With a steely voice, Nick said, “Don’t test me on this, Gio. You won’t win.”
Gio ran his hand through his hair. “Nick, you’re letting Mother get in your head. This is what she does. She twists things around to suit her agenda. You can’t believe anything she says.”
“But I can trust you? You’re honest with me? Tell me, how long were you going to wait to tell the rest of us we have a half sister?”
His question hung heavy in the room. Gio waved a hand in frustration. “I planned to tell you when we returned from the wedding, but . . .”
“Really? It’s hard to believe anything you say.”
“I didn’t know about her until I went to see Father’s mistress in Venice.”
Rena asked, “You have a half sister? Does Luke know?”
Gio’s jaw tightened and his face went red with anger. “No. When we returned from Stephan’s wedding, we received the call that Mother had had a heart attack and I decided to wait.” He clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides. “I didn’t want to upset her.”
Nick shook his head in disgust. “I can’t stomach another moment of this. Stay away from me, Gio. Stay away from all of us or I will take from you the only thing you’ve ever cared about—Cogent.”
*
“Nick . . .” Rena said, but Nick was already walking out the office door. As she rushed to follow him, she heard Gio mumbling behind her.
“What the fuck would he do? He doesn’t even know where his office is.”
Rena sprinted down the hallway after Nick. Years of high school track paid off as she beat him to the elevator door. “Don’t go . . .”
He looked down at her, and the pain in his eyes chased the rest of what she was going to say clear out of her head. Normally he hid behind sarcasm and empty flirtation, but in that moment she saw the man behind the playboy fa?ade, and the sadness in him ripped at her heart. “Stay away from me, Rena. I’m not in a good place.”
She took his hand in hers. “That’s when you need friends the most. Come back and try talking to Gio again. You’re brothers. You can figure this out.”
“I wish it were that simple, Rena, but your loyalty to him is misplaced.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute.”
“Then you are a poor judge of character.” Nick tried to pull his hand away from hers, but Rena held on tighter. She had to make him see that walking away wasn’t the answer. When it came to why they didn’t get along, neither brother was entirely blameless.
Nick was right: Gio was brutally honest and most comfortable when he was fully in control of a situation. He didn’t delegate well and didn’t have the patience to wait while others worked out a problem he had already solved. She didn’t doubt Nick’s version of what it was like to speak at a meeting run by Gio. But she also knew Gio would do anything for his brothers, and that Nick’s criticism had hurt him, even if he didn’t show it.
Gio was right: Nick hadn’t been ready to run the company. Yes, he’d graduated with a business degree from a good university, but he hadn’t spent enough time at Cogent to make informed decisions.
Gio should have let Nick make mistakes—and learn from them.
Nick should have worked with Gio instead of turning the situation into a rivalry. Nick could be successful at whatever he chose to do, but maybe he’d have to come out from Gio’s shadow to do it. Just as Luke and Max had.
The problem with Gio and Nick was they were more alike than either would acknowledge.
Both too proud.
Too angry.
Too unable to see past the faults in each other.
“I have very good instincts when it comes to people. That’s why I know you didn’t mean what you said about taking Cogent.”
“You think I couldn’t do it?”
“No, I know you’d never intentionally hurt your brother. Just like I know you’d never hurt me.”
The expression on Nick’s face softened. He raised a hand and tucked a lock of hair gently behind Rena’s ear. “Take off your rose-colored glasses, Rena. You think everyone has some good in them, but we don’t. Not Gio. Not me.”
“That’s not true, Nick. You came here today because you care about your mother. That’s admirable . . .” Even if misguided.
“Stay out of this, Rena. There is no Hallmark card for a family as fucked up as mine is.”
Classic Nick. Hurt and lashing out. That got others to back off, but Rena knew him too well. “You can’t leave things the way you did. Go back in there and—”
“No. We were both clear enough.”
Rena pulled Nick closer, holding both of his arms as she tried to reach past his anger. “No, you weren’t. You didn’t tell him you love him. You didn’t give him time to explain his side of the story. If you did—”
Nick pulled back from Rena abruptly, his eyes burning with anger Rena couldn’t understand. “Stay away from me.”
There has to be something I can say that will make him see this isn’t irreparable. “Luke said he’d come by later today.”
“You called him?”
Rena nodded.
“Of course you did. You talk to him more than I do. I’m surprised you’ve never dated.”
“Me and Luke? No. I don’t think of him that way.”
“Are you sure? The two of you seem to find reasons to slip away to be alone whenever we’re all together.”
“He’s funny. And we’re usually talking about—” She stopped before she finished the sentence. She’d almost said, “You.” But Nick would take that the wrong way.
She took Nick’s hand again and said, “I know you don’t like to discuss your family with anyone, but maybe this time you should. I could help you—if you let me.”
Nick shook his head. “No.”
Rena held on tight, advanced and persisted. “Why not?”
“Because I . . .” He pulled her into his arms and ravaged her mouth with his. It wasn’t how she’d imagined he’d kiss. It was bold and hungry. It may have been meant as a warning or as punishment, but it was too full of passion to be either. He held her face between his hands and plundered. At first she was too surprised to kiss him back, but his touch sparked a heat that rose within her.
This was the kiss she’d always imagined they could share. It had a sizzle, a wildness that swept through both of them, making time and location irrelevant. All that mattered was his mouth, his touch, this fire.
His hands moved down over her, molding her to him with a roughness that only heightened the heat between them. She arched herself against him and felt his erection pulsing against her stomach. His lips left hers and claimed her neck, one hot kiss after another, until all Rena could hear was her own heavy breathing.
And she panicked.
She shoved him back from her and said, “What the hell are you doing, Nick?”
His expression was dark and angry even though his eyes raged with need. He glanced over her shoulder and Rena’s confusion grew. She demanded, “Is he there? Don’t use me to get back at Gio. I deserve better than that.”
He frowned at her accusation but didn’t deny it. Without saying a word, he turned and walked away.
One of the secretaries from marketing paused when she saw Rena standing in the hallway and asked, “Rena? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”