Chapter 18
Stefan
“Still nothing?” I asked Nick. Even though I knew full well what his answer would be. The same as what it always was.
“Nothing. I had to pull a few guys off and put them on Raul. Watching Asher is the top priority at the moment,” he stated something I already knew.
Asher had somehow infiltrated Raul Ramiro's business.
He was in there like a dirty shirt, getting information and feeding it to us. It was a dangerous mission.
No.
It was a thousand times more dangerous than that. If Raul got the tiniest breeze of knowledge that Asher was Eve's brother—Asher would be in deep shit. And Eve likely wouldn't have a brother left afterward.
“Yeah,” was all I said. That wasn't a surprise. Finding Francesca had been put on the back burner for weeks. Ever since I came to the realization that Francesca left because she really didn't want me anymore—I'd let her go.
Almost.
But not really.
In my logical, thinking brain, I let her go. If she didn't want to be with me, why the fuck would I want to be with her? There were any number of women who'd be proud to be on my fuckin' arm. They'd kill to stand next to me.
But not Francesca.
Coming to this conclusion in my logical, thinking brain did not mean the rest of my brain agreed.
Because it clearly didn't.
Not at all.
The rest of me wanted what I wanted.
And that was Francesca.
My dreams were filled with her. Naked, curvy, delicious Francesca.
Yes.
But also, with the caring, competent, artistic Francesca.
Many of my dreams consisted of us sitting on her shitty couch in her shitty apartment. That stupid show that she loved stuck on the TV.
Fuck.
I could even smell her landlord’s fucking corned beef wafting up my nose.
We'd just be sitting there. Me eating a delicious hamburger. Francesca busy drawing more puzzle pieces.
And we were fucking happy. Really fucking happy.
And then—I'd wake up.
To an empty bed.
In my quiet, empty penthouse.
The only thing that made it bearable was when Eve, and Giselle came over to—visit. And do other things. Other really great things.
Those women had helped me through a tough time. And I'd be forever grateful for them.
Nick was rambling on about Asher. And Raul. I slowly began to tune into what he was saying. None of it was good news.
“We need you to try and make nice with Raul. Get him to think you're on his side,” Nick said, looking straight at me.
The patio doors opened, and Carlo stepped out.
The kids were sleeping, and I'd popped over for what Nick had said would be a quick meeting. It felt more like they were ganging up on me.
I suppose I should take this as a compliment.
They obviously felt like I was “healed” enough to enter back into the day-to-day life of our family business.
Up until now, they'd kept me in the loop.
But I was forbidden from having any real responsibilities back.
Carlo had said I needed to “get my head on straight” before coming back.
Apparently, my head had returned. And straightened up.
“How the fuck am I supposed to do that? He knows that we all hate him. Raul would sooner stab me than befriend me,” I told them something they already knew. Raul Ramiro was no friend of ours.
Never had been.
Nick sat back in his chair and folded his hands in front of him.
“There's a new deal we want you to propose to him.
It's believable enough. And it would benefit his interests more than ours.
But he needs to think he's doing us the favor.
You're good at that, Stefan. Out of all of us, you've got the best skills for something like this.”
I looked from Nick to my brother. And back again.
“Are you guys crazy? There's no way Raul will buy into us working together.” I scowled at them for being stupid. There was exactly zero chance of Raul agreeing to do business with us. What the fuck were they thinking?
“It depends on if his greed surpasses his hate.” Nick's head tilted slightly. “And Raul is a fucking greedy bastard.”
Carlo nodded in agreement and said, “It might be a longshot, but Asher's putting his ass on the line for us right now. And the least we can do is try and help the little asshole out.” He gave me a look.
And I knew exactly what that look meant.
Asher was in trouble. And if anything happened to him, none of us would want to be the one to tell Eve we'd fucked up.
We all loved her. And she loved her brother.
No matter the difficulties, those two had growing up.
She'd never forgive us if something happened to Asher.
Or either of her sisters. She loved them all.
So much so that she'd sold her body in order to keep a fucking roof over their heads and food in their bellies.
Now, her sisters were overseas. The youngest, Bea, in a prestigious private school.
And the oldest, Rachel, at university. Years ago, she and Nick had sent them there to keep them out of harm’s way.
And when that harm was finally dead—and it was safe for the girls to come back home—they decided to stay.
And since Nick was a rich bastard, he gave those girls everything they wanted or needed.
“And how exactly am I supposed to help Asher?” I asked the two men at the table with me.
I wasn't stupid. I knew they'd obviously talked about this beforehand.
Nick and Eve were still living with Carlo and Giselle at their estate.
Giselle was still having a time of it with her morning sickness.
Or like she called it, all day sickness. Not to mention the endless fatigue.
Needless to say, she and Carlo appreciated all the help Nick and Eve could give them. Especially with all their babies.
That house was bursting with them. And they'd be adding to it soon, too. Giselle's belly was growing bigger by the day.
She and Giselle enjoyed their weekly sleepovers at my place. Likely because it gave them a small break from their crazy home life. Those two women loved their kids. And their nieces and nephews. But I still wouldn't blame them if they craved some peace and quiet on occasion.
“You get in on their poker game. Lose a few rounds. Or more. And make nice with Raul,” Carlo said as he waved toward the house. “Our time's up,” he muttered and stood. The patio door opened, and Dani came screaming out. Arms wide.
A huge grin on her pretty face.
She ran right into Carlo's arms—right into her father's arms.
Carlo grabbed her and tossed her up into the air. She giggled loudly. “Mommy said you'd swim with me!”
Carlo kissed her cheek and laughed. “Well, your mother's always right. Isn't she?”
Dani's arms circled around the back of his neck, and she held him tight. “Yup!”
And then off they went to the pool. Carlo carrying his daughter.
I wasn't sure which one of them was smiling more.
“You'll have that, too,” Nick said, surprising the fuck out of me.
I turned my head and looked at him. “Excuse me?”
He jerked his head at Carlo and Dani. “That. You'll have it, too. Don't lose hope.”
Nick always seemed to know what the hell I was thinking. Although it probably wasn't too difficult to guess. He knew I'd lost Giselle to Carlo. And everything that came with that deal.
No matter how hard I'd tried to lock down Francesca, she still ran. Lost her, too.
I'd lost a fuck of a lot in my life. Nick also knew that. He'd practically known me my whole life. He knew every single skeleton in my closet. Just like I knew his.
I didn't say a word. The only thing that would come out of my mouth would be some sad bullshit response. And I was fucking done with being pitied.
I needed to get on with my life and stop looking back.
That was what I told myself, anyway.
Who knew if I could actually do it?