Page 31 of Family Secrets

Chapter Twelve

Gino watched Elizabeth from the security cameras he’d placed in her office last night, loving the look of shock on her face. He’d called Gazelle, promising her a week-long stay at his house in Sicily if she could pull together a wardrobe for Elizabeth before morning. A visit to the home of his bank’s president produced the bank card with her name on it.

“She doesn’t have a clue, does she?”

Sully couldn’t believe his eyes when he walked into the office and found his brother adding the finishing touches to Elizabeth’s desk in the form of a note.

Gino reluctantly shifted his eyes from Elizabeth’s beautiful face to the quizzical one of his brother. “She’s a breath of fresh air in the middle of a polluted street.” Returning his gaze to the beauty who, in a single act of bravery, had captured his attention.

“Lisa isn’t going to take being replaced very well. Especially by a girl like Elizabeth.”

“Lisa is nothing more than a distraction; she’s known this from the beginning.” Gino argued back, his tolerance for this subject long since gone.

“True,” Sully agreed. “But you have to admit she has a certain finesse when it comes to sucking dick.”

Gino remained silent, taking more pleasure watching Elizabeth than bantering with Sully. Seemingly overnight he’d gone from the boy his father attempted to mold into the man his mother taught him to be; no longer interested in the game and wanting more out of life than a decent blowjob.

“Listen, I dragged my feet making my feelings known to Elizabeth. I’m assuming based on the grand gesture going on downstairs you’re staking your claim. I have to ask; will you be sharing her like the others?”

The cold stare on Gino’s face spoke louder than any words could to Sully. “Fine, fine,” Sully raised his hands in surrender, standing from his chair. “You should find her a place to live, if I can’t sample her, I won’t pay for her hotel room anymore.”

Elizabeth pinchedherself as she stood surrounded by designer names she’d read about, but never dreamed of owning.

“Holy shit, who’s attention did you steal?” Dani, one of the girls, questioned as she lifted one of the bags from the top of the mountain.

Gino leaned over, turning up the volume on his computer as he waited for Elizabeth to answer Dani’s question. He’d shown one other girl this level of attention, her name he’d sworn to never mention again. The memory of her and how the Sicilian moon danced off her blonde hair was still as fresh as the summer it happened. He’d snuck out of the family home, equipped with a handful of cash and the legacy of his last name, which held the power to open even the most secure door. He’d spotted her outside a local bar, her head tossed back in laughter at something one of her friends said. Using the charm he possessed in spades, he approached, bought her a new drink and then took her to a private spot on the beach. They met every night for the next month, gifting each other their virginity. Once the L word was exchanged, Gino arranged for the young girl to come to his home and introduce her to his mother, but she made one excuse after another as to why she couldn’t attend. Frustrated, Gino turned to Luca, his mother’s bodyguard, for advice, who questioned the name of the lucky girl. Gino never forgot the pain in his chest when he and Luca stood on the same beach where he’d professed his love for the girl as she confessed she was the girlfriend of a local law official, who’d been recording their time together. In his young age, he’d sworn off relationships, turning instead to the whorish ways his father demonstrated. Gino hated blonde hair, forever associating it with the deception and pain he suffered.

“Mr. Vitale,” Elizabeth muttered, the card still clenched in her hand. “Gino,” she clarified. “He’s being nice, is all, I helped him with a—"

“Gino isn’t nice.” A collective chorus rang out from the crowd of girls who’d surrounded her, pulling her attention from the mountain of gifts to the honest faces of her coworkers. Until this very moment, Elizabeth would have agreed with them, but between his forgiveness of her breaking the rules and now this, Elizabeth couldn’t decide.

Gino waited for the squeal which usually followed a showering of this magnitude, but was pleasantly surprised when Elizabeth remained silent, her tiny fingers drifting along the satin ribbons.

Rising to his feet, Gino made his way across the room, opening the safe on the wall and collecting several stacks of money.

“This should more than cover the cost of her accommodations and the purse you sent her. While I won’t forbid you from any further gifts, I do expect them of be of a group nature where Elizabeth is involved.”

Sully smiled at his brother, crossing the room to offer his hand in congratulations and collect the money. The pair watch as Elizabeth sat heavily in her chair, discovering the bow wrapped box in the center of her desk.

“She’s beautiful, Gino, but not your usual type. What gives?”

“I could ask you the same thing, Sully.” Gino leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest with a raised brow. “Just because I’m not in the office, doesn’t mean I don’t see what goes on.”

Nodding, Sully began to walk around the office, “She’s not vapid. Or waiting like a tiny bird for the next feeding, ready to pounce like a hungry animal every time the door opens and one of the guys walks in like the rest of them. She’s pretty, but not like the other girls in the office.” Turning in Gino’s direction, “Your turn, why this girl and not Felicia?”

Gino held his brother's gaze, “You said it yourself, Elizabeth isn’t vapid or full of malice. She’s hardworking and honest, I could go on and on, but the biggest difference, had I given Felicia a gift like I did Elizabeth, she would find a dozen things wrong with each item, criticizing every stitch of clothing instead of being gracious and saying thank you. And before you turn this into something it isn’t, Sully, my attention is more than a curiosity of how tight her snatch is.” Gino turned from his brother, laid his chin on his fist, his focus on Elizabeth as she opened the cellphone he’d purchased for her. “She’d rather take public transportation than use the cars we lend her. She makes the lunch we have delivered last three days instead of tossing out what she doesn’t eat at one sitting. She’s here early and works well past the time the others leave. Besides, you said she checks out, doesn’t she?”

“She’s clean as fucking glass, Gino.”

“Then why wouldn’t I want to get to know her better? To spend time with a girl who appreciates me, instead of listening to Felicia bitch about putting a ring on her fucking finger. Our father may have this grand scheme of me wearing a fucking tux and standing at the end of an aisle in church, but I don’t.”

The phone on Gino’s desk began to ring, a mega-watt smile splitting Gino’s face.

“Hello, Beautiful,” Gino waved Sully out of the room. “Let me take you to dinner, show you how a real man treats a lady?”

Sully stoodoutside the closed door, leaning his body against the hardwood. He hated losing to his older brother, but this time seemed to hit him harder than the rest. He’d waited too long to make his feelings known to Elizabeth, something he hoped his brother’s history for averting relationships would rectify. She was too good for either of the Vitale brothers, but damn it, he wanted her regardless.

His vibrating phone sent him further into the hall, afraid of what Gino would do if he found him lurking. Glancing at the screen, a hopeful smile graced his lips, he’d waited a long time for this call, sending up a silent prayer for good news before answering.

“What have you got for me?”

Sully listened as the male voice on the other end confirmed what he’d suspected.

“You’re positive?”

Nodding out of habit. “Thank you, I’ll have the other half of your money delivered this afternoon.”

Ending the call, Sully jogged down the steps and into the garage. Climbing behind the wheel of his convertible, he tossed one last look at the building before pressing a button on the steering wheel, a female voice filled the tiny space.

“Meet me in twenty minutes. I have news you’re never gonna believe.”

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