Page 11 of Forging Caine

Investigation? They were opening an investigation company and—my stomach tightened—and Antonio hadn’t told me?

“So? What do you think?” Dom clutched the sheet in front of him, his eyes flashing wide. “I wanted to keep the same style as the parent company, but it has its own flair.”

Antonio squeezed my hand, bringing my attention to having almost let go of his.

“It’s, um…” was all I could come up with.Why didn’t he tell me?

“Is it too much?” asked Dom, focused on the sign. “I thought it would go nicely over the new outer door, where the shop entrance used to be. You saw I had a security panel added there for secure access. So the—”

“What is this?” asked Antonio.

“We talked about this at Christmas. It’s our new investigation arm.”

I blinked rapidly, my grip loosening on Antonio’s hand and his tightening. He’d kept this from me since Christmas?

Dom looked at Antonio, then at me, and back again. “You didn’t tell her?”

Exactly.

“Tell her about what? You said you were considering backing an investigation company, but… you told me not to tell her about that.” Antonio ran his free hand through his hair. “You said not to say anything until you decided.”

“Well, I’ve decided!” Dom smiled at us and back at the sign. “I talked it over with Andrea and he was quite excited, as well.”

Another truth these two hid from me. First the Chagall, then Cristian’s involvement with the fresco in Pompeii, not to mention that Dom’s brother Giovanni was an antiquities smuggler.

Honesty and trust, right, Antonio?Not like my mother, who lied to me my whole life. Or like Elliot, who’d hidden so much from me. I’d told Antonio things I wasn’t supposed to—things Elliot told me that weren’t supposed to go past my ears. So why would he hide this from me?

“Papa, you didn’t even tell me you were changing the architectural plans. We were supposed to be building—”

Dominico waved his hand through the air, brushing aside Antonio’s comments. “I’m diversifying and improving the world at the same time. It’s wonderful! You thought it was a good idea when we talked about it.”

This was what I wanted to do with my life. Did he hide it in case I wanted to work here? He didn’t want me around that much? Or didn’t think I had enough experience?

“We talked for maybe—” Antonio turned to me and froze.

Maybe he didn’t think I was capable enough. Or maybe he wanted to keep me working for Foster Mutual so I wouldn’t leave town. My hands were shaking. I withdrew mine from his and folded my arms so he wouldn’t know. “I think this is a wonderful idea, Dom. You can do a lot of good.”

“Yes!” Dom threw the sheet onto the desk next to the sign and paced to the front of the office. “The view is surprisingly good. I thought about moving my office up here and keeping the investigators downstairs, but Sofia said it would be best to give them a separate area, plus I wouldn’t have to be going up and down the stairs all day.”

I started to follow him, but Antonio grabbed my waist to stop me.

He pulled me back to his chest and whispered, “You’re upset by this?”

“Of course not,” I said, attempting to follow Dom.That’s a lie, Sam.

What was wrong with me? Why did I care? Companies like this existed everywhere.

“I didn’t know,” said Antonio. “He talks about a lot of wild ideas he never carries through with.”

“So, Dom, have you finished hiring? Three desks, three employees?”

Dom stared out the front window. “One thing at a time. Space first, then people.”

I stepped away from Antonio more forcefully. “What sorts of things will your investigators do?”

“We’re asked to authenticate a lot of pieces, so I thought we’d move some of our catalogs and other research tools up here for that work. They can work in concert with the conservators.” He turned, walking back to us, punctuating the story with broad strokes from his arms, his speech quickening. “Also tracking down lost pieces, investigating history other than for provenance purposes, maybe even getting involved in some theft cases, like the stolen piece that showed up at my brother’s studio in Rome. We had some investigators track down how it got there, and who the original owner was, but I think if they specialized in art cases, they would have been a lot faster.”

I nodded, leaning against the desk with my back to the sign. “Someone who understands how galleries, museums, collectors, and brokers work?”

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