Page 12 of Secret Match
If that was true, great, but Gio’s body was tight. “My brother Anthony says the same thing, but his actions speak differently.”
Peter nodded at him and softened slightly as he said, “That’s not me at all;, Anthony is who I wanted to talk to you about.”
Ah. If he was being judged based on Anthony then he needed to show his potential business partner and half-sister Victoria that he was not his brother--Gio preferred to bury himself in his fashion empire. “Anthony?”
Peter crossed his arms though his eyes had a flash of vulnerability he quickly masked. “Yes, he left our brother Luke’s wedding with my pregnant ex-girlfriend.”
“The ex stole my brother’s sperm to get pregnant and ruined his marriage,” Victoria supplied.
Anthony would have smelled weakness in anyone he considered an enemy. He thought like their father. Peter’s story sounded complicated and full of holes. “I didn’t realize Anthony knew any of you.”
Gio’s eyes narrowed. In the distance he spotted Santiago from the local town near his father’s villa. What was he doing here?
Peter then said, “We don’t, not really. But I need to find Jennifer.”
Santiago waved at him, then turned his attention back to a dark-haired woman his age that stayed at his side. Gio needed Kiwi to explain this family’s dynamics and get her insight as she worked for them and clearly knew more than a few members. “Your ex-girlfriend?”
“She’s pregnant withmychild.” Peter’s jaw set with determination.
That he understood. His gaze focused on Kiwi. She’d told him about the pregnancy, which said a lot, but if she ran, he’d have to find her. Family protected family and he’d do whatever he could for his child. Family mattered. While his brother Anthony was manipulative, he still fit the same label. Gio straightened. “That’s difficult for you.”
Peter asked, “Do you know where he is?”
“No.” Peter’s expressions were too open to be like their father. And technically speaking, they were all his family here too. Gio met Kiwi’s eyes and then said the truth, “Anthony and I do not keep in touch since our mother died.”
“I’m sorry, Gio,” she whispered and patted his back.
He held her close as he said, “It’s okay. Mama was a good woman.”
Peter and Victoria looked at each other and communicated without words, but then they’d grown up together. Peter asked again, “So you have no idea where Anthony might have taken Jennifer?”
The truth wasn’t a betrayal and it was time to put their father’s lies firmly in the past. Gio wished nothing more than to retire into his own studio and finish work on his upcoming new tuxedo line where he intended to reinvent the wordformal.He kept his hand on Kiwi’s back. “If they were not at his villa, then honestly, no. Anthony and I don’t see eye-to-eye on how to run our businesses.”
Peter stepped back with a genuine smile. “Victoria is worried about working with you.”
Gio looked at Victoria.
“But I am excited to try,” Victoria added fast and gave him the same smile that they both must have inherited from their mother because his father’s lips were always thin and plotting when he attempted a joke.
The older woman with Santiago then motioned toward Peter and he said, “I’m needed over there. Talk to you all soon. Enjoy the party.”
With luck, Kiwi would fill him in on the American relatives as clearly Peter was getting intel on him from Santiago. As a boy, Gio had been the artistic one who’d often stayed in the garden painting while his brothers played all manner of sports, making his hobby seem unmanly.
However, his fashion empire now made a billion-dollar profit. If he accepted this deal, he’d have the potential for more money but might lose his privacy. In Italy, he rarely had to deal with family.
Kiwi turned to him and he knew he frowned as she introduced him to the couple next to her. He recognized Caro Morgan. “Gio,” Kiwi said, “this is your half-brother, Luke. ”
The doctor. Gio shook Caro’s hand and then her husband’s. “Nice to see you again, Caro, and to meet you, Luke.”
Gio patted the man’s hand before the shake ended. Luke then said, “Caro said you were a good man. We’d like to know more about your side of the family.”
Perhaps this was a different tactic? Gio looked at Santiago, who stood with Peter. Clearly Gio was the topic of conversation as he told Luke, “Many of you seem to know Anthony. He’s the third born.”
“Oh? We thought he was the oldest.” Luke walked the group over to a table with some guacamole and chips. “But then again I thought our father was my banker until after he died so clearly my assumptions and what I’m told in this family are subject.”
“Our father lied and assumed everyone else did too.” Gio made a plate for Kiwi and himself. “To clear the air, Bartolomeo is the oldest. I’m next. Anthony is third and Lorenzo is the youngest, though Anthony once had a twin sister named Aurelia—she died when we were young.”
Victoria let out a small huff and then asked, “Are you sure? Our father kidnapped his daughter Catherine from Fiona years ago.”
