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When he finally slows to a stop, it’s in another piazza just as charming as the last. “This is one of my favorite spots,” he tells me with a wink. “You’ll see why.”
He leads me to a hole-in-the-wall gelato store, with a mouth-watering array of flavors. “How am I supposed to choose?” I wail.
He grins. “Close your eyes and point. You can’t go wrong.”
In the end, I pick pistachio and chocolate, and Caleb gets a cup, too.
As we stroll around a piazza framed by sunbaked Roman architecture, he licks his spoon. He looks so carefree and relaxed, I can’t help but exhale, too.
“Why did you say your father would be rolling over in his grave about expanding to Italy?” I ask, curious about his previous comment. “Didn’t he like Italy?”
Caleb gives a rueful smile. “He loved it. We used to come here all the time, where we’d eat gelato and walk this piazza. My mother loved Italy.” He looks around, his gaze turning wistful, and I can see the memories in his eyes.
“Then… What’s the problem?” I ask.
“My father was cautious.” Caleb explains. “He wanted to take things slow. He was the type who’d read a contract a dozen times before signing. He wanted every move Sterling Cross made to be perfect.”
He pauses to lick a smear of gelato from his wrist, and I have to focus to keep from drooling.
“That explains what you told me, about him being so busy all the time when you were growing up.”
“He’d have to think long and hard before agreeing on a new partnership.” Caleb agrees. “Charles Cross, Olivia’s father, he was the one who always nudged him into things. Charles was the risk-taker, while my dad analyzed every angle. I guess that’s why they worked well together. Except…” he trails off, but I know what he’s thinking:
If his father was so cautious, how the hell did he wind up in business with Roman Barretti?
We stroll a bit more, to bridge that juts over the river. Caleb looks out over it, sighing. “I know my dad would have second thoughts about this partnership, but I can’t let his choices hold me back now. I have enough to deal with as it is. And an aggressive offense is the best way to play defense.”
Again, he doesn’t say it, but I read between the lines all the same: The deal that his father struck with Barretti. The toxic bargain Caleb is still dealing with now.
“You must have loved him very much,” I say quietly. “Trying so hard to cover up for his mistakes.”
Caleb sighs again.
“I did. We didn’t see much of him around the house while I was growing up. He worked all the time,” he says, rueful. “My mom, too. But he tried to make up for it. He would come home late and tell me all about his day. Make time for family trips and outings. He always said we were building something. A company that would outlive us all. The Sterling name, carved in stone for generations to come.”
I can tell from his tone how proud he is, even despite his father’s faults. “It must’ve been very hard, to lose them both, so unexpectedly,” I say softly. I want to reach for him out of instinct, but I hold back as Caleb looks out across the water.
“It was. Dealing with the grief over losing them… That would have been enough, but I suddenly had a company to run, too. I wasn’t expecting that, not so soon. I thought if anything happened to my dad, Charles Cross would take over,” he explains. “I’d been learning under them, expecting to take over the reins eventually, but overnight, I had hundreds of employees depending on me. Livelihoods, families… All relying on me to make the right choices. And when Nero Barretti came calling… It became a juggling act. I was just trying to keep all the balls in the air. Terrified that I would make the wrong move and bring it all crashing down.”
I look at him, torn between duty and principles. The easiest way out of his problems would be to come clean to the world about Nero’s blackmail, and his father’s dirty dealings, but Caleb is trying to protect his family from all that.
They’re in the grave, and he’s still trying to keep them safe. It’s noble, in a way. Tragic.
I stop walking as something occurs to me. The business isn’t just his livelihood. It’s his life. It’s everything to him. And because of me, and my duplicity, I nearly took it all away.
He turns. “Something wrong?”
“I was just thinking…” I gulp, feeling a terrible wave of guilt. “About what I did. Sneaking around to uncover the truth about the money. I didn’t know what you were really hiding, but it doesn’t matter, does it? If Olivia had discovered the full story… She would have revealed everything, wouldn’t she? No matter what it did to the company. You would have lost it all.”
And he still might.
I take a deep breath, feeling truly wretched. “I’m so sorry, Caleb.”
I brace myself for the wrath I deserve, but Caleb doesn’t react with anger or betrayal. He just exhales a long breath, the sun glinting through his hair.
“You were right.”
I blink in surprise; not sure I’ve heard him correctly. “I… What?”
