Chapter 18
ENZO
“Dude, this is not dying down. What the fuck is going on?” Rio's face twists as he reads the headline in the tabloid paper.
BEFORE THE BILLIONS: PAUL KNIGHT'S FAMILY HEARTbrEAK
“Since when do you read tabloid papers?” Matteo asks, unperturbed.
“Someone in Raquel's team brought it to her attention.” Rio walks away, wiping his hands over his face. My brothers are in my office. It's almost the end of the day, and I've been keeping an eye on things, with Matteo's help.
“The old man's going to lose his shit,” Rio cries. “Especially at this.” He jabs his finger at a photo of Aurora. The headline to this stops me dead:
WHAT HAPPENED TO AURORA KNIGHT?
Aurora Knight, mother to Jett, Dex and Zach.
I can’t read any more, but I’m worried about the others.
They must despise me for helping push this back into the open.
I look at the photo. It’s a different pose, same family; Aurora smiling, Paul with his arm around her.
Jett, Dex and Zach looking slightly older than how I remember them in the photo I had.
This isn't that photograph.
I never saw that photo again after I showed it to Mama. She took it from me and I’ve never asked her what she did with it.
The door bursts wide open and Father walks in, his face twisted with rage. His reaction can’t be healthy, given his recent operation.
“What the hell is this?” He throws down a stack of tabloid papers and celebrity magazines.
I'm plastered all over the cover.
Me in a mask, and some photos of me without a mask.
Thankfully no photo of Molly.
Yet.
I'm dreading when these leeches decide to go after her. It’s only a matter of time.
BEFORE THE BILLIONS: PAUL KNIGHT'S FAMILY HEARTbrEAK
Father stops moving, one hand going to the back of a chair. His breathing sounds labored.
“Why don’t you sit down?” Matteo suggests.
The color drains from Father’s face. I stand up. “Do you need a glass of water or something?”
He motions with his hand for me to sit down. I stare at my brothers. They stare back. Rio gives me a what-the-hell-do-you-want-me-to-do look.
We wait.
It takes a minute or two of strained awkwardness before Father speaks again. “This …” he snaps, but his voice is raspy now, “This goddamn mess.”
I open my mouth, about to ask him about his health, and whether we should get the doctor but Rio shakes his head like he can read my mind.
“They're digging,” I say, getting back to the source of Father’s fury.
“They're connecting stories.” Matteo tries to help.
“Why is this not going away?” Father bellows. He points a finger at me. “You better shut this down.”
“How do you expect him to shut it down?” Matteo asks.
“I want this buried,” Father snaps. “Do what you need to, because this can’t become the headline again.”
“Bury it, how?” Rio asks. “The information is out there. It already exists.”
Father glares at him. “I don’t need a new generation to discover it. What happened decades ago is forgotten—”
“Not by us,” Rio points out.
“You’re making money, aren’t you?” Father snaps. “You have a stake in this company.”
Rio’s jaw flexes.
Father looks out of the window, at the Manhattan skyline.
“Stories didn’t dominate for too long, back then, when the world was simpler.
Now one viral video, a podcast, a documentary, a social media creator …
these vultures can cause unlimited damage.
” He pauses, deep in thought. “I wish we could erase the goddamn internet.”
“You can’t.” Matteo folds his arms.
I shouldn’t be surprised by his anger, or his selfishness. He’s always been about protecting himself, and his legacy. He doesn’t seem too bothered that Aurora’s memory is being dragged back into the public eye, or that her sons are about to relive one of the worst moments of their lives.
“You're still making this about you,” I remark, an undercurrent of anger simmering in my veins.
“Just … deal with it,” he hisses, then leaves. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“How did the meeting with the mysterious Luca Valizar go?” Matteo asks.
Rio chuckles. “The Mysterious Man meets the mysterious Luca Valizar.”
“At least people know about Enzo. No one knows much about Luca Valizar,” Matteo points out.
“I’d rather know about the woman who took the video of the Mysterious Man.” Rio’s voice drops an octave, like he’s auditioning for a voiceover on a horror movie.
I don’t need this. Not now. Not on top of everything else.
“There’s nothing to know,” I reply, feeling weary.
I don’t miss the glance Rio throws at Matteo.
Or the way Matteo’s mouth twitches.
“That’s bullshit.” Rio raises a brow at me and waits.
“Nothing happened,” I insist.
“This isn't nothing.” Matteo swipes his hand through his hair. “This is a whole lot of something.”
Rio scratches his beard. “And the internet isn’t quieting down.”
Molly didn’t mean to set this off. It was an accident, but the ensuing mess is one I don't know how to fix. All I know is that this is happening because of something I did.
It's the same old story all over again.
Matteo fidgets with his leather bracelet. “Give it another month and this will die down.”
I’m not so sure. “If that were the case, it would have died down by now.”
The story is as alive as ever, only it’s now taken a dangerous turn.
“The old man doesn’t sound too well.” Rio heads for the door.
Matteo gives an agreeing nod. “You'd have thought he'd want to rest some more, after his operation.”
“The old man does as he pleases.” Rio leaves, waving his arm in the air by way of goodbye.
I pick up an elastic band from my desk tidy and play with it. “How are you feeling after the op?” I ask Matteo. He donated his kidney. Father gained a healthier one, but Matteo has to deal with giving one away.
“I’m fine.” Matteo perches on the edge of my desk.
I stretch the elastic band as far as it will go then release one end. I think about Molly and wonder how she's handling this since I left Chicago.
Matteo pushes off the desk. “We’ll deal with it.”
I look up at him. “Easy enough for you to say.”
“It will die down ... eventually, I promise.”
“Hasn’t yet,” I counter.
“It would have, if it had just been about the masked ball. Problem is, it’s about the Knights. That might take a little longer. Try to chill.”
He leaves, just as my phone vibrates.
I pick it up.
My heart almost leaps out of my chest.
It's from Molly.
She’s exactly who I thought she was—kind, caring and innocent.
I read her message.
Molly : I saw the Aurora Knight story. Are you okay?
I stare at her message for the longest time. Eventually I reply:
Enzo: I’m trying to be
She replies instantly:
Molly : I wish I had a time machine
I start to type something then delete it. Then wait a few seconds and start typing again, but I delete it again.
And then I leave it.