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“You were going to buy a ranch,” Nick said, shooting Falco a worried look.
Dante drank some more beer. “Not for myself, exactly. For—for someone.”
The brothers waited. Finally, Falco sighed. “Do we have to guess?”
“You remember a year ago? A little more than that. I was dating a woman.”
“Wow,” Nick said, “that’s amazing. You, dating a—”
“Her name was Gabriella. Gabriella Reyes. A model.”
Falco nodded. “Yeah. Tall. Hair a lot of different shades of gold. Spectacular legs. And what appeared to be one amazing pair of—”
“Watch your mouth,” Dante growled.
His brothers raised their eyebrows.
“You want to tell us what’s going on?” Nick said.
“No,” Dante snarled…
And told them everything.
When he was done, nobody spoke.
He could see his brothers trying to take it all in. Hell, he’d have done the same in their place. A woman from the past. A baby. A ranch in foreclosure, a sneaky lawyer, an option that expired in twenty-four hours. It sounded like an old Western movie, except it was real.
Finally Falco cleared his throat.
“You’re sure the kid is yours?”
“I’m sure.”
“Because remember that time, years ago, Teresa Whatshername—”
“Gabriella is not Teresa Whatshername,” Dante said sharply.
“No, no, of course she isn’t. I only meant—”
“I know. Sorry. It’s just—It’s tough, you know?”
Nick leaned forward. “So, let me be sure I understand it all. You have a son.”
“Cutest and smartest kid you ever saw,” Dante said softly.
“But the woman who gave birth to him—”
“She has a name,” Dante said, his voice sharp again. “Gabriella.”
“Right. Gabriella. And she scammed you into buying this ranch—”
“Did I say that?”
“Well,” Falco said, “you don’t have to say it. From everything you told us, it’s obvious.”
“Nothing’s obvious,” Dante said coolly. “But, yeah, I bought the ranch for her.” He gave a mirthless smile. “Thought I’d bought it, anyway.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.”
“And the ranch is what she wanted.”
Dante shrugged. “Yeah.”
“So, no ranch. Instead, you brought her to New York. Moved her into your place. Accepted the kid as your own without asking for any proof—”
“The ‘kid,’” Dante said, his tone plummeting from cool to icy, “is named Daniel. And I don’t need proof. Gaby would never lie to me.”
“Right,” Nick said.
“She wouldn’t. And I don’t like the tone of your voice.”
Nick nodded. Falco cleared his throat.
“And you took all these days off because…?”
A little lift of the shoulders. “It just seemed the right thing to do.” Dante looked at Falco and Nick. Their expressions were benign, but something was lurking in their eyes, some truth they seemed to know and he didn’t. “Gabriella was new to my place,” he added. “New to the city.”
“No, she isn’t. She lived here. She worked here. You said so. She even knows your place, from when she dated you. So, try again, bro. You spent the time with her because…?”
Dante narrowed his eyes. “What’s your point?”
Nick sighed. “I don’t know, man. I mean, what could my point possibly be? You were ready to drop five million bucks on a ranch for a woman. You acknowledged her baby as yours. You brought her home, moved her in, spent every minute with her and you tell us the relationship didn’t mean a thing. Have I got the details right?”
Dante shrugged.
“You’ve got them right,” Falco said. He looked at Dante. “Then, how come each time one of us so much as hints at her being anything but perfect, you turn purple?”
“I do not turn purple.”
“He’s purple now,” Nick said lazily.
“He is, indeed,” Falco agreed. “And we haven’t even touched on why the lady’s leaving you.”
“No ranch. That’s why.”
“You don’t think it could have anything to do with the fact that she suddenly realized she was living her life, living her kid’s life, on your terms? That she has no money, no home, no anything here or back in Brazil that you don’t graciously choose to dole out, and—”
Dante slammed down his beer bottle. “You make it sound as if I trashed her life. But that’s not the way it was.”
