I don’t want this.
Any of this.
Not her.
Not a weekend with relatives.
None of this.
Life is better when it’s uncomplicated.
In control.
The exact opposite of how it had been for him since he’d met Julia.
He turned his head and looked down at her sleeping profile. His breath caught in his throat. I shouldn’t have brought her. I need a clear head to navigate the weekend.
His three brothers returned to their seats across from him. Luke handed him a cup of steaming black coffee. He accepted it with a nod.
With Julia asleep at his side, he sipped his coffee and studied his brothers. Neither Nick nor Max would meet his eyes. Luke gave him a sympathetic smile.
What did Julia say about family? It’s messy?
What are they waiting for me to say?
Whatever I say will be wrong.
It always is.
He glanced down at Julia again. What would she do if our situations were reversed? She’d blurt out an apology. She wouldn’t dress it up with excuses or worry about the possible backlash. She’d dive right in.
Gio looked across at Nick and said, “I went too far earlier. What you do is your business.”
Nick propped an ankle on top of his knee, leaned back, and asked nonchalantly, “Are you actually apologizing?”
Gio straightened, inadvertently waking Julia. She sat up, rubbed her eyes, and looked back and forth between them as if trying to remember where she was. She smiled up at Gio and—he couldn’t help it—he smiled back.
Luke raised a hand to catch the attention of the flight attendant. “Julia, would you like a coffee?”
She shook her head. “Maybe a snack, though?”
Luke called the attendant over. Julia and all four brothers put in a request for a light fare of sandwiches and finger foods.
In the quiet after the attendant’s departure, Julia asked, “How much longer until we arrive?”
Gio checked his watch. “Two hours at the most.”
“Do you want to watch a movie?” Julia asked.
There was a unanimous shake of heads.
“Play a game?” she asked cheerfully.
Although Gio shook his head, Max leaned forward in his seat. “What kind of game?”
Luke pointed a thumb at his younger brother with a knowing smile. “Max is a professional gambler, so don’t make it poker. We gave up trying to beat him back when all we had to lose was our allowance.”
Julia’s eyes rounded. “A professional gambler? What an interesting job.”
Max shrugged. “It is. Everything in life is a gamble. For a while I lived solely off my poker winnings. However, now I build casinos around the world. So, Gio can finally admit to knowing me again.”
Gio tensed at Max’s comment. “Your profession never bothered me.”
“Really?” Max asked, unconvinced.
Nick said in mock sympathy, “Don’t feel bad, Max. He’s ashamed of all of us.”
Luke interjected, “Nick, can we make it to the island without another scene?”
Normally, Gio would have ended the conversation before it went further. He regularly told himself he didn’t care what others thought, but this time he didn’t lie to himself. “I’m proud of all of my brothers,” Gio said, more harshly than he’d intended.
“Even me?” Nick pushed.
Gio answered without hesitation. “I may not agree with the choices you’ve made lately, Nick, but I understand why you make them.”
Nothing in his life matched the rush of emotion he felt in response to Julia’s light squeeze of his arm in approval.
Nick opened his mouth to say something, then closed it with a snap. Max looked like he wanted to say something more but decided against it.
Luke clapped his hands and said, “So, how about that game, Julia?”
She turned shyly to Gio. “It was a silly idea. We don’t have to.”
Although he usually viewed games as a waste of time, time was exactly what they had to fill, and he’d take anything that would distract from more excruciatingly awkward conversations. “We could use a game about now. What did you have in mind?”
Julia reached down into her bag and took out a small pile of index cards. “Rena thought I should know who I’m going to meet on the island. She made these index cards for me. One side has a name written on it. The other side has clues on how to recognize that person. We could see who is best at guessing the person from the description.”
Cocking his head to the side, Luke asked, “Rena did that for you? Interesting.”
Julia held the stack of cards to her chest for a moment. “She thinks I might be able to make a connection at the wedding.”
Nick looked at Max and shrugged. “Okay, I’ll bite. A connection for what?”
Julia instinctively brought a hand to her necklace, and she flashed a brave smile at Gio’s three brothers. “I moved to New York to try to sell my jewelry designs. So far, nothing, but I’m not giving up. I’m hoping to find an investor.”
Nick nodded toward Gio. “I’d say you’ve already met one.”
Julia winked at Gio and said, “No, I’m just with him for the sex.”
Max choked on the sip of coffee he’d just taken. Nick’s mouth fell open, and Luke shook his head.
Gio’s eyes flew to Julia’s in surprise.
Julia burst into laughter. “You should see your faces. No wonder you fight so much. You’re all way too serious.” She composed herself, folded her hands in mock contriteness, and said with just a trace of humor, “Even my dad would have laughed at that joke.”
Gio looked down at Julia, half coughed, then chuckled.
Julia’s eyes were brimming with laughter, threatening to erupt again. She waved her hands in a plea for him to stop. “Don’t laugh, Gio, because I shouldn’t when I’m still trying to make a good impression.”
“You have,” Max said and joined in their laughter. “I didn’t think anything could shock Nick, but I believe he’s speechless.”
Nick said, “I’m just trying to figure out how Gio ended up with a woman who is actually fun.”
Julia smiled. “I may have scrambled his brains the first time I met him. I hit him with that lamp pretty hard.”
Luke said, “I believe it was physicist Joseph Henry who said, Great discoveries only take root in minds well prepared to receive them. He needed some scrambling.”
“Funny, Luke,” Gio said gruffly, raising a hand to his temple as he remembered that blow. “It could have killed me.”
Conversation was halted while the attendant set trays of food on a table between them. Once by themselves again, Max said, “I want to know why you hit him with a lamp.”
Julia blushed. “I thought he was breaking into Rena’s desk . . .” As she retold the story, Gio noticed his brothers were genuinely interested, and relaxing for the first time since they’d entered the plane. Julia had a gift when it came to breaking down barriers. As they joked together, Gio was reminded of how he and his brothers had interacted when they were younger. Julia had given him a glimpse of the past, and he wasn’t sure what to do with the way it made him feel.
The next two hours flew by. Conversation flowed easily, and Julia kept the mood light by periodically reading a new index card to the group. They took turns using the small bedroom in the back of the plane as a dressing room, slowly transforming from casual to party-ready.
When Julia returned to the main part of the plane dressed in a floor-length navy gown, Gio couldn’t take his eyes off her. She’d styled her hair in a loose bun that made a man want to reach out and release those barely contained curls. The dress fit her snuggly and emphasized her curves so deliciously that had they been alone she wouldn’t have kept it on for long.
She caught him looking at her, and the smile she gave him knocked what was left of his sanity out of him. In that instant, he didn’t care about anything but having h
er again. By the way a blush spread up her cheeks, he knew she’d guessed his thoughts.
The pilot’s voice interrupted and requested everyone fasten their seat belts for the final approach to Isola Santos.
Gio tensed instinctively as he was slammed back into reality. He looked out the side window and caught his first glimpse of the island. The enormous glass-and-chrome building Dominic Corisi had built still dominated a good fourth of the island. The sight of it made him angrier than he’d expected it to.
Julia was also looking out the window. She turned and asked, “That’s the island? Wow, that is quite a compound. Did your family build that?”
“No,” Gio said, hearing the disgust in his own voice. He leaned over her, and as the plane circled before landing, he pointed to a much smaller, stone mansion on the other side of the island. “That’s the Andrade mansion.”
Luke looked out the window beside him. “It’s been in the family for hundreds of years.”
Julia innocently continued on with a painful line of questioning. “So, what is the large glass compound? Are they leasing land to a university or something?”
Max looked at Gio cautiously. “Uncle Victor sold the island when he hit financial difficulties. The new owner built that glass shrine to himself.”
“Mother offered to buy the island, but Dominic Corisi outbid us,” Gio said bitterly.
“Your mother?” Julia asked, then looked as if she regretted saying it out loud.
“Surprised that we have one?”
“No,” Julia said, wide-eyed. “Of course you have a mother. I’m sure she’s very nice, too. She couldn’t make it today?”
Max was the first to answer. “She never got along with our uncles. She came from old money and our father came from . . . let’s just say . . . less-refined stock.”
Nick defended his father’s family. “The Andrades had money. Perhaps not at the Stanfield level, but enough that they summered on their private island each year. And this generation has more than made up for whatever they didn’t have before.”
Julia interjected, “So, we’re not talking about the completely unacceptable type who would have to work year round. Thank God.”
All four brothers turned to look at her. Julia merely raised her eyebrows and waited. Luke laughed and turned to Gio. “I do believe your girlfriend is just what this family needs.”
Julia gave them each a cheeky smile that removed the sting from her words. “Just calling it like I see it.”
Gio watched his brothers melt before her charm. I keep telling myself what Julia and I have is nothing more than a physical attraction. She doesn’t belong here. But what if I’m wrong?
His stomach twisted painfully at the thought.
Blissfully unaware, Julia looked out the window again and said, “So, the new owner is letting your cousin get married on your old island. That’s nice.”
Max shook his head. “Stephan is marrying the sister of the man who bought the island. Corisi intends to return the island to Stephan as a wedding present. So, it looks like it’s back in the family.”
“Not our family,” Gio said harshly. He regretted voicing those words as soon as they were out. In a heartbeat his brothers’ expressions closed, and tension once again crackled in the air. Julia reached out and took his hand in hers.
The tires of the plane touched and bounced on the island runway.
After descending the stairs, he paused. Julia’s eyes were round with wonder as she took in the manicured grounds, the visible security everywhere, and the party that was spilling out of the glass building and onto the lawn in front of it. In the middle of a group of adults, dressed in formal gowns and tuxedos, children chased each other, their laughter ringing out above the music of a live band.
The level of joy bubbling out of the house filled Gio with intense and conflicting emotions, holding him immobile even as his brothers began walking toward the house.
Julia tugged on his hand until he looked down at her again. She went up on her tiptoes and whispered, “What are you thinking?”
He studied the monstrosity of glass and chrome with disgust. “Only someone with a complete lack of appreciation for the beauty and history of the island would have built such an atrocity.” He shared his thoughts aloud. “I want to throw a hundred rocks through those glass windows.”
Julia made a funny grimace. “That wouldn’t be my first choice of how to start the evening.”
His breath came quicker as adrenaline rushed through his veins. He smiled down at her. “I’m angry. Furious, in fact. I haven’t felt like this in years.”
Julia’s eyes widened again. “And that’s a good thing?”
He tried to find the words to explain it but couldn’t. “Yes, I believe it is.” He’d held it in so long it had made him numb to everything else. Suddenly, he felt more alive than he had in years. Like he could finally breathe.
“Come on.” Instead of heading toward the party, he led Julia toward a path leading to the other side of the island.
“Where are we going?” Julia asked as she lengthened her strides to keep up with him.
“There’s something I want to show you.”
The island was small enough that she didn’t have to wonder about their destination for long. A ten-minute brisk walk brought them to the steps of the building he thought he’d never see again. “This was my father’s house.”
“Is it locked?” she asked.
He lifted a pulled a loose stone from the foundation of the house, took out a key, and said, “Not for long.”
“Are you sure we can go inside?”
He spared her a quick look before swinging the door open. The home’s classic Mediterranean style gave it a timeless quality. Its white walls, accented with intricate tile work, could easily have been the result of a renovation, but they were original to the home.
Gio led Julia down the hall, into what had once been the study. What little furniture remained in the room was covered with white cloths, making the room seem abandoned and oddly preserved at the same time. He stood there, feeling as if he had one foot in the present and one in the past. “I always thought this house would one day belong to me. It has been passed down from the oldest son to the oldest son for generations.” He walked over to the mantel of a large fireplace and ran his hand across the dusty marble. “When my father died and it didn’t come to me, I was furious. The sale of it was a final slap in the face.” He walked to a bookcase and took down a book that had been left behind. “I was twenty-five. I’d been struggling for a year to fill my father’s shoes at Cogent. I didn’t confront my uncles. Instead, I put all my energy into what I could change, and that was the profitability of my family’s company.” He turned to Julia and said, “I should have fought for this place. I should have made it mine.”
Their eyes met and Julia’s heart thudded in her chest. She shook her head. He was finally opening up to her. She wanted to tell him how much it meant to her, but she knew he needed to be left uninterrupted.
He left her side to search the remaining items on the surrounding shelves. He ran a hand over the molding.
“What are you looking for?” Julia couldn’t contain her curiosity.
“Something that probably isn’t here,” Gio said as he continued pulling old books from the shelves and flipping through them.
“What?”
He walked to where a desk had once been and looked around the room. “The truth.”
Julia followed Gio out of the library and into each of the downstairs rooms. Not much had been left behind. Every item of value must have been removed before the sale.
Gio flipped a switch in one of the closets, but the area remained dark. Not that there was anything inside to be illuminated. Speaking more to himself than to her, Gio said, “The two houses must run on separate generators.” He ran his hand along the intricate wood paneling, absently caressing the house. “I remember reading an interview with Corisi after he bought the island. He planned to knock
this house down. He considered it old ruins.”
Gio walked back into the main hall, and Julia followed him. She knew Gio was far away in his thoughts, and that was okay with her. What did he mean when he said he was looking for the truth?
They walked up one side of a double curved stairway that led off the foyer. At the top, Julia let herself imagine filling the space below with people and laughter. “This must have been an incredible place to entertain.”
“It has ten bedrooms. When I was a child, they were always full. My father said it was the same when he was young. Andrades have been born here. Some have even died here. My grandfather passed away in his sleep right here in the house, surrounded by his family.”
“I can see why you wouldn’t want it to be knocked down.” Julia could only imagine Gio’s bond to the house. The home and factory she was fighting for had only been in their family for one generation. To lose something that was so linked to your family’s history must have been devastating. “Did your mother also love this place?” It was hard for Julia to imagine her letting it go if she had.
“My mother refused to step inside it.”
Interesting.
Gio walked ahead of her into one of the rooms. She lingered in the upper hallway, running her hand along the areas where slightly darker patches of wallpaper revealed where paintings had once hung. Family paintings? Famous Italian artists? What would they have displayed?
What could anyone hate about this beautiful house?
Was it because Gio’s grandfather died here?
Julia turned from the wall, realizing she had no idea where Gio had gone. She hugged herself as a sudden chill went up her back.
It would take more than that to keep me away.
Ghosts aren’t real.
I mean, not the ones that move things around and scare people.
Her father would have argued that the universe was full of an infinite number of things the human mind could not comprehend. Julia smiled as she remembered her mother’s rebuttal to that theory. “Show me the proof. Things fall. Lights flicker. To me, that’s not evidence of a ghost. Is every spirit a klutz that can only make a mess? You want me to believe in one? Show me a ghost that washes dishes or folds my laundry. Then I’ll believe.”
Come Away With Me Page 15
