Chapter 11
ENZO
I didn’t go to see Mama. A big part of going to Venice was to go to Soave to see her, and I couldn't even do that.
Mama was disappointed when I told her. I also never got to meet with Luca Valizar. I had to cut my trip short because a video of me went viral.
A video Molly took.
She told me the clips were for her headmistress, and I believed her. But I can see there are hundreds of thousands of views and likes. With this viral video, everyone has an opinion about the man in the mask.
“I know who this is,” someone posts.
“It's Enzo Knight, one of the Knight brothers.”
I guard my privacy fiercely. I hate people inventing stories about me, prying into my life and speculating about who I am and what I've done. They don't know me, but they feel entitled to judge me.
I'm worried that once the media find out it's really me, they'll inevitably start digging into the Knight family again, into the lives of the people I love. It's not me I'm worried about. People turning their attention to my family, especially to Mama, would hurt the most.
The jet lag doesn't help. I read some more comments and want to bury my head under the pillow. I decided not to go to work today but I can’t lie in bed any longer. I jump out of bed and decide to go for a run to clear my head.
Molly pops into my head every now and then.
I thought I could read her.
Clearly I couldn’t.
I hear a knock at the door as soon as I’ve changed into my running clothes. Then I hear another knock, and another. Urgent and persistent. I immediately know who it is. They’ve left me enough messages on my phone.
I open the door to find Rio and Matteo looking at me.
Matteo looks somber.
Rio wears a big grin.
“The Mysterious Man.” He adopts a dramatic voice. “What the hell happened out there?” He walks right in and heads straight for my wet bar. “I need a drink.”
“In the morning?”
“It’s that kind of day.”
“You okay?” Matteo asks.
“Not sure.”
I don’t need this right now, their interrogation of what happened in Venice.
Rio lifts his whiskey glass at me. “People are obsessed with you.”
“Don't remind me.” I slip on my running shoes.
“You went to Venice to find a woman, and somehow you end up a global superstar.”
My stomach twists. “I did not go to find anyone, and I’m not a global superstar. I was hoping to see Mama and meet with Luca Valizar—”
“Did you?” Rio asks.
“No, but—”
“Did you even see this Valizar dude?”
“No, but—”
“Then how the hell were you going to meet with him?”
Rio bulldozes the conversation, barely giving me a chance to reply. “I’ve watched the clip a gazillion times. It’s clear that a woman took that footage.”
I lift a shoulder. “And?”
“Who’s the woman?” Rio cries, clearly not leaving until he’s questioned me to death.
“Give him some time,” Matteo snaps. “He’s suffering from jet lag.”
Rio stares at me. “He’s suffering from more than jet lag.”
“She's a schoolteacher,” I say, wearily.
Matteo cocks his head. “A schoolteacher?” He swipes a hand across his face. “The videos have a ton of views. We’re talking hundreds of thousands. You've been tagged as a mystery man at Venice masked ball and now everybody wants to identify you because of this schoolteacher.”
“Most people have identified you,” Rio remarks. “They know who you are.”
Matteo looks at me. “The old man isn't too pleased about that.”
I know. I expected it. Father has left me a few voicemails, but I can’t bring myself to listen to them yet. I crouch down and start tying my sneaker laces.
“You know her?” Matteo asks.
“I spent the evening with her.”
Rio’s about to take another sip of his drink, but stops. “You spent the evening with her?”
“Nothing happened. We talked, that’s all.”
“Just talked?” He gapes at me wide-eyed. “Do you at least have her number?”
“No.”
Rio whistles. “Hot damn. You need to up your game, dude. And you wonder why you're single.”
Blood surges through me. “I don't wonder why I'm single.”
“No?” He opens his eyes wide in that annoying, older brother way. Patronizing and condescending all at once.
“Do you know her name?” Matteo asks.
I shrug, more to indicate that I’m sick of this intrusion.
I want to be left alone. I want to put this behind me.
I’ll never see her again, and there's nothing I can do about the videos being online.
They will have been downloaded, screen-recorded, reposted and shared thousands if not millions of times.
I can't go back in time and prevent any of this.
Now that one of them has gone viral, taking it down won't solve the problem. Rio doesn't need to spell it out, but no one wants the past being dredged up again.
Father rarely gives interviews or allows journalists into his life. The Knights have been in the press before, and every time it happens, someone starts digging.
The Knight family is famous but we don't seek fame. We prefer to build our empires silently, and this level of scrutiny isn't welcomed.
“It will die down,” I tell them, more to convince myself, than anything else. “The media will get bored and this will disappear.”
“I hope so,” Matteo mutters.
“If you guys have finished dissecting my weekend, I’d like to go for a run.” I check my phone again for messages.
Matteo pats me on the back. “That’s a good idea. Maybe come over later tonight and we can have dinner. Elizabeth’s over.”
Rio sets down his glass and chuckles. “She’s moved in with you, more like.”
“And your problem is?” Matteo eyes him.
“No problem, dude. I’m happy for you.”
Meanwhile, I reread an email that’s just landed in my inbox. I can hardly believe it.
“Luca Valizar wants a meeting.”
Rio looks impressed. “Damn. And he couldn’t tell you that in Venice?”
Matteo raises a brow. “You finally get to meet him.”
I finally do.
It’s odd that he waited until I was back in New York to ask me.