AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tipped my head toward Maurizio, reminding Ryan to focus back on whatever his uncle was saying about the business, but he didn’t obey. Nope, beneath that salt-and-pepper facial hair, I saw the hard clench of the muscle in his jaw flex as he studied me.
“Laura said you can’t hit your head again. What happened?” Maurizio’s abrupt change in topic from business to personal finally snagged our attention, ending our erotic staring contest.
“My mother?” Ryan shifted back in his chair, suspicious eyes set on his uncle now. “You talked to her? When?”
Maurizio, who had a George Clooney thing going for him, drummed his fingers on the table by his wineglass. “We talk once a month. I check on her. Make sure she’s doing okay and that she’s never in need of money.”
Ryan’s eyes fell to his own wineglass, and he took a large gulp as he processed that bit of information, clearly surprised by it.
“I offered Laura the money after my parents passed as well, and like you, she rejected it. She asked for something else, though. To keep in touch. And we’ve been talking regularly ever since.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Ryan returned, sounding more regretful than bitter.
“I have to admit, I wish we’d done this sooner. Your mother said we’d get along. I guess I was too afraid to reach out to you again after you told me the last time to stay out of your life the way I’d stayed out of Dante’s,” Maurizio shared, moving his hand to his chest as if the reminder of losing his brother hurt his heart.
“I was angry. Young.” Ryan finally looked at him again. “You could’ve tried harder. But then again, I suppose I could have as well.”
Maurizio unbuttoned his gray suit jacket, and a frown pulled at his lips. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust your intentions with Natalia. Sending my men to spy on you was a bit extreme, I suppose.”
“You think?” Ryan set his now-empty glass down a little harder than necessary.
“There’s something I need to explain, Ryan.” Maurizio’s brown eyes journeyed my way for a moment before going back to Ryan. Now he seemed to be the nervous one. “You have to understand, when Dante met your mother while she was studying abroad here, he was only nineteen. Same as you were when you left for the Navy.”
“And the age I was when he died,” Ryan tossed out the uneasy reminder, staring blankly at his empty wineglass.
Maurizio’s brows tightened. “I have many regrets, but one of the biggest is blaming your father for leaving here. Choosing Laura over the family. Leaving me when I was only twelve, when he’d been more of a father to me than our own had. I felt abandoned.” He lifted a hand to his chest and lightly tapped his fist twice as if restarting it, seeing if it’d beat again.
And oh God, had his uncle now given Ryan ammunition to draw parallels between himself and Anthony?
“What I failed to understand then was that your father didn’t leave me. Our family left him. Kicked him to the curb, as that saying goes, because of who he loved. It wasn’t his fault. And I think I hated him even more when he died. Left me again, for good, and before we could make things right.”
I wanted to reach for Ryan and squeeze his hand. It wasn’t easy for me to sit there and listen to his uncle’s confession. I couldn’t even imagine the pain it had to be causing Ryan.
“I truly am sorry we’re only now doing this. Breaking bread together.” He sounded sincere, but would Ryan believe him? “Anthony was the only one who ever made an effort to see me here in all the years, but it was always for money.” The disappointment in his tone matched the sad look in his eyes.
And that had Ryan’s attention. His focus snapped back to his uncle, eyes narrowing, jaw tight. I slid my palms along the shawl covering my arms at the chills the conversation had provoked and the direction it was about to go.
“Anthony offered to marry for the inheritance, even though he knew it was technically your money,” Maurizio shared, and my stomach tightened. I could handle the news, but I was worried what it would do to Ryan.
“He proposed to me to try and get the ten million dollars?” I asked, beating Maurizio to the reveal. When I stole a look at Ryan, his jaw was working overtime, and I half expected the arms of the chair he was gripping to splinter.
“I didn’t understand why a hockey player needed the money, but he said not all pros make a ton of cash. And since you kept turning it down, and I knew Laura was always worried about Anthony’s future after hockey, I agreed.”
“That son of a . . .” Ryan pushed away from the table, probably leaving off “bitch” since technically that’d be referring to his mother, and not because he was just too angry to speak anymore. “That’s why Anthony was so mad at me after I found him cheating and demanded he be honest?” Ryan stood so forcefully, the heavy chair rocked and fell backward. “That was why he was pissed at me? Because he’d lose the money?” He spun away from the table and maneuvered around the fallen chair, his hands going to his hips while bowing his head.
“I didn’t think you knew about that, and it looks like I was right.” Maurizio said a few words in Italian I didn’t understand as I hurried over to Ryan.
Standing behind him, I gripped his muscular arms, hoping my presence and touch would calm him.
“When he asked me if he could still have the money if he married someone else,” Maurizio began while opening his palms to the sky, “well, at that point, I’d changed my mind. Told him you were the only one who could access it, and to never bother me for money again.”
I urged Ryan to face me, but he wouldn’t budge. I knew he was questioning Anthony’s “hostage situation” and whether or not it was bogus.
“So, you understand my concerns when you called me asking for the money. I had to make sure you were serious. I was worried your brother put you up to it since it was the first time you’d reached out in your life.” The feet of his chair scraped against the pavers as Maurizio stood and turned to face us. “Looking at you two together, there’s nothing fake about your love. That much is obvious.”
Ryan lowered his hands and pivoted to the side, forcing me to let go of him.
“I know this is a bit awkward in light of the news, but if you want to do what you came here to do, then I suggest you go ahead. I do have to catch a flight early tomorrow. But perhaps you could come back and visit again? Or I could come to you? We have time to make up for, if you’re open to the idea of course.”
