Luke was every bit as striking in his good looks as his older brothers, but he dressed to play it down. He wore jeans and a polo shirt. He was the peacemaker of the family. Gio had said he was a doctor, and Julia could see why it was his calling. He listened when his brothers spoke, and his love for them was evident in everything he said to them. He seemed excited about attending the wedding in a way that none of his brothers were. He doesn’t know.
Max had a bit of all of them in him. He was tough around the edges like Gio. He dressed to impress with expensive clothing tailored to fit him, and every now and then he would poke fun at one of his brothers in a way that was almost playful. Gio had nailed him when he’d called him a wild card. Julia didn’t know what his motivation for coming was, but she didn’t believe that it was the same as he’d said. He didn’t appear to have ill feelings toward any of them. If he knows, he’d never tell. Gio said Max owned and developed casinos around the world. She could see that. He plays his cards close to his chest.
None of them mentioned their mother. Having met her, Julia wasn’t surprised, but still, she thought it was sad they were heading off to a large family event and not one had suggested she should be there.
Before she thought it through, she asked aloud, “Where’s your father?”
All conversation died. Although he didn’t look happy about it, Gio bent toward her and explained quietly. “My father passed away years ago.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. The wedding we’re going to is for the son of one of his brothers?”
“Yes, my father was the oldest of three. The youngest of them, Victor Andrade, had one son—Stephan.”
“And Maddy?”
Luke jumped in. “Maddy is Uncle Alessandro’s daughter. She’s married to an amazing French chef. If he offers to cook you anything—I mean anything—just say yes.”
“I had the . . .” Julia stopped and decided to be less than completely honest, “pleasure of meeting Maddy. She was unexpectedly . . . welcoming.”
“Maddy is certainly a character.” Luke laughed, then grew more serious. “She keeps me up to date with that side of the family. They’ve had a rough time the last few years. That’s one of the reasons she’s determined to mend the rift in the family.”
Gio released his seat belt and stretched his legs out before him. “Don’t build this up into something it isn’t, Luke. I, for one, have no intention of seeing any of them again after this weekend.”
Nick left his seat to pour himself a Scotch from a crystal decanter.
Max leaned forward and asked, “Weren’t you and Stephan close at one time?”
“No,” Gio answered succinctly. “Nick was. He and Stephan toured the global party circuit together, both believing the tedious idea of working belonged to the generation who had created the family business. Stephan outgrew that phase.”
Nick downed his glass in one shot and poured himself another. “We can’t all be you, Gio. The perfect son. The perfect businessman. Completely lacking in conscience.”
Gio stood slowly, his muscles flexing angrily as he did. “Stop drinking now, Nick, before you make a fool of yourself.”
Nick downed the second glass defiantly. “Or what? What would you do?”
Gio walked over and took the crystal decanter from the counter. As calmly as if he were merely picking up something he’d dropped, he smashed the container on the corner of the bar, then dropped the ragged top to the carpeted floor with the rest of the shattered glass and alcohol. In a controlled, cool voice he said, “Whatever is necessary to protect the family.”
Nick leaned down just as calmly, opened a door of the cabinet, took out another bottle, and placed it next to his glass. “There are at least ten more in there. How many will you break? Which one will convince you what I do is none of your goddamn business?”
Luke was out of his seat and between them. “Nick, enough.”
Nick turned on Luke angrily. “How far would he have to go for you to judge him? If he threw me from the plane, would you justify even that? Or would you finally find the balls to confront him?”
Max leaned over to Julia and said, “Which one do you think would actually get ejected from the plane if it came to that? My money is on Luke. It’s always the one in the cross fire that gets nailed.”
Gio ignored his youngest brother’s comment and said, “Go ahead and drink yourself into a stupor, Nick. Make a fool of yourself in front of everyone. Just stay the hell away from me while you do it.”
Nick looked over at Julia and opened his mouth to say something more, but Luke took him by the arm and guided him away from the bar to the small kitchen area near the front of the plane. “Come on, let’s make coffee. I don’t care if you want it, I need some.”
Max raised an eyebrow at his oldest brother. “That was extreme, Gio. You couldn’t have made your point without making the entire plane smell like a distillery?”
“I went exactly as far as I had to,” Gio said coldly. He turned and walked to the other side of the plane where their bags were stored.
Watching the exchange between the brothers was heartbreaking for Julia. She wanted to yell for them to stop, but she sensed they had reached this place many times before. In such a case, it was more important to understand the cause than to treat the symptom. “Are they always like this?”
Max nodded. “I’m actually surprised they made it halfway across the Atlantic before they lost it. And they wonder why I’d rather work on the holidays. Gio and Nick are like oil and water. Or gunpowder and a match. However you describe it, you don’t want to stand between them. One day, one of them is going to snap.”
“Were they always like that?” Julia asked, watching Gio take his laptop from one of his bags. He’s going to escape to where he is successful—work.
Max shrugged. “I don’t remember them fighting like this before our father died. Maybe they did, and I was too young to see it.”
“How did your father die?”
“He was working in Venice. Don’t ask me what an oil company CEO needs to do in a sinking city, but that’s the story. A heart attack, I think. We don’t talk about it. Gio brought him back to the U.S., buried him, took over the company, and has looked exactly that miserable ever since.”
“Did Nick go with him?” Julia had to ask. She didn’t want to picture Gio collecting his father’s remains alone.
Max watched Gio walking back to sit with them and lowered his voice. “I don’t know.”
Gio returned to his seat and placed his computer on his lap, but he didn’t open it. Julia reached over and took one of his hands in hers, giving it a supportive squeeze. He looked down at her, his eyes dark with suppressed emotions.
The more Julia learned about the man beside her, the more her heart opened to him. Although the four brothers were confined in a small aircraft together, the distance between them was clear. More than anything, she wished she knew how to reach past whatever had separated them.
She looked across at Max and said, “I’m an only child, but I always dreamed of having brothers or sisters. You’re all lucky to have one another.”