Braylee couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so angry. Partly because she needed to blame someone for everything that had happened. It was an anger that filled every fiber of her being. Her voice was strangled as she tried to talk. “And then what? What were you going to do Alex?”
His own frustration boiled over. His composure completely snapped. “I was going to handle the situation! She killed my brother and damn near killed you! Do you honestly think I’m going to let that family get away it? If you do, then you don’t know me as well as you believe.”
“Are you kidding me?” Braylee was angry and terrified Alex was going to get hurt. “You’re not a killer Alexandro. You’re a business man…and a liar! From what I gather, Gina is not only ruthless, but she is also not just interested in business.” Braylee was seething. “I asked you! I asked you did you know her and you led me to believe that she was just Joseph’s cousin.” She looked heavenward and rolled her eyes. “I knew better than that. My instincts told me there was way more to the story than that. And, now I might be responsible for the death of one of my best friends because I wasn’t prepared! How am I supposed to live with that? You didn’t tell me then, but I want to know everything.”
She deserved to know. The guilt made him feel as if there was lead in his shoes. He moved closer to Braylee. “I met Gina almost fifteen years ago. We were in a brief but serious relationship until I found out she wasn’t who she pretended to be. And, for a time, she made me believe that I could be Cecily’s father.”
“Wait? What?” Shock didn’t even begin to describe the look on Braylee’s face. She knew they’d obviously had history, but Cecily’s father? “I thought Cecily’s mother was some random gold-digging woman.”
“That’s the story Luciano told for years, and we all adopted it. However, the truth is he fell in love with a woman named Nina Jones. Never in a million years would I have thought Nina Jones and Gina Lee would be the same person until I met her. Luciano had been talking for months about some girl he’d met. He was falling head over heels in love. I remember when he told me about their first meeting.”
Luciano was standing impatiently in line at a little barista down the street from Manchetti Enterprises. He was running late for work as he took a quick glance at his watch while waiting in line for coffee. Luciano had just been promoted to VP of Research & Development a couple of days ago, and it wouldn’t be good for him to be late if he wanted his staff’s respect. It also wouldn’t be good for his employees if he showed up without his coffee either.
Out of the corner of his eye, a raven-haired beauty wearing an ice-blue summer dress, a heavy backpack, and carrying an arm full of books was attempting to weave her way through the small crowd of people. “Excuse me. Excuse me. Ooops.” She bumped into Luciano dropping all of her books on the ground. “My goodness! I’m…I’m so sorry.” She quickly kneeled down to gather her things.
Apparently, the gods were conspiring against him, and there would be no coffee today. Instead, Luciano did the gentlemanly thing and bent down to help her gather her books. She continued to apologize profusely. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Luciano was only slightly annoyed until she looked up at him with those soft, dark-brown almost black as midnight eyes. A slow smile spread across his face. He picked up one of her books and noticed the title, Quantitative Physiology. “Pretty heavy stuff. Are you enrolled at one of the city colleges?”
Embarrassed she pushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear. “Yes. I’m working on my Doctorate over at Northwestern University.”
Luciano helped her rise to her feet as they stepped out of the way of the other customers standing in line. “Sorry, I’m being rude. My name is Luciano Manchetti.”
She smiled warmly. “I’d shake your hand but as you can see mine are pretty full. I’m…” She was hesitant about giving him her name. “I’m…Nina Jones. And, thank you so much for helping me pick up my books. I can be such a klutz sometimes.”
“No problem. So, you’re attending Northwestern University?”
“Yes. I’m running late for my biomechanical engineering class. So, thanks again but I better get going.”
Luciano wasn’t going to let her get away without getting her phone number. He tried to think of anything to stall for time. “I remember taking that class. I had a professor, Dr. Sanders, who gave me hell.”
Nina couldn’t hide the curiosity in her eyes, “You went to Northwestern?”
He nodded. “Graduated a couple of years ago. Dr. Sanders was tough, but I still managed to eke out an A from his class.”
“I’ll be lucky just to pass. I don’t have Dr. Sanders, but he’s the head of the department now, and I’ve been told he’s tough.”
This was the opening he’d been waiting for. “Maybe I can help? Why don’t you give me your number and we can get together for coffee or something? Especially since it looks like neither of us are getting any coffee this morning.”
Nina looked around as if she were mulling it over. “Um…why don’t you give me your number instead?” She smiled cheekily. “A girl can’t be too
