Page 14 of Home to Me (The Andrades 2)
“You figured right.” Gio surprised Nick by sitting down across from him. He cleared his throat. “That deal will make a substantial difference in the profit margin. You did good.”
Nick tensed at the praise. His family knew exactly how to soften someone up before cutting them down. He and Gio hadn’t spoken about anything personal since he’d returned to Cogent, but it appeared that was about to change. “And?”
Gio ran a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry.”
Nick sat forward. “What? You obviously have something you want to say to me.”
Gio looked at him silently for a long moment. “I didn’t know what to do when Father died. I was angry with him when I discovered his mistress in Venice. At that time, I didn’t know about Gigi. I swear, Nick, that wouldn’t have been a secret I would have kept.”
“Why did you keep any? Didn’t I have a right to know the truth?”
“I thought I was protecting the family. I was wrong.” Gio punched his thigh in frustration. “I was wrong about a lot of things. Mother was devastated by the revelation that Father had another family. That was followed by a realization that he hadn’t been honest with anyone about the state of the company. Cogent was sinking. We were one contract away from closing our doors. I remember feeling like everything was spinning out of control. I thought if I could get Cogent back on track everything else would return to normal. I didn’t want you to know how bad things were. I see now that by keeping you out of the loop I blocked you from becoming an effective team member.”
“You sound like you’re making a deathbed confession. I don’t buy it.”
Gio accepted that with a nod. “I don’t expect you to trust me immediately. I thought the worst of you when you were determined to work here. Luke said you’re here seeking the truth. I don’t have all of the answers you’re looking for, but I have some. Whatever Mother has against Victor and Alessandro, it has something to do with Isola Santos.”
“Our family’s private island?”
“Yes. It should have gone to me, but Mother made sure it didn’t. She gave the deed for it back to our uncles and lied about it.”
“Do you have proof of that?”
“Victor told me the deed had been in Mother’s possession before Father died. Which made sense since it always goes to the oldest male child in the family.”
“The uncles have lied about many things over the years. They never accepted her or us.”
“I used to believe that, but not anymore. As soon as they knew I was interested in Isola Santos, they offered it to me. No, someone has been lying to us, but I don’t believe it was them.”
Nick stood and shook his head.
Gio stood also and continued. “None of this is easy for me to say. I love our mother, too. And she is ill, just not in the way she’d like us to believe.”
“You’ve never told me any of this before. Why say it now?”
Gio held out a hand for emphasis. “You and I have been at odds for a long time, but these past two weeks have proven it doesn’t have to be that way. We can be on the same team.” A sad expression entered his eyes and he lowered his hand. “You don’t believe me.”
“I didn’t say that.” Nick sat immobile while his mind raced. Gio seemed forthright, open, and almost earnest in his desire for Nick to believe him. Which either meant what he said was true, or there was something Gio was afraid he would uncover.
Gio went to his desk and returned with a folder. “Take this. It’s the Durkin file. I had planned to meet with him and Congressman Blasett next week to facilitate the site testing and formalize the government approval. Why don’t you lead that meeting? Rena has all my notes. She can bring you up to speed on everything we’ve done so far. If you need her, take her with you to his office. She knows all the players involved. This will free me up to check out a potential site in Canada.” He held the folder out to Nick. “Are you ready for the challenge?”
Nick took the folder and met Gio’s eyes. This wasn’t how he’d imagined the morning going at all. “You’re asking me to work with Rena? Didn’t you warn me to stay away from her?”
Gio laid a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “I overreacted to that stupid photo. You’ve known Rena as long as I have. If something was going to happen between the two of you, it would have happened a long time ago. I should have trusted you.”
Nick frowned. Whether or not Gio was being entirely honest with him, Nick wasn’t about to lie to him. “Gio, I can’t guarantee . . .”
Misreading what Nick was about to say, Gio gave him a supportive pat on the back. “You’ll do fine. Especially if you work with Rena on this. The framework for the deal has already been banged out on all sides. All you have to do is get it in writing.”
Nick nodded and left Gio’s office with folder in hand. The deal wasn’t the part he was worried about.
He stopped in front of Rena’s desk and said, “It looks like the two of us will be working together. I’m taking over the Durkin project. I realize tomorrow is Saturday, but I need to get up to speed on it as soon as possible. So, my place or yours?”
Rena’s eyes rounded and she licked her bottom lip nervously. “I don’t think either is a good idea. How about here?”
Giving in to temptation, Nick leaned down and growled into her ear, “I’ve pictured fucking you on your desk as many times as I have imagined you in my bed, or in my car, or against your office door. Location is not going to make this any easier.” The scent of her perfume was heaven to him. “I know you feel the same.”
She didn’t deny it. How could she? Her own breathing revealed how his words were affecting her. She pulled her head back so she could meet his eyes. “Then the smart thing to do is to not meet at all. I can send you the information I have. It’s easy enough to do this online. We could even FaceTime if you’d like.”
“Afraid?” he asked and loved how she shivered at his question.
“No,” she denied hotly a second later.
“Good, then meet me.”
“Fine,” she said and reached for a sticky note. As she spoke, she wrote an address on the paper. “This is the coffee shop around the corner from my house. It has tables where we can sit and talk. Espresso Express. I’ll meet you there at ten. By then the rush is over and we can talk without being disturbed.” She handed the paper to him primly.
He pocketed the paper. “You always were good at playing it safe.”
Her eyes held a mix of heat and defiance. “And you always do whatever you want.”
He took her chin in his hand with a less-than-gentle grip. “That’s how you see me?”
She broke off their connection with a flip of her chin. “Count me out of whatever game you’re playing. I’ll work with you because I want you to succeed here, but if you’re interested in anything else, call your secretary. Unless you’re already sick of tapping that well.”
“Tapping that well?” He threw his head back and laughed. “I love it. And you know what else I love? You, jealous. That haughty, dismissive tone is hot.” His expression turned more serious. “For the record, I haven’t tapped anyone’s well for months.”
He walked to the door of her office, turned, and put a hand to his throat. “Parched.”
She crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it at him. “Get out of here.”
He turned around to look at her one more time from the doorway. “Tomorrow at ten.”
As he walked away, the confusion he felt while talking to his brother melted away. When it came to family matters, he didn’t know who to believe yet. Normally, that would have soured his mood. However, he was about to spend a day with Rena.
He smiled.
They could start with business. In fact, it was important that they did. He needed to be ready for the Durkin meeting the following week.
But after that . . .
Whatever happens—happens.
Chapter Seven
The next morning, Rena used the short walk to the coffee shop to get her hea
d together. Nick liked to shock people. That’s all his suggestive comments yesterday had been about. He wanted to see if he could get under her skin. And he’d succeeded.
Just as he always had.
If she had been looking for confirmation that meeting him was a bad idea, she’d only have to call any of her friends or family. Kane believed Nick wasn’t at Cogent for good reasons. Her friends had always considered her crush on him to be one of her few flaws. They called him a narcissistic playboy. Not that that would have stopped any of them from sleeping with him if he’d shown any interest in them.
Which thankfully he hadn’t. Rena liked to believe that was out of respect for her.
