I watch as she heads to the bar to collect a tray of drinks, which she carries across the room to a group of businessmen. I recognize one of them as Vittorio Bardi, who owns Tuscany's largest car dealership. She laughs at something he says. When he puts a hand on her arm, pulling her closer, my jaw tightens.
Fortunately, Giorgio is taking the responsibility I placed on his shoulders seriously. I warned him that if anyone touched my woman while she was at work, I would reconsider giving him a larger role in my organization. He appears in the frame and directs Violetta to another table. Then he bends to say something that makes Bardi stiffen.
My eyes find Violetta again, standing by the bar. She adjusts the strap of her dress, then turns to whoever is on duty tonight. I close the laptop as Lorenzo saunters over from the bar with two glasses of Scotch. He hands one to me before dropping onto the armchair opposite.
"What time did Sandro say he'd meet us?" It's the third time Lorenzo has asked. Although he claims to be suffering no ill effects from his concussion, I've never known him to be forgetful.
"Six thirty." I sip my drink as I study him carefully. "Are you sure you shouldn't lie down? It was a long flight."
"Nah!" He waves a dismissive hand. "My head's fine."
His gaze drifts toward the laptop and a grin curves his lips. "Were you checking up on her?"
"No."
The look he gives me shows he doesn't believe that for a second.
"You know, you don't have to marry the girl."
"She's a woman." At twenty-eight, Violetta is mature and capable. She's not some silly girl I picked up for a bit of fun. "And I'm aware I don't."
Lorenzo sits back in his seat. "I'm serious,fratello.”
"I thought the land was important to you."
"It is." Lorenzo stares over the rim of his glass at me. "But not if it gets you all twisted up."
My eyes narrow. "I'm not all twisted up."
"No? You weren't watching her on the security feed just now?"
"I'm checking on my business."
"Sure you are." Lorenzo's grin fades. "It would be good, you know, if you found what I have with Lucia."
"And what do you have with Lucia?"
"Everything." He's pensive for a moment. "A future."
"Isn't it too soon to be talking this way?"
Lorenzo shrugs. "I was certain about Lucia the first time she told me to get lost."
I shake my head. "Never pegged you for a romantic."
He smiles faintly. "I get that fromMamma, I guess."
The mention of our mother twists something inside my chest. Guilt gnaws at me every time I think of her. I should have freed her from our father's tyranny sooner, before he did irreparable damage to her body and mind. But I was just a boy, too young to stop him. I couldn’t protect her then. I won’t make the same mistake again.
"Have you visited her lately?" I ask.
"No, but I plan to go soon. I'd like Lucia to meet her." It's a sign of just how serious he is about the feisty young chef. "I hate that she always asks about Gabriele, though."
"She misses him."
Gabriele is the middle child, but because our father was grooming me for succession, my younger brother became the sole focus of our mother's world.
"I miss him," Lorenzo admits. "Have you spoken to him at all?"
