Page 33 of Finding Love in the Clouds

“Have you ever spoken with Colin or Annabel about that? Asked why they didn’t adopt you? It seems important to you. I have seen firsthand how much they love you. I think they would gladly explaintheir reasons, and I honestly feel they had to have some pretty good ones, or they would have made their relationship with you legal. Colin totally treats you like a son, and the McKenzie kids are your siblings, just like your BBC brothers. Never doubt the sincerity and depth of those relationships, whether they are recognized by the courts or not. Anyone with eyes can see the genuine connection between all of you.”

“I know. I love them as if they were my blood. It’s all in my head. No matter how many times I tell myself to get over it, sometimes it creeps back in when I’m down or struggling with life. As for my mother, I’d be interested to know what happened to her, to ask why she abandoned me. And despite everything, I’d like to thank her for giving me life. She could have aborted me, but she chose to drop me off at a Safe Place instead. I respect her for that, whatever the reason.”

Gently placing a hand on his thigh, Sophie added, “And, in giving you life, you were able to bring the BBC together and save your brothers as well. No matter how painful, God has a plan for you. I’m grateful for the part you played inmystory.”

Taking her hand in his, he turned slightly to make direct eye contact with her. “I’m not sure where either of our paths will lead, but I’m thankful you were placed in my life. You came along when I was coming unraveled, detached from the family that grounded me, with more responsibility than I could handle. In your calm and simple way, you slowly started stitching the chaos of my life back together. I never would have made it this far in this industry without you, Sophie. You are more than my right hand and friend. You are a gift that I treasure. Thank you for taking this journey with me, both the business one and this BBC pact. You make everything more enjoyable.”

“You’re welcome. The feeling is mutual. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. That day, you and your brothers rolled into my store and purchased close to a million dollars in watches… let’s just saythat commission check saved my family’s bacon. Eviction wasn’t just a threat. It was happening. The job offer was a Godsend. There has never been more perfect timing,” Sophie murmured as she collected their trash and stowed it in the paper bag to toss in the trash later, then lifted her tray table out of the way.

“Mind sharing more of that story with me? I have always been curious about it,” Fernando admitted.

“Sure, if you’re willing to share the pact that brought the BBC in to see me,” Sophie rebutted.

“Of course, that seems only fair. I’ll start,” Fernando said, leaning back in his seat and getting comfortable.

Chapter Thirty-One

Ambling through the countryside, the late afternoon sun cast a warm, golden light over the rolling hills of Umbria and Tuscany, turning the landscape into a picturesque scene right out of a painting. Fields of sunflowers and vineyards stretched out as far as the eye could see, dotted with charming farmhouses and ancient stone walls.

“Let’s switch seats so you can look out the window as we talk. You’re enough of a view for me, and I don’t want you to miss a moment of this trip,” Fernando said, standing up and moving to the aisle so Sophie could vacate her window seat, making room for him to sit down. Resettling, this time with Fernando next to the window, turned slightly in to see Sophie and Sophie in the aisle seat, turned to face Fernando and the window, he began.

“Okay, so you already know my brothers and I pose a pact each year to challenge each other. The whole point is for the annual pact to make us better in some way, but Enrique often uses his turn to propose pacts for other things. They often seem frivolous and materialistic on the surface, but I think that down deep, they mean more to him.”

“In what way?” Sophie asked, confusion knitting her delicate brows together.

“In our early twenties, we made a pact to become successful businessmen. We wanted to own our own companies and treat our employees with respect. We wanted to never have to rely on another for our survival again. With Gabriel’s Midas Touch in investment banking and real estate and Anthony’s business savvy, we all had a leg up on making this dream a reality. But, some of us took longer to find our niche and make that success a reality. Enrique posed a pact that we become billionaires and get blinged-out watches once we all made the big B. The BBC is never happy being good enough. We want to be the best. I think deep down, Enrique was trying to push us to be more, not rest on our laurels when we became successful, but to push to be at the top of the food chain. The watches may seem like a status symbol to most, but for Rique, I think it’s a daily reminder of who helped him get where he is. A reminder that he has family and he is loved. That he isn’t doing life alone. In a way, it keeps him grounded, humble.”

Dumbfounded, Sophie scoffed, “How does a $200,000 diamond-encrusted Rolex Pealmaster 39 remind him of those things?”

Slipping off his Rolex Day-Date 40, which Sophie knew set him back a whopping $150,000, Fernando turned it over so she could see the inscription on the back.

“We all agreed to have this engraved on the back.Our Journey. Our Success. BBC Knights Forever.To remind us of all we had accomplished and our brotherhood.”

“Does the knights part remind you to be heroes or something? To protect the innocent and help the weak and weary. You were all heroes to me that day, for sure.”

Fernando chuckled, “No, although it does play a part. When we adopted each other, we took on Gabriel’s name,Knight, so we all had a name in common. I was adamant we not give up our last name because I didn’t want us to forget where we had come from and what we had overcome. Only Gabe had a middle name, so taking Knight made sense. He wouldn’t lose anything, and we would all gain something in common. On the other hand, I had read them a plethora of medieval tales with knights in shining armor, like “Ivano,” “Le Morte D’Arthur,” and “The Three Musketeers,” so Knight had another layer of meaning for us.”

“So, how did you all wind up in my store in California and not in a store in New York since that is where your pacts usually take place? I haven’t ever heard you mention a BBC gathering outside of your New York hometown.”

“You really have been paying close attention to the details of my family, haven’t you?” Fernando asked with a warm smile. This was just one more example of how much she cared for him.

“Of course, I wouldn’t be a very good personal assistant if I didn’t,” she said defensively, but Fernando could tell there was more to it by the blush rising in her cheeks.

“No one will ever be able to accuse you of being anything less than devoted. As to how we came to be in the watch store, who so wisely employed you and then stupidly chased you off, that was all Julio’s doing. First of all, you need to understand that this pact was not met in a year.”

“It wasn’t? I thought they all had a 365-day time limit.”

“Nope. Some of them are longer-term goals or things we don’t want to happen, like babies outside of marriage or jail time. This was a challenge for those in the family who had reached a comfortable level of wealth and might stop before reaching their full potential. At the time, only Gabriel and I had achieved billionaire status. Gabriel far outpaced me and had reached thirty billion already. I had just brokenten billion. Anthony was close to a billionaire but slowed down as his family grew. Enrique and Julio were both in the millions. It took almost two years before the others broke the big B, and the watch pact needed to be fulfilled. Julio had missed yet another annual gathering, and we all agreed the watch shopping needed to be done together, so we waited. He called us up and let us know he was coming stateside and would be at Camp Pendleton in San Diego teaching some training course if we wanted to put this pact in the BBC books. I, of course, was already living there, so the others jumped on Gabe’s jet and headed west. Two days later, we walked into Sovereign Luxury Watches and Fine Jewelry, and my life has never been the same. I think all my brothers would agree that finding you was the greatest gift of the day.”

“Aww, that’s sweet of you to say. I still can’t believe my colleagues shunned you guys because you were dressed like everyday men. The way you all walked screamed confidence to me, but since you weren’t in thousand-dollar suits, they didn’t think you were worth their time. They just about had a heart attack when you pulled out Black Cards to pay, and my commission was on a sale of over half a million dollars. Add in the diamonds you purchased for Hannah, and it was pretty darn close.”

“Your turn. How did you land in the watch store, and why were you getting evicted from your home?” Fernando asked, intertwining their fingers and resting them on his bent knee.

“The watch store was my second job. The only reason I was hired was because I was pretty and spoke Spanish fluently. The store received a lot of business from international travelers, so when their previous Spanish-speaking associate quit, they were desperate. The fact that I had a nice body worked in my favor.”

Fernando was dumbfounded. “Don’t tell me someone actually said that to you?”

“It was implied during the interview, but Tony told me straight out when he literally stole a commission from me. I was desperate, or I wouldn’t have taken the job. It turned out to be part of a bigger plan, though. Before taking that job, I was a pushover. Working there taught me confidence and how to stand up for myself against male chauvinists. Emotionally, it was draining, and I wasn’t going to last very long. When we signed the lease on the house, four of us were working full-time jobs, and my brother and stepdad had two jobs. Mom stayed home and kept things running smoothly there. Not two weeks after moving in, my stepdad was injured in a car accident. He brought in over half the household income, so I had to make up the difference. I was already a server at a high-end restaurant and did well, but I needed a second job that paid more than minimum wage. I saw the ad for the jewelry store and applied that day. I opened the jewelry store at 7 am and closed the restaurant at 1 am, but with most of my commissions being taken by my ‘trainers’, I wasn’t making up the difference, and we were about to lose our home.”

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