Chapter 2

Isabella moved faster than I expected.

The next morning, I sat by the floor-to-ceiling windows of my top-floor office in the Vitale Building, soaking up the sun.

It was the one place in this building that still belonged to me.

The intercom on my desk buzzed. The receptionist was patching through a video call.

The screen lit up, and my uncle Vincenzo's face appeared.

Behind him were the olive groves of our old home in Sicily, green trees stretching all the way up the hillside.

“Luca, have you eaten breakfast?”

My uncle's voice was gentle, his Sicilian accent thick.

“I have, Uncle.”

I looked at his graying hair and felt a pang in my chest.

After my father died, my uncle was the only blood relative I had left.

He was my father's younger brother, and the current chairman of the Family Council.

Back then, he had been the one to persuade the Council to appoint Isabella as the family's acting head.

He had never married, and he had loved me like his own son since I was little.

But his health had been poor in recent years, so he had been staying at the family's old estate in Sicily, leaving Isabella in charge of the family's affairs.

“Good, good.”

He rubbed his hands together, looking a little awkward.

“Isabella called me this morning. She said the family is doing some sort of… structural upgrade.”

He didn't understand financial jargon, so he did his best to repeat what Isabella had told him.

“Luca, I know you might be upset.”

“But I've known Isabella since she was young. She worked alongside your father for years. She wouldn't hurt us.”

My uncle sighed and patiently tried to persuade me.

“She and Riccardo just got married. Riccardo is a well-educated young man. He could have stayed on Wall Street and made a fortune, but instead he came back to help us run the family business.”

“We owe them some gratitude.”

I listened quietly and didn't interrupt.

Isabella really was clever. She knew my uncle was the person I trusted most, so she'd sent him to talk me into signing.

“Uncle, do you know how they plan to 'upgrade' things?” I asked calmly.

He paused, then waved a hand.

“I think they're just giving some shares to the people who actually do the work.”

“Luca, there's always more money to be made.”

“Our family has deep pockets. We won't miss a little here or there.”

“Listen to your uncle. Don't fight with them. Just sign.”

“After that, you can live in peace. If anything happens, Isabella will take care of it.”

I looked into my uncle's trusting eyes but said nothing.

Isabella had kept him so far removed from the family's affairs that he had no idea what was really going on.

“I understand, Uncle.”

“Take care of your health.”

I ended the call.

The moment the call ended, the office door swung open.

Riccardo walked in carrying a glass of freshly squeezed blood orange juice.

He set it on my desk, that calm smile still on his face.

“Fresh-squeezed blood orange. A little vitamin C.”

He glanced at the blank screen.

“Finished talking to your uncle? The old man is reasonable.”

I didn't touch the juice. I looked at his face.

“Was there something else?”

He pulled out the chair across from me and sat, graceful as ever.

“It's nothing serious.”

He took a sheet of paper from his pocket and slid it over to me.

“Since you won't sign the equity agreement, I'll have to take matters into my own hands as the family's CFO.”

“Keeping this top-floor office for you is too expensive.”

“You hardly come in anyway. There's no point in keeping an office this big.”

“I've already told the administration department to convert it into a VIP reception room tomorrow.”

He looked at me, his eyes cold and unprovocative.

“Also, the family pays for your armored car and full-time driver.”

“The family is cutting unnecessary expenses, so as of today, your car and driver are suspended.”

Riccardo pulled the black card out of my pen holder and twirled it between his fingers.

“The family has always covered the charges on this black card. That ends today.”

“Luca, you're not a kid anymore. You can't be supported by the family forever.”

He slipped the card into his wallet.

“Learning to stand on your own will do you good.”

Watching him, I could only find it laughable.

He made everything sound reasonable, even as he stripped me of everything he could.

He had a tidy justification for every decision, making it difficult to argue with him.

“So, as of today, I have no place in this building.”

I stood and straightened my suit jacket.

Riccardo stood as well, his confident smile never wavering.

“You can request a desk in the general staff area at one of the family's companies.”

“I checked your attendance, too. You come in fewer than three days a month.”

“Under company policy, that counts as absenteeism.”

“Riccardo, do you think that controlling the family's books means controlling everything?”

I asked him calmly.

Riccardo chuckled and reached out to smooth a wrinkle in my jacket.

“Luca, times have changed.”

“A will written twenty years ago can't determine who's qualified to lead this family.”

“What matters is ability, what you can do for the family.”

He turned toward the door.

“I'll have your personal belongings packed up and delivered to you.”