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“Where are you going?” he asks Sabio, totally ignoring me. Zé’s never cared much for me, not as Valentina’s friend and certainly not as Rafael’s friend.
“Alexis is going to see Antonio.”
“Antonio?” He raises his brow.
What is it with these guys?
“Yes,” I reply curtly. “And yes, he’s expecting me.”
“I’ll escort her down,” Zé mutters as the elevators open.
Great. Like I haven’t dealt with enough surliness in the last twenty-four hours.
He doesn’t say a word, but he knows what happened. I have no doubt. There isn’t anything that goes on with Rafael that he doesn’t know. They’ve been best buddies since they were kids, even before Rafael’s mother disappeared. Rafael’s mother. Lydia’s sister. Too many family connections.
I side-eye Zé. “Do you know anything about the search for Rafael’s mother?” I’ve been wanting to ask him about it since I found the little toy car in the closet. But I don’t know why I think he’ll tell me anything—or what made me ask about it now. Maybe because I’m leaving and there won’t be another opportunity. Or maybe it’s because I’ve been thinking about Lydia since I woke up this morning—about how hard it must have been to lose her sister, her baby sister, without a trace.
Zé flips a switch to stop the elevator, and the alarm blares.
“What are you doing?” I ask, while he enters a code on the keypad. The noise stops, but he doesn’t answer my question.
“Rafael’s mother is not your concern,” he snarls. “Don’t bring it up again.”
I’ve had enough of high-handed men to last me a lifetime. “I appreciate your concern, but don’t tell me what I can talk about.”
We’re face-to-face, and he has nearly a foot on me, and maybe a hundred pounds. But he won’t hurt me. He wouldn’t dare—although I’m sure he’d love to wring my neck.
“I was there when she disappeared.” His voice, like his expression, is stony. “I saw him. I know the hell he went through. Leave. It. Alone. I won’t warn you again.”
It’s an empty threat. But I do respect him for having Rafael’s back.
I flip the switch to activate the elevator. “Relax. I have no intention of hurting him or anyone.”
It’s a short ride, and we don’t say another word to each other.
When I get off the elevator, Zé follows me to Antonio’s office and waits until Cecelia greets me before disappearing. Good riddance.
“You can go right in, Ms. Clarke,” Cecelia says, smiling.
I hesitate for a moment before knocking on the partially open door. It’s unlikely Antonio was surprised that I told Valentina what I knew about the situation with Marco—which really wasn’t much. He won’t see it as a betrayal, not the way Rafael did.
Antonio glances up and catches me loitering in his doorway. “Lexie, what are you doing out there? Come in.”
He rounds the desk to greet me, with that same easy manner about him that he’s had with me since I was a toddler. He doesn’t seem angry.
“Is everything okay?” he asks, motioning toward a chair in front of his desk.
“It’s her birthday, and I miss her. I thought you might be missing her too.”
A pang of sorrow crosses his face as he takes the seat beside me, turning the chair until it’s facing mine, and I do the same. “I’ve been thinking about her all day too,” he murmurs. “It would have been her seventy-fifth birthday.”
“We would have had a big party for her that she would have said she didn’t want, but ended up loving.”
She would have taken Valentina and me out dress shopping, and maybe Antonio and Daniela’s young daughters, whom she never got to meet. We would have had tea after, and maybe gone to a show.
Antonio’s mouth is curled, but his gaze is far away.
I’m glad I came, even though the memories are bittersweet. Valentina and I normally reminisce about Lydia and toast her with champagne every year on her birthday, even if it’s via a Zoom call. But this year Valentina wasn’t in the right frame of mind to think about anything besides her marriage.
