Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 167(@200wpm)___ 134(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“Is there anything I can help you with?” Luca asked. He and David were civil to one another, and everything had always been focused on work. He wasn’t a fool, he knew David was close with his sister.
“Actually, I think you and I should talk.”
Luca raised his brow and waited.
David lowered himself into the chair opposite. “I know there is not a lot of information about you. You date beautiful women and you move on.” He stopped to clear his throat. “You can imagine my surprise when you decided to marry my sister.”
Luca continued to stare at his brother-in-law.
He laughed. “You know, this is usually the part where you convince me you have good intentions for my sister.”
“You’re attempting to show brotherly concern now? I’ve been married to your sister for over a month, and then there was the brief engagement, and you didn’t say anything.”
David ran a hand down his face and blew out a breath. “I knew there was nothing I or anyone else could do. We needed you to marry my sister, for the company. I’m not a fool, Luca. I know the only reason you have taken extra time with us and not stripped it apart is because of her.”
“So what is your problem?” Luca asked.
“I don’t have a problem but I need to know that you’re going to treat my sister right.”
“I’m not going to hurt her.”
“There are a lot of different ways you can hurt someone.”
Luca sighed and dropped his arms. “Why don’t you enlighten me as to what you clearly think I’m going to do?”
“You can cheat.”
“Not going to happen.”
David snorted. “You’ve gone from dating beautiful models to my sister, and you think you can convince me you’re not going to cheat?”
Luca got out of his chair and rounded the desk. “First of all, I don’t do the whole family crap. I never had one, nor do I care to have one. If you had any concern about how I treat Tillie, you should have stepped up before now and said ‘fuck it’ to your company. You didn’t. You put the company before your sister so I don’t care for the brotherly love you’re showing.” Luca held up his hand as David went to interrupt. “As for my dating models, they meant nothing to me. As it happens, I consider Tillie, my wife, to be one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen or had the pleasure of spending time with. In the short time she was in my office, fighting for this company, I knew what a treasure she was, and I was not going to allow her to get away so easily. You’re right, David, you don’t know me, because if you did, you wouldn’t come into my office right now and insult me.”
The other man threw his hands up. “I surrender, shit, fuck, I am so sorry. I wasn’t trying to insult you or Tillie. She’s my sister and I care about her a lot, and I want what’s best for her. With everything going on, between the company takeover and Uncle Ed’s betrayal, I haven’t had a single minute to care about what really matters, and that is my sister. I’m not an asshole, although the more I talk, the more I sound like an asshole.”
Luca was more than happy for him to keep talking, because he was right, it wasn’t exactly helping his cause, and he had nothing more to say. All he had to do was wait.
“I know there is a lot more to life than earning money. Fuck!” David threw his arms up in the air. “I quit. I just … I like to think of myself as the good big brother. The one that always looks out for his sister. I have done that my whole life. I was the one who told her years ago to tell Dad about the whole beauty pageants thing.”
“Beauty pageants?”
David waved his hand in the air as if it wasn’t too much of a concern. “You don’t need to worry about it. Tillie hated it, and it kind of put Mom and Tillie’s relationship on a bad note, but she got to stop going. Hasn’t she told you?”
They hadn’t exactly gotten around to talking much about their pasts, but that had been discussed. It was a small snippet into Tillie, and Luca had appreciated it, especially when Tillie had been the one to tell him. Luca didn’t say a word, he just looked at David and waited.
The other man seemed to get nervous quite easily, or at least he did in his company. Luca had watched him at work, and when the man was focused, nothing could sway him, not even beautiful women.
When he first took over this company, he thought David would be his weakest link and he’d have to cut him out of it. In fact, David had proven to be one of the strongest, and his dedication to the company was exemplary. They all had a burning respect for their grandfather, like Tillie, but for different reasons.