your mission for Giovanni go?”
“I have the painting. And a princess.”
“A princess?”
“A long story. The painting—the portrait—Giovanni sent me to retrieve is of Lucia, the exiled queen of Isola D’Oro. A very intimate painting of her.” Alex shook his head. “But why Giovanni wanted it...it makes me wonder, might he have a whole past we know nothing about?”
Nate frowned. “While I was in Sicily I had a PI do a search for the Di Sione family. There is no trace of Giovanni. Not only in Livorno, nowhere in Italy.”
Alex nodded. “Maybe we’ll find out the truth now that Giovanni has all the pieces of the puzzle back. You managed to retrieve yours?”
“Yes, the ring. Mina noticed an inscription on the ring. ‘Mistress of my heart—BA.’”
The waiter arrived with the Scotch. Alex paused, taking this in before he poured them both a hefty portion.
Alex frowned. “Who is BA?”
“I have no idea.”
“I have a feeling,” Alex said, tipping his glass against Nate’s, “you asked me here to talk about more than Giovanni.”
Nate took a long swallow of Scotch, set the glass down and lifted his gaze to his brother’s. “Mina’s pregnant.”
Alex’s eyes widened. “Congratulations... I think.”
“I want to know about Benito,” Nate said abruptly. “What kind of a father was he? What kind of a man was he?”
“Deeply flawed.” His brother sat back in his chair and brought his Scotch with him. “He and Giovanni had issues we were never privy to. My father refused to work with him at Di Sione Shipping. He started business after failed business Giovanni ke
pt funding but nothing ever stuck.”
“His partying and drug habits didn’t help, I’m sure.”
Alex nodded. “My mother cleaned herself up. Exchanged her drug and alcohol habit for a shopping addiction. But we were never a family. Neither of them had any interest in being parents. The nannies raised us.”
All the pieces started to lock into place in Nate’s head. Why all his siblings had struggled so much.
“You’re afraid you won’t be a good father,” Alex speculated, his gaze narrowing on his. “Because you never had one. Because my father was the man he was.”
“Isn’t that the way it goes?” Nate rasped, lifting his glass to his lips. “Lead by example...”
“Except you have a mother who loves you, something we Di Siones never had. Someone who inspired you to reach for your dreams, who shaped you into the man that you are. Your name is the key to entry to any boardroom on this planet, Nate, and yet I think the big chip you carry around on your shoulder affects your self-perception.” He pointed his glass at Nate. “I should know, I carry one myself.”
Nate blinked. Absorbed his brother’s words. “When I reached out to you when I started at Di Sione, I thought we had a lot in common, you and I. But you blew me off. Acted as if I wasn’t fit to breathe the same air as you.”
“It was difficult for me,” he conceded. “You were a reminder of that night...the night my parents died. Of my own failure. To you. Keeping you a secret might have been easier for me but I’m sure it was hell on you. Seeing you there...watching my grandfather attempting to atone for my sins was difficult.”
Nate shook his head. “I was never comfortable with that. I think his vaulting me ahead in the company was Giovanni’s way of making up for the past. But I never wanted it.”
“I know. But I couldn’t handle it then. I was young and anger was a lot easier to feel than guilt. Hell, it still is.”
Nate was silent for a long moment. “I’m sorry,” he said finally, “that it worked out that way.”
Alex shook his head. “It’s me who should be apologizing. You reached out to me when you needed an ally and I wasn’t there for you. I regret that now. I regret a lot of things.”
Nate sat back and absorbed the epiphany that had just transpired. How everything you thought you knew was, in fact, not so clear-cut. That life had layers you had to burrow through to find the truth. How his self-perception was indeed flawed.
