Chapter 14
ENZO
I get back to my hotel room after my swim.
It was exactly what I needed after the long day. A day in which I not only met Luca Valizar, but also received a proposal I don’t quite know what to make of
I take a shower then quickly check my laptop. My email inbox is full again. Lesley, my personal assistant, keeps an eye on it for me, and only forwards me the most important ones.
I find myself staring at a long list of important emails that need my immediate attention. As I scan the subject headers and senders, one email jumps out at me.
I quickly open it.
From: Penelope Grech
Mr. Knight,
My name is Penelope Grech, Director of Strategic Operations for Mr. Valizar.
I’ll be your main point of contact for the project going forward.
Following your discussions with Mr. Valizar today, a meeting has been arranged for you at 9a.m. tomorrow. The address and directions are attached.
I will meet you there.
Regards,
Penelope Grech
I open the attachment. An address, a map and nothing else. The more important details—such as the agenda or what we're supposed to discuss, are not there.
I don't like Luca’s way of working. I have nothing against mystery, but it doesn't have a place in business dealings. I quickly look at the map. It’s the place I went to today. The neglected land that he wants developed.
Great. Another meeting in the great outdoors, but this time with the Director of Strategic Operations. My cell phone rings. I quickly glance at it, see that it's Mama. I immediately answer it.
“Mama.”
“Enzo, tesoro, the world is still interested in you.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry, Mama.”
“Was that why you didn't come to see me?”
I didn’t tell her the reason why. I just told her that I had business to take care of. But Mama is smart. And there’s no hiding from the internet, especially if a video of you has gone viral.
“ Yes,” I say, slowly. I hate lying to Mama. I almost never do. “I'm sorry, Mama.”
“Who filmed that?” Mama’s voice is soft, not judging, no trace of irritation or disappointment.
“Someone I met at the ball in Venice.”
“She’s turned your life upside down, tesoro.”
I clench my jaw, as words elude me.
“How did this happen?” Mama asks.
“I don’t know exactly what happened.”
I’m none the wiser. I can’t contact Molly to ask her. But I find myself replaying moments from that night and getting angrier.
Mama pauses. “Did you go to the ball with her?”
I know what Mama is thinking. What most mothers with a single son in his late twenties might think. Is she your girlfriend? Is she someone special?
“I barely know her, Mama.”
“It’s just that …”
The way Mama pauses makes me nervous.
“Just what, Mama?”
“Journalists arrived at my door today, tesoro.”
Ice slides down my spine.
For a second, I can’t breathe.
No.
Not Mama.
Not again.
Something sharp and ugly claws its way up from the pit of my stomach. That same sick feeling. The knowledge that something I’ve done has reached beyond me and landed at the feet of someone I love.
Mama.
Again.
Just like before.
I was a child then, but I’m not one now. And yet the guilt feels exactly the same. It plasters over me, suffocating me all over again.
“Mama …” I sink onto the bed, rage simmering under my skin. “What did they want to know?”
“The usual. These people have nothing better to do.”
“But what specifically did they ask?” I press, my stomach churning with guilt as I try control my anger.
“About the past, Enzo, about your father and …”
I stand up, my breaths coming faster now. I try to slow down my breathing, but fail.
“How did they find your address, Mama?”
“I don't know, tesoro.” Mama sounds weary. “People have ways and means and the internet makes all of us accessible to everyone. But I thought your father had done everything he could to make those stories disappear.”
She sounds tired, not angry, just tired.
“I’m sorry, Mama.”
“I don’t want the past being brought up again. Not because of your father. I don’t care how it affects him, but because of you boys. You are seem to be getting along so well now, and I want it to stay like that. I don’t want the past coming back and causing division again.”
I think about that for a moment. I’m not sure we’d be divided because of what happened. The division happened because Father wanted it to be that way.
“I'll fix it, Mama.”
“Be careful, tesoro. There are some crazy people out there, people who hide behind a name. I don't want anything to happen to you.”
“You don't have to worry about me, Mama. I’ll be fine. It’s you I worry about.”
“I’m fine, here, all the way in Soave. I’m fine.”
Except, she’s not. Some journalist managed to find her all the way in Soave. I toss the phone onto my bed and wonder what I can do to fix it.
Knowing that I can’t.
That footage is out there. I’ve played a waiting game, hoping everything will die down, but it’s taking longer than I hoped.
Twenty years ago I broke Mama’s heart by showing her something she might never have otherwise seen.
It disrupted her life and ours.
I did that.
And here I am doing it again.