Page 37 of Hello Goodbye Amore

Chase paused. The thought sent a cold shiver up his spine. “No. Just understand that I might need some distance sometimes.”

A knock sounded on Tio’s office door. He excused himself and went through to his office. “Mamma,” Tio said before continuing in Italian. Chase didn’t understand the words, but the accusatory tone was unmistakable. He went to the door to close it, but Tio’s mother strode into his office, turning her vehemence on him.

“What is she saying?” Chase asked, but Tio seemed completely shellshocked and didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” He tried to keep his voice level, hoping a calmness he really didn’t feel might deescalate whatever was going on.

“My mother is accusing you of stealing her grandson,” Tio finally said before speaking to his mother. She yelled back, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a photograph. She shoved it at Tio, speaking fast, pointing to the image. “She says that your son—Ricky—looks exactly like I did at that age.” He passed the picture over, and Chase gasped, because the image in the photograph looked so much like Ricky.

“I didn’t know,” Chase said.

Tio sank down into one of the office chairs. “Was Elaine pregnant when I left?” Tio asked. The gaze that had been so warm and soft a few minutes earlier was now as cold as stone.

“I don’t know. She started dating someone else a while later and then told us she was pregnant. She said that he was the father, and I had no reason not to believe her.” Chase could barely breathe. “He was never in the picture once she told him she was pregnant, and she had the baby with just me there. Andwhen she died, Elaine left a will delivering Ricky into my care. I adopted him four years ago.” Tio’s mother spoke again, rapidly. “I know you speak English,” Chase told her.

“If he is my grandson,” she began, “then this adoption of yours can be overturned.” She whirled around and stomped out of the office.

Chase watched her go.

“Did you know?” Tio asked. “I know what you told my mother, but….” He didn’t move from the chair.

Chase shook his head.

“But you thought it was possible,” Tio accused.

Chase paused and then nodded once. “Elaine’s boyfriend was Spanish, and now that I think about it, he looked quite a bit like you. I think now that was why Elaine dated him. Maybe she was trying to replace you. I couldn’t have guessed, and I still don’t know.” It was time for him to be as honest as he could. “After that day on the Ponte Vecchio, I never meant for you to see Ricky again. I was afraid that you would recognize yourself in him. But then no one made the connection, not you, Isabella, or the other people we met. No one even looked at Ricky twice, so I thought I had imagined it all.”

“But Mother….”

“It seems she saw the resemblance almost instantly.” Chase stood. “Look, I don’t want to cause trouble, but I’m not going to give Ricky up. He’s Elaine’s son, and I adopted him, so I’m Ricky’s daddy now.” Maybe it would be best if they simply left Florence and went home. He’d think of something to tell his boss, and then he could get the hell out of Dodge.

“It’s not that simple.” Tio lifted his gaze. “I have a duty to my family, and if Ricky is my son, then he stands in line to inherit everything—all of this. That is how things work in my family. I would have an heir, a legacy to pass everything down to. Therewould be no worry about my cousin trying to wheedle his way into the business. Do you understand?”

Chase understood all too well. “Yes, I do. This duty that you have—it’s the same one that you had when you left after college, the one you had when you abandoned Elaine and me. And it’s the same duty that, if you happen to be Ricky’s father, drove you to leave him and his mother behind. So excuse me if I tell you that I don’t give a damn about your family duty, or honor, or any of that crap, for that matter. All I care about is my son, and I will do whatever I have to in order to keep him safe.” Chase went to the desk and snapped his laptop closed. He put it in his bag along with the picture of Ricky he had placed on the desk. Then he headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

Chase didn’t answer or pause on the way out. No matter what Smithson said, it was fucking time he went home. This family duty shit of Tio’s had messed up his life before, and he’d be damned if he was going to allow it to pull his life apart again.

Chapter 16

LEAVE ITto his mother to drop a bombshell and exit dramatically.

The door had barely closed behind Chase before Antonello slumped in his office chair, wondering what the hell had just happened. His mother had said that Ricky was his child. He had to admit that Ricky looked a lot like the photo of him that his mother had thrust under his nose. It was hard to get his head around it. Him, a father? Shit, what was he going to do? Was it true? He had no idea, and he tried to breathe and clear his mind, but all he could think about was the possibility that he had a son. And what was he going to do if he did? He had no answers to any of those questions, but if he wanted some, he wasn’t going to get them sitting here.

He jumped to his feet and hurried toward the exit.

“Sir, you have a meeting in half an hour,” the receptionist said as he passed the desk.

“Reschedule it,” he answered without pausing as he ran for the door. He raced outside and down the cobbled streets toward where Chase and Ricky were living. He knocked on the door as soon as he arrived.

What the hell had he been expecting? It was likely Chase wasn’t going to let him in.

“Mr. Nello,” Ricky said with a grin as he opened the door, with a young woman behind him.

“Is your daddy here?” he asked as Chase approached carrying his bag, his expression as serious as a heart attack.

“Daddy?” Ricky raced out past Antonello to greet him.

“You and I have to talk,” Antonello said seriously. “Now.”

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