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“Thanks, just a scotch on the rocks, sir,” I answer. He nods and gets to work pouring me a drink.
“You have some nerve coming into our home,” Luca says, glaring at me.
“He was invited,” Mr. Fiorenzo states. Luca and Gio don’t look happy with their father. “Your mother thought it would be a nice idea if we got to know Natalia’s husband.”
“It’s not a real marriage,” Gio states.
“We don’t have to play happy families,” Luca adds.
“Natalia doesn’t seem to have a problem with him,” Mr. Fiorenzo says, handing me my drink.
“She’s naïve,” Gio explains.
“See, that’s where you’re wrong. Your sister is a super-intelligent woman. Do you have any idea how much she commands as an influencer? How well respected she is in her career? Your sister works extremely hard trying to make everyone happy around her, and you don’t seem to even notice.” The room is silent as her brothers glare at me. “I get it, I have to remind myself that my brother Romeo isn’t the young boy I remember growing up with. Sometimes it’s hard seeing your younger sibling as anything other than that,” I tell them.
Gio and Luca look at me, dumbfounded, and Mr. Fiorenzo grins as he sips his drink.
“How dare you think you know our sister better than we do,” Luca argues.
“It’s not that I know her better than you do, it’s that I see her from a different angle, she’s surprised me. She’s not who I thought she was,” I tell them honestly.
Gio’s eyes narrow on me. “If you play with her emotions, I’ll kill you.”
“Consider me warned,” I tell him, then sip my drink.
“You know we have this deal in the bag,” Luca states arrogantly.
“He hasn’t signed the paperwork yet,” I say.
Luca shrugs. “Only a matter of time. Such a shame you had to leave the meeting early, but it worked in our favor.” He smirks.
My hand tightens around the glass, and I’m worried that it might shatter under my tension. “If you were happy with that man insulting your sister …” I say with a shrug.
“What did you say?” Mr. Fiorenzo asks.
“He’s making up bullshit,” Giorgio states.
“Your sister didn’t think so. She was uncomfortable sitting there at the table with that man, so much so she faked being sick.”
The three of them stare at me, speechless.
“Is this true?” Mr. Fiorenzo turns to his sons and asks as little Leo comes running in and wraps his arms around Luca’s legs. The little boy’s face is so happy seeing his father, as is Luca’s as he picks him up and cuddles him.
“I can’t believe you didn’t stand up for your sister,” Lilly says, storming in.
“How could you?” Paige says, pointing at Gio.
Both men stare at their partners scared.
“Luca, Gio?” Mr. Fiorenzo says angrily.
“We didn’t realize at the time because we were so focused on taking him down, that we weren’t listening to what Elek was saying. We’re sorry, Papà,” Gio says, looking very apologetic.
“I did not raise you to not protect your sisters or your wives,” he says, yelling at them.
“We know, we know, we’re sorry. It was his fault,” Luca says, pointing at me.
“What the hell?” I stand there in shock.
