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He follows me down the hall and to my room, not saying anything until we’re inside.
“I don’t get it,” Knox finally says as I fold a t-shirt and put it into the suitcase. “Dante never does anything unless it benefits him.”
I shoot a quick glance at him over my shoulder. “True, but in this case, it’s helping me, too. Well, it’s going to really help Stella.” My mouth curves into a smile at that thought.
He’s not satisfied and frowns in concern. “Still, there has to be some other angle for him. I just don’t see him offering you this job of a lifetime out of the goodness of his heart. Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother. But I also know him.”
Setting down the pair of pants I am in the process of folding, I step over to Knox and give him a hug. “You’ve always had my back,” I tell him softly with a smile. “I know you’re just looking out for me, like you always have. You want to keep my heart safe, and I appreciate it. But I want to do this for Stella. Ineedto do this for her.”
He stares at me, his brown eyes barely visible under his shaggy hair. I can read the concern there, but also the genuine happiness that I have such an opportunity.
Walking back to the bed to finish packing, I chew my bottom lip. “What exactly happened between Dante and your dad?” I finally ask, something that has been bothering me for a long time. “Dante just says I wouldn’t understand, but I’m sure there’s more to it than that.”
Knox nods as he walks over and sits on the opposite side of the bed. He sighs, then looks up at me.
“It started when Dante was seven years old and our mother walked out on us. This was before you ever moved to town,” he explained.
“I always wondered about her.” I put the last bit of clothes into the suitcase and look around the room to see if I missed anything. “Neither of you guys ever talked about her.”
Knox shrugs, his hand laying atop the bedspread while one long finger traces the stitching in the cloth. “I was only four years old. I barely remember her.”
“Dante, though,” he continues, “he remembers her well. He woke up that night and watched her drive away. He stayed up the whole night waiting for her to return. Somehow, even though he was so young, I think he knew that she was never coming back.”
My hand pauses over the suitcase as I look at Knox. “That’s so sad.”
Knox nods, still looking down at the bedspread where his finger is making figure eights on the material. “Since he was older, he remembers things much more vividly than I do. For whatever reason, Dante blames our dad for Mom leaving.”
Knox shrugs again, abandoning his finger doodling. He looks up at me. “He’s never told me why he blames Dad, but no matter how much Dad tried to break through to him, Dante would never relent. I don’t think Dad even knows the real reason Dante is mad at him.”
I zip the suitcase closed and sit down on the opposite side of the bed. “Hm,” I hum. “I wonder if Dante even knows or if he just continues to blame him out of habit. I mean, did your parents fight a lot? Did your dad have an affair or anything that you know of?”
He shakes his head. “No, I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Knox frowns for a second, then raises his eyebrows. “I think Dante mentioned once, or maybe I overheard him telling Dad, that Mom left because Dad was lazy and didn’t want to better their lives.
“Whatever happened to cause Mom to leave, Dante blames Dad and it’s changed him forever,” Knox finishes.
“Surely they can work things out.”
Knox shakes his head sadly. “I don’t see how. After all these years, nothing has changed. Dad tries to reach out to him and Dante adamantly refuses. Every time I bring it up, Dante gets pissed and warns me to leave it alone.”
“You know, I actually tried to make it a condition of me taking the job.”
Knox looks at me with a puzzled frown. “What are you talking about?”
I chuckle and shake my head. “When I accepted the job from Dante, I said the money had to go to Stella anonymously and that he had to be nicer to you and try to work things out with your dad.”
Knox laughs. “I bet that went over well.”
“Yeah, not so much.” I grin. “But hey, it was worth a shot.”
“I know my brother has the capacity to love and care,” Knox says after a couple of minutes. His voice is solemn, kind of sad. “He’s not a sociopath or anything. The problem is, I believe that the past cemented his fear of relying on someone and being hurt again.”
Chapter Sixteen
KYLIE
The moment we stepped onto the flight, I couldn’t shake the awkwardness that seemed to flow between us. Dante was quiet when he picked me up, barely saying two words to me. Then when we boarded the plane it was like he wanted to keep as far from me as possible. Something that really set my nerves on edge.
Glancing over to where he was sitting a few rows away from me, I sigh. If I’m going to have to be working with him on this project for so many months, I can’t let everything be awkward between us. His eyes are staring at the paperwork in his hand as he continues to go from one stack of forms to another.
