Kace shakes his hand and Gio pulls him into a hug, and says, “I’ll make it up to you.” He looks Kace in the eyes and says. “Brother.”
“Brother,” Kace repeats and then glances at me. “I’ll give you two a few minutes.” He leans down and kisses me before he says, “I’ll be at the waterfall just outside.” He heads for the door.
I stand and Gio hugs me. “I’m sorry.”
Hugging him a bit too tightly, I whisper, “I’m just glad you’re here.”
“Me, too,” he says and we settle into our seats. “We have a lot to talk about.” He says, leaning in closer. “Sofia is dead. She fired on Kayden and he shot her.”
I swallow hard. “God. I just—wow. I don’t even know what to say. And I feel a little guilty for saying this but I’m glad it was her and not you.”
“That makes two of us. I’d rather live a nice long life.” He sips Kace’s coffee and says, “Needs sugar.”
I hand him sugar. “What else?” I prod, craving answers.
“The rest of the Blue Owls are dealt with. They’re reporting to Kayden or they quit. The important thing here is they are no longer a threat. They all got what they deserved.”
“I can’t believe Sofia’s dead. What about her father?”
“Bowed down to Kayden like he’s a god. Hard to believe he was the leader of the Blue Owls. But Kayden wants nothing to do with him. He told him to leave the country and never let him hear his name again. And he did. He ran.”
“Do we know where Angelena was all this time?”
“No idea,” he says. “I don’t know why she showed up when she did either. We may never know.”
“Did Sofia kill her?”
“I have no doubt her or one of the Blue Owls killed Angelena. They wanted the formula. She was trying to hand it over to you and Kace.”
“Was she having an affair with dad?”
“We’ll never know but let’s just assume they weren’t.”
“How are you? I mean you loved Sofia.”
“I’m not hurting over Sofia. I’m relieved she can’t hurt you or anyone else, ever again.” He shifts the topic. “I’m not going back to the States, Aria. I’m going to join Kayden here. I’m going to work for him. It’s hard to explain how he made that happen with the Blue Owls, but the man has a way with power. I want to be a part of that.”
“And I want you to be happy.” I reach into my purse and pull out the envelope to him from our father. “A friend of Dad’s kept a few things for us, Gio.”
“Who?”
“Donelle Bianchini.”
His brows furrow. “Oh yeah. I remember him. Barely, but I remember him. He and Dad were close. What in the world did he keep for us and how did you find out?”
I tell him the story and set the letter in front of him. “From Dad. I wouldn’t read it here. Mine made me cry. But so you know, he wrote to me about a lot of things, but especially you.”
“Me?” he laughs and not gently. “Did he call me a wildcard and to beware?”
“He called you a free spirit who couldn’t be held down. Paraphrasing but he said that he wants you to be you, free to live life. He wished you your freedom. And gave you a lot of money. He left us a lot of money. He was right that day you fought in his office. We didn’t need to sell the formula. We had money. We have money.”
He stares at me, just stares at me, and then reaches for the envelope. He opens it and starts reading. When he’s done, he gets up and leaves. I rush after him and find him facing the wall, leaning on it with his hands. “Gio?”
He pushes off the wall, tears in his eyes. “I don’t want his damn money. I want him back.”
Tears sprout in my eyes, his emotions beating at mine. “I know. Me, too.”
He lifts the letter. “He told me,” he pauses, hesitates, seems to reach for his words, before he says, “so many things, and I regret how damn hardheaded I was with him about everything. Damn it, why is he gone?”
We hug each other and cry, but it’s a healing cry, the kind that touches a wound and slowly allows it to heal. And I know that’s what we’re doing. We’re healing and even from his grave, Dad is our guide.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Kace and I spend Thanksgiving in the castle with Kayden and Ella. Adrian stays as well, just for safe measure but Savage heads to Paris to be with his wife. The holiday is wonderful, the best I’ve had for years. The feast is held in the war room and so many people are there, too many to count, including Adriel, Kayden’s best friend who lives in the next tower over, and his beautiful sister, Giada. Marabella is in heaven, cooking for everyone with Giada’s help. And Gio is right there with me and Kace. And to my relief and joy, the two of them begin to bond and it’s really everything to me.
When the meal is over, we all gather in the main foyer to decorate the largest Christmas tree I’ve ever seen. Kace is standing behind me when it’s lit up, holding me from behind. We all gasp as the castle lights go out and the tree suddenly glows with blinking multi-color lights. Eventually we all disperse, and Kace and I bundle up for a walk. “I thought we’d head to Paris in a few days,” he says, our arms linked as we stroll. “That would give us plenty of time to explore before the show.” He stops and faces me. “I’d like to fly out to Germany right after the show, Christmas Eve,” he says. “We’d be home that night and home for Christmas.”
“Home?”
“That’s our second home, unless you end up hating it, and then we can sell it. Maybe we need our own castle in Italy.”
My lips break into a smile. “Maybe we do.”
“If you like Germany, we can have three homes. New York. Germany. Italy.”
“That’s a lot of homes.” I laugh. “And we haven’t even started the plans for the remodel of the new apartment.”
“We will. To all of it. You have a lot of living to do, baby.”
“Yes,” I say. “I do.”
When the day comes to leave Italy, it’s emotional. I hug Gio so long and hard, and still don’t want to let him go. “This isn’t goodbye,” he promises. “And you could just move here.”
“We might,” Kace interjects. “At least for part of the year.”
The two of them shake hands and then we say our goodbyes to Kayden and Ella. Ella hugs me and when I would shake Kayden’s hand, he hugs me, too. “Come back soon,” Kayden says when he and Kace shake hands.
“We will,” I promise before Kace can.
A short flight later, we, along with Adrian, land in Paris, the city of love, and I’m on the moon. I can’t see enough fast enough. Savage picks us up at the airport while a Walker team is there to handle Kace’s violins. “Miss me?” Savage asks, opening the door to the SUV for us.