Page 2 of Hello Goodbye Amore

As soon as he closed the door, Chase collapsed into his desk chair, head in his hands, wondering how in the hell he managed to get into these messes. All he wanted to do was make a living so he could provide for Ricky. His mother, Elaine, was Chase’s twin sister and his best friend in the whole world. Chase would have done anything for her, and in the end, after her death in an automobile accident, he had stepped in to raise her son—nowhisson, Ricky.

This was not the life he had envisioned. When Elaine first told him of her pregnancy, Chase had pictured himself as the world’s best guncle, taking his future niece or nephew to Disney, giving them drum sets, teaching them about good food, and showing them some of the best parts of life. And once he hadspoiled them rotten, he could take them home to Mother. It was supposed to have been perfect.

What little Elaine had, she’d left to Ricky for his care, but to Chase, in addition to Ricky, she had left her secrets and their shared hurt. That was something Chase had hoped he would never have to face again. And now it looked like his work and his and Elaine’s past were destined to come crashing back into Chase’s life. He could only hope that he didn’t end up as emotional roadkill.

A knock pulled him out of his thoughts.

“I hear you’re going to go to Florence,” Dave said as he came in and closed the door. Chase wanted to smack the suppressed smugness off the brown-noser’s face. “I want you to know that….” He looked around. “Look, I really appreciate you doing this.” He shifted his weight slightly and wrung his hands. Chase wasn’t sure if he was even aware he was doing it. “They asked me to go, as I’m sure Dewey told you, and I pled the family.” He grew more agitated. “Things at home aren’t good right now. My youngest is having a very difficult time, and we are trying to get him the help he needs, but I can’t do that if I’m over there or if I take the entire family along with me.” He paled and his breathing grew more rapid. This was a side of Dave that Chase had never seen.

“I get it.” He understood family difficulties and drama. Elaine had had plenty of that when their very Catholic parents had learned she was expecting a baby, and when she told them that she wasn’t going to marry her boyfriend at the time, Rodrigo, their mother had practically started sewing scarletA’s for her clothes. Mom was definitely all about the drama. “Your wife and kids have to come first.” Just as Chase would do anything in his power for Ricky.

“Just so you know, I was the one who suggested that they send you instead. You’ve done good work on this, really solidout-of-the-box thinking, and that’s why we’ve made the progress we have.” Dave’s praise seemed genuine.

“I haven’t agreed to go yet,” Chase told him.

Dave sat down in one of the office chairs. “You know that once you say no, they stop asking. I’m aware that by turning this down I’ve gotten a black mark with Dewey and some others no matter what happens. But I can’t be away from my family for all those months. My oldest will be a senior, and pulling him out of school like that….” He shook his head. Chase would almost feel sorry for him if he weren’t so sure that the entire time Chase was gone, Dave would be cornering the market for butt polish. “He plays football, and he’s very good. Colleges are looking at him, and that would end if I took them away.” His leg bounced as he sat, nerves getting the best of him. “You’ll be doing the company, me, Dewey, and quite frankly, yourself a favor by going and making this a success.”

Chase didn’t agree to anything. Fear warred with the chance to give Ricky more of the special things in life. “I really have to think about it,” he said. He knew the only thing holding him back was fear over Ricky… and the chance of seeing Antonello again.

Antonello Glorioso had been the third side in a close friendship triangle. Elaine, Antonello, and Chase had been inseparable through four years of college. He and Elaine met Antonello first in freshman English and then chemistry. Since there were an odd number of students in the class, the three of them ended up as lab partners, and their friendship grew from there. The last two years of college, all three of them had shared an apartment. It was like Antonello had joined their twin fraternity, until hormones and God knows what else got in the way. Chase developed feelings for Antonello, with his dark eyes, long wavy hair, and body worth sculpting in stone. Hell, therewere times when he thought a breeze would blow up every time Antonello stepped outside, just to fluff that hair.

At one point, Chase thought Antonello might reciprocate those feelings, but Antonello and Elaine had started dating, and the chance was just too great to take. Chase kept his feelings to himself because his sister seemed happy—deliriously so—and Chase didn’t want to get in the way. The three of them had talked about starting their own business and moving to a larger place to start building their lives. A makeshift family of sorts. Then, right after graduation, Antonello announced that he was returning to the Glorioso family business in Florence, and that was the last either of them heard from him. Elaine was angry and hurt. Chase had offered to hunt Antonello down and fill his perfect ass full of grapeshot for lying to them and killing their dreams. “He won’t be able to sit down for a month at least. I promise.”

She had laughed, thanked him, and then hugged him tightly. After that, they never mentioned Antonello again, except in the context of a curse or as an insult. And now it looked like he was being thrust back into his path.

“Don’t take too long.” Dave leaned forward. “This is a real opportunity, and you know as well as I do that they don’t last very long or come around that often. Take it. Spend the summer with your son in one of the world’s grandest cities. It won’t be all work all the time. You can go to Rome or Venice for a weekend. And if I may offer you some advice, make sure they pay for you being over there. You’ll need a house close to the center of town where you’ll be working, and to care for your son. If you decide to do it, make sure you get everything you want and get it in writing.” Clearly this was a man who knew Dewey well. Chase had thought the same thing, but it was good that Dave agreed.

“School is out in a few weeks,” Chase said, and realized that as much as he feared going, he was already thinking he didn’t have much choice. And maybe Dave was right—he shouldmake the best of it. Chase was no longer a college student, and just because he would be working with Antonello’s family’s firm didn’t mean he would ever come in contact with any of the family. Hell, maybe he could kick Antonello’s butt halfway across the Arno River just for old times’ sake. With all that hair, he might even look like a drowned Afghan hound. “I suppose that as long as they are willing to wait until school is out for Ricky….”

Dave nodded slowly. “Just do what’s right for you and your son. Five months is a relatively short period of time, and the benefits of this kind of assignment could last much longer than that for you and your family.” He stood and opened the door, then stepped out.

Chase sighed and shook his head. All fear and worry about the past aside, the real ordeal was going to be keeping the past where it belonged.

Chapter 2

“YOU WANTEDto see me,” Antonello said in Italian as he entered his father’s office. Even after all these years, it was hard not to stop to look at the intricately frescoed ceiling of the room where deals and intrigues had played out for centuries. The history of his family filled the walls, portraits of everyone from long-distant Ludovico, who had done work for Cosimo de’ Medici, to his grandfather looking down on the current generation. Antonello always wondered what they’d do if they knew the real him. Now it was where his father worked when he didn’t go in to the factory, and once his father passed, as tradition dictated, Antonello would add his father’s picture to these hallowed walls. If tradition had actual weight, it would be a half-ton barbell on his shoulders.

“Sit, sit, sit,” Luigi Glorioso said excitedly in English. “I hung up with America. A Smithson Biomedical person, some American name that I forget. They want us to manufacture for them, and they sent someone here to Florence.” He seemed so pleased. Antonello’s father was a small man, active, thin, and not particularly tall. But he was a huge man in vision, personality, and expectations. After four and a half centuries as Florentine goldsmiths and jewelers with a store on the Ponte Vecchio and other locations throughout the city, as well as Rome and Milan, it had been his father’s idea to diversify into boutique metallurgy, creating nonjewelry alloys and specialized products for very specific purposes. They still made absolutely stunninglyfine jewelry pieces, but the metallurgy business allowed the family to continue to grow and prosper.

“Papa, we can speak Italian,” he said gently. His father was getting up there in years but was every bit as strong and forceful as he always was.

“No. You must get used to English. I want you to work with this man.” He got up and prepared them each an Aperol spritz and handed Antonello a glass. “He is their person here, and I want him to know that we take this business very seriously. That means that we will speak English to him.” He lifted his glass, and Antonello settled in the chair next to his father. “He arrived at Amerigo Vespucci yesterday, and I make an appointment with him at the Hotel Hermitage in an hour. Okay?”

Antonello nodded, knowing his father’s harsh tone was just his use of English and not intentional. But he also knew that even though his father had asked, it wasn’t a request.

He checked the time and raised his eyebrows. “This late?” His father didn’t meet with people at this time of the day any longer. After his Aperol, he usually went on to a negroni, which traditionally signaled the start of his father’s evening.

“Si,” he answered. “I want to get this man started, and he has time adjustments. I think later is better for his time, and I want him to work well with us.” His father sipped his drink easily, happy as he relaxed toward the end of the day. “Then you take him to eat, get to know him. Build a relationship the Italian way. This arrangement could be very good for us. Yes?”

Antonello nodded and checked the time once again before finishing his drink. “If we are to meet him, then we should leave soon.”

His father shook his head. “No, no,” he said, switching to Italian. “Youmeet with him and show him a nice evening. You get to know this man and then you bring him to meet me and wewill all talk.” Leave it to his father to make plans for him without saying anything.

“Si,” Antonello agreed, like he had a choice. Tradition and family honor had been drilled into him almost from the time his mamma first directed one of the nannies to change his diapers. He sighed and stifled a groan. This wasn’t how he had planned to spend his evening. He had hoped to join some friends at an osteria for dinner, but nothing was definite. “I’ll meet with him. Does he know I’m coming?”

“I told him his contact would meet him in the hotel restaurant,” his father explained, which meant Antonello needed to go if he was to be on time.

He went upstairs to his suite and closed the door to his room as his phone chimed.

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