Page 35 of Home to Me (The Andrades 2)
“Whatever it is, Rena, I’ll make it right. Just tell me what happened.”
Fresh tears started to spill down Rena’s cheeks. “You can’t fix this for me, Kane. Could you stop thinking it’s your job to protect me and just listen to me for once?”
Kane walked over and leaned against the counter beside his sister. “Are you pregnant?”
Rena rolled her eyes.
Kane sighed. “I’m trying, Rena. You look like you just lost your best friend. What the hell happened?”
Rena wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, “That’s exactly what just happened.”
Kane slumped with relief. “That’s it? Thank God.”
Rena glared at him.
Kane pulled her to his side for a hug. “I’m not belittling what you’re going through. I just imagined at least ten possibilities I couldn’t live with.” He let out a long breath. “So, who did you have a fight with?”
“I didn’t fight with anyone,” Rena said sadly. “I just disappointed someone I care about very much in a way I never meant to.”
“You?” Kane pulled back and raised one eyebrow in doubt. “The person who is always trying to make sure everyone else is happy? You could never disappoint anyone.”
“You’d be surprised, Kane.”
“I’m here if you want to talk about it, Rena. I won’t say a thing. I’ll just listen. I promise.”
“There is a lot of crap going on right now, Kane, and I could use your advice with some of it, but I’m not a little girl anymore. You don’t have to run up to the bully in the playground and punch him out for me. If I tell you what’s going on, I want you to listen to the whole story and then do nothing if that’s what I ask you to do. Can you promise me that?”
“I don’t know.”
Rena looked up at her brother. “Swear to me you won’t say or do anything. If I tell you what happened and you make this situation worse, I won’t talk to you again, Kane. Not about anything that matters.”
Kane frowned. “I promise to only get as involved as you ask me to. Now, tell me, what happened.”
Rena squared her shoulders and said, “Nick and I just broke up.”
***
Nick had turned his phone off as soon as Rena’s first call had come in. He still wasn’t ready to deal with the emotions their last conversation had stirred in him. He’d spent the night walking the city’s streets, not wanting to go back to his hotel room but also not wanting to head to a club, as he once would have. He’d started off feeling angry at Rena for dismissing him, especially after he’d turned to her for comfort as he’d never done with others. For the first time in his life, he wanted to wake up next to the same person every day. And he wanted that someone to be Rena. It hadn’t been easy to hear she’d invested as much emotion in him as she would have a trip to Disney.
Not that he blamed her. His track record with women spoke for itself. What had she said—she’d be a fool to think sex with her could change him? While walking around the city, he’d thought about how could have responded instead of just walking away.
He could have told her it wasn’t the sex that had changed him, it was all the times they met in the hallway at work and talked about nothing. He looked forward to seeing her and doing absolutely nothing more than he’d ever looked forward to doing anything with anyone.
What had changed him? The way she smiled at him when she thought he wasn’t looking. The way she defended him when she thought he couldn’t hear her. Even those damn birthday cards. What kind of person keeps sending cards when the recipient never acknowledges them?
Rena. The most warmhearted, loyal woman he’d ever met.
A woman who had very sincerely told him he was good enough for sex and nothing more. The worst part was, when he looked at himself through her eyes, he had to agree with her.
As he’d continued to walk down the artificially lit streets of a city that never slept, Nick had admitted he was also angry that Rena had forced him to reassess everything he thought he knew about himself and his family.
He’d spent a good hour hating his mother and blaming her for everything that was or had ever been wrong with his life. He’d wasted some time pondering what had happened to make her the type of mother who would hurt her own children if they stood between her and what she wanted.
Finally, he’d stopped when he caught his reflection in a department store window. How Rena viewed him was a consequence of how he had lived his life until that point. He could have made better choices. He’d looked into his own eyes and acknowledged what he had been denying until then.
All of this is equally my fault.
He saw then that his mother had played on his insecurities and his pride. Both traits had been weaknesses, just as destructive to his life as his love of alcohol had been. It was time to leave them behind, as he had the bottle. Continuing down the street, he’d begun to see patterns in his life that he wanted—no needed—to break.
As the sun came up, Nick realized his seemingly random walk had led him to the high-rise building where Gio and Julia lived. He announced himself to the doorman, who placed a quick phone call upstairs. Then Nick was directed to the elevator that served his brother’s penthouse.
With his wet hair slicked back, Gio answered the door in a thick white bathrobe. Julia, also dripping wet, stood behind him dressed in similar attire. Gio said gruffly, “I hope this is important. Julia and I were—” He stopped there.
Julia added sweetly and blushed, “Showering.”
Nick ran a hand through his already mussed hair. “Can I come in?”
Gio opened the door wider, then told Nick to give them a few minutes to get dressed. Gio returned in lounge pants and a T-shirt. Julia had thrown on yoga pants and a sweatshirt. Still dressed in yesterday’s suit, Nick looked like a man on a walk of shame home—which would have been accurate if he’d had more than a hotel room to return to.
Nick shrugged awkwardly. “I probably should have called before coming over.”
Gio didn’t correct him.
Julia smiled at him again. “Would you like a cup of coffee, Nick?”
Nick waved off the idea. “No, don’t bother. I’m fine. This won’t take long.”
Gio shrugged in resignation and sat down. “You might as well have some, Nick. You look like shit, and we’re already dressed.”
Julia leaned over the back of the couch, wrapped her arms around Gio’s shoulders, and kissed his neck. Gio smiled and leaned into her caress while warmly rubbing her arm. Their obvious affection for each other was touching to witness. Julia straightened and said, “I’ll make a nice big breakfast, which will give the two of you time to chat.” She started to walk toward the kitchen, then turned back and said, “I’m glad you’re here, Nick. Gio is, too.”
When she was out of earshot, Nick said, “She’s really sweet, isn’t she?”
Gio’s expression remained guarded. “Cut the shit, Nick. What are you doing here? What do you want?”
Nick sat in the chair across from Gio. “I need to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to sugarcoat your answer. Give me the unfiltered truth.”
Gio rubbed the back of his neck like the idea gave him a headache, then said, “Ask away.”
“Do you consider me a full partner at Cogent?”
Gio clenched his hand on his lap. “That’s an interesting question. If you’re looking to cash out your share, we don’t have the liquid assets right now to do it.”
Nick sat forward. “I’m not talking about money, Gio. I’m asking if you’re including me in what’s really going on there, or if you?
?re feeding me projects that don’t really matter just to keep me occupied.”
“What do you want me to say, Nick? You want to take over one of the big contracts? Is that what you’re looking for? I can’t simply hand those to you. I won’t risk the future of Cogent just because your ego needs bolstering. You’ll get those contracts when you’re ready for them.”
Nick ran his hand through his hair again. “This isn’t about that either.”
“Then for God’s sake, Nick, don’t dance around whatever it is you’re trying to say. It’s too fucking early in the morning for me to play twenty questions with you.”
“Gio, I know there is something going on that has you worried. I don’t know what news came in last week, but it wasn’t good, was it?”
Gio took a deep breath before answering. “No, it wasn’t.”
“What did you find out?”
“I’m handling it,” Gio growled and stood.
Nick also surged to his feet and blocked his brother’s path. “Alone. Like you handled everything that happened when Father died.”
“Yes.”
“But you don’t have to. I’m right here, Gio. You said you wanted me working at the company with you. You said we’d run it together. If something is jeopardizing it, tell me. I can help.”
Gio shook his head. “Nick, this isn’t like a broken fax machine or a stubborn politician. I need to handle this one.”
“Because you’re trying to protect me, or because you don’t believe I’m as committed to Cogent’s success as you are? You may have worked there longer, but I am now just as invested as you are. If it’s a problem with raising capital, use my trust fund. I’m not going anywhere this time, Gio. I’m all in. But you’re going to have to trust me.”
Gio stared at Nick for a long, silent moment before saying, “It’s something I thought I had resolved a long time ago. I found the issue when I first took over the company. Money we should have had was missing. Large amounts of money. That’s why we were teetering. Someone had falsified accounting records to try to cover it. Bills were recorded as having been paid that weren’t. Big payouts. I couldn’t find who was responsible. I was afraid it was Father and that if the truth came out our family would be ruined. So I covered it up by pouring money into the company. My name is all over enough false documents to incriminate me if it were ever investigated.”
