13. Ambrose

Chapter thirteen

Ambrose

M y knees crack as I stretch them in preparation for my run. God, it reminds me of my father's knees whenever he'd squat down to pick something up or when he would stand up after sitting for a long period.

Thirty-two with the knees of a sixty year old apparently, I chuckle to myself but the humour is cut short when Antonio storms in through the front door and nearly smashes my face with the door.

"Woah, watch it," I snap.

He spins on his heels, his emotions clear on his face simply by the way his brows are furrowed and the slight pout on his lips.

"You wanna go on a run?" I offer.

He looks out the front door, then focuses on me again. "In the rain?"

"Yeah, rain is good for the soul." It seems overly dramatic but something about having the rain falling on your skin makes you feel at one with nature. That, and no one can see you cry in the rain.

Fifteen minutes later, Antonio and I are head down, jogging along the coast towards the promenade.

"So, what's got you walking around slamming doors?" I huff as we slow our jog to a walk as we reach the main road of the promenade.

He stops, placing his hands over his head to catch his breath, he's a lot more unfit than I remember. Must be from all the travelling not allowing him to get a chance to get into the gym.

"Valerie…"

The irony is that his little pink obsession is now starting to backfire.

"Funny you say that, I've been wanting to ask why she needed the job so badly?" I ask.

"She needed a job to hold her over until her art commissions started and wouldn't just let me give her the money so it was the fastest solution I could offer. If it's such a major problem I'll just shift her over to be my assistant," he says, his annoyance resurfacing.

"No!" I blurt out, and his eyes widen. "I mean, that's not necessary. I need the help and she needs the job. It's fine. That's clearly not what's bothering you though," I press.

My phone pings in my pocket and the email alone has me nearly seeing red. Or pink, in this case. "It wouldn't happen to have something to do with the five thousand euros L'Arte del Gioiello paid out for a moissanite ring yesterday?"

Antonio's biggest weakness is his eyes. They can tell a million stories, but not a single one of them could be a lie.

"She came in wanting to sell a ring. Mattia called saying he could tell it was fake but didn't want to break the news since the lady seemed desperate. Turns out it was Val and the ring she was trying to sell was her engagement ring," he says in one breath and it takes my brain a few seconds to process.

"Engagement ring? Valerie was engaged?" I ask

"Married, actually. To some guy in Paris. She doesn't want to tell me anything more just that he was some asshole that lied to her…" he trails off.

"But you think there's more to the situation?"

"Something about the way she acted was so weird. She was almost–I don't know, jumpy. Paranoid in a way." He shrugs.

I can't help but feel the concern for her burn up my throat. "If it's worrying you, have Adriano look into it. "

My ringtone breaks the moment. "Speak of the devil."

"I'm just going to grab some water and then we can head back," Antonio says before jogging to a nearby café.

I watch him jog away and I shake my head, what a lovesick fool.

"To what do I owe the privilege of getting to speak to your lazy ass before midday?" I answer the call. "Antonio and I are on a run," I warn, before he decides to mention anything I may have told him in confidence.

Adriano may be younger than me, but there are many times I feel he has more maturity than I'll ever possess in this lifetime. Hence, the choice to confide in him.

"Augustus is here with me," Adriano croaks, clearly still asleep. It's a subtle warning to not say anything I wouldn't want both of the twins hearing.

"Wow, all the Vitale brothers awake before 11 a.m. Papá must be turning in his grave," Antonio says as he rejoins me and I click the call over to speaker, a chill runs down my spine. It may be from the cold, but a part of me knows it's the mention of my father. Things have been touchy around the subject since the funeral, even my mamá and I have been walking on eggshells around each other since then.

She still believes the scene I caused at my father's funeral was uncalled for, and I still believe she's babying Augustus.

There was a brief time when I too was held under the warm shelter of my mamá's arms, but at sixteen, after one conversation with my father, we both knew there was nothing she could do for me anymore.

I would have to fill his shoes. By any means necessary. One of those means, was evidently to grow up very fucking quickly and learn the ropes. I don't have any regrets about what I did to get where I am today. But I do wish I had more time to enjoy my youth, to party with my friends, to have had the chance to just enjoy high school and not work another job on the side just because my father wanted me to, without having to prepare for all of this .

"Why are the two of you out running in the middle of a storm?" Adriano's gruff voice asks.

"Is he trying to outrun his problems again?" Gus quips

"Watch it," I snap. Snickers run through my phone's speaker.

"What do you idiots want?" I bite out.

"We wanted to check in and see how the date search is going?" Augustus asks.

"It's going fine," I answer vaguely.

In all honesty, it hasn't even been going. Between trying to avoid Valerie, dealing with Enzo's four hundred questions and ensuring Diego is pleased, the stupid dinner slipped my mind again.

"Ehhhhhh," Antonio mimics a buzzer sound. "Wrong answer."

"It's so idiotic that we still have to be concerned with finding a date for this dinner, when we all know it should be more focused on us trying to clear up Vitale Holdings' image."

Silence, that lasts for all of thirty seconds, before they all burst out laughing at me again.

"Sure, Ambrose. If you want us to be the talk of the industry for the second time this year, you go ahead with that," Antonio says.

"Maybe he's right, maybe after all the media attention he's been getting, coming alone may be for the best," Adriano says.

That's why he's my favourite brother, even though I'll never admit it.

"You heard Diego. We need stability. Him re-establishing himself as the most wanted bachelor is not a good idea," Augustus buts in.

My enjoyment of the conversation is cut short as my brothers continue to discuss my dating life like a bunch of twelve-year-old girls.

"So basically, he needs a girlfriend."

"More like a wife."

"I still think alone is the best idea."

"Enough," I snap and nod my head in the direction from where Antonio and I came, implying we should head home. "We all know I won't have a girlfriend by this Friday, let alone a wife, so let's stick with the plan of me going alone, and handle whatever comes with that."

"Why is this so difficult? Call up some random girl on your list of conquests. Hell, even ask Alexa for all I care, just get it taken care of," Antonio says.

I shoot him a look and he just shrugs it off.

Antonio's mood has been sitting in the gutter for the last few weeks and what happened yesterday just put the icing on the cake. Even clients have picked up on it, complaining about his lack of customer etiquette.

"He's just pissy because Valerie has been avoiding him like the plague," Augustus sings through the phone.

"I'm not in the mood for this," Antonio says, and he jogs off back to the house without me.

"And then there were three," I say. "Speaking of three. Adriano, why did I get a call about you spending nearly three million euros on a Ferrari "

"Ambrose, we have to go, our taxi is here. Maybe try one of those hire-a-girlfriend sites for a date," Augustus says hurriedly before hanging the call-up.

I stop walking and stare blankly ahead. Something odd is going on with my brothers.

I start running again, the idea of possibly paying someone to pretend to be my date, let alone my girlfriend, is absurd. The idea of having a girlfriend, even more. I haven't dated anyone since I was sixteen. Hookups and flings, sure, but nothing more serious.

Something about being Vitale Holdings' next CEO meant I never had time.