45. Valerie

Chapter forty-five

Valerie

T he elevator dings drawing my attention up, Augustus strolls through the doors wearing a black puffer jacket over a plain t-shirt, along with black jeans and green Converse. A black beanie decorates the top of his head and the resemblance to Adriano is so uncanny you would swear they were identical twins. He looks almost normal as he steps in with a broad smile on his face.

I swallow my thoughts when I realise every item he is wearing is branded, ranging from The North Face to Prada.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, let me tell Ambrose I'm leaving," I say and he nods leaning against my desk. "We're leaving," I say, popping my head into Ambrose's office.

"Send me pictures of you trying on the dresses," he says, a bit of mischief hidden behind his words, "and tell my brother to make sure nothing happens to you."

When I get back to my desk, Gus is looking down at his phone with a broad smile gracing his lips.

I raise a brow at the emotion running across his face. "I'm ready," I say aloud and watch as Augustus' smile drops as he nods and heads towards the elevator.

"So, how have you been?" I ask as we get into the car. The interior is a lot different to Ambrose's car. It's a deep midnight blue and the roof is decorated with tiny lights that give the illusion of stars.

Augustus looks over at me trying to suppress a smile. "I've been good, Val, I would ask how you've been but I've heard all about it."

"You have?" I furrow my brows even though I know my face is bright red.

He laughs and uses his one hand to pull his beanie down slightly. "Adriano and I are twins, I've been hearing all about your secret little love affair since the start, and I also heard it's no longer a secret, from Nino though." He looks over at me with concern in his eyes.

I fidget with my phone in my lap, I didn't realise how much this would affect them as brothers and I'm even more surprised at how interested Gus is in it all. He's usually the one who doesn't give any fucks about what goes on in anyone's life other than Adriano's.

"You wanna talk about it?" He looks over at me.

"I don't even know how we got here Gus," I answer truthfully.

"You'll get used to it. Things involving Ambrose always seem to blow up before they calm down," he explains. The car pulls up to an underground garage, rolling down his window he presses a buzzer.

"Yes?" A female voice speaks.

"It's Gus, we're here to collect the garments," he says.

After a short buzz, the large metal shutters open allowing us to drive into the lot and park.

I follow Gus out of the car towards an elevator and he presses a button. "I wonder what she's put together for us," he says, voicing his thoughts aloud.

As we step out of the elevator we immediately enter a large studio space. "Morning Gus, how are you?" Kaia's stunning aunt asks. Her deep brown skin glows as the sun streams in through the large windows. Her braids are scattered with shades of grey and I wonder if she's dyed her hair to appear grey because she doesn't appear old enough to have gone grey naturally .

"Good morning, Ms. Abrahams, I'm good." Gus wraps his arms around the woman.

Gus steps back a bit. "Zee, this is Valerie, she's a friend of Nino and uhm," he looks over at me. "Ambrose's girlfriend."

"We've met before," I smile and the woman returns it before offering me a hug as well.

"You only had the title of Antonio's friend back then," she smirks. "It's lovely to see you again sweetheart. Kaia mentioned you'd be coming with Gus"

"Speaking of the devil, I heard she's flying home again tonight?" Gus asks.

Zee's face scrunches up as she tilts her head to the side slightly. "Apparently so, you know how her father is."

"Unfortunately, I do." Gus frowns and puts his hands into his jacket. "Is there anything you both need? You know how important you both are to my family," Augustus rushes out.

Zee brushes him off. "We're okay honey, don't you worry your sweet little heart about it. Come with me, she left your things over here."

The fitting goes smoother than I could've imagined. Kaia truly has a gift for creating unique pieces.

"What's wrong? Do you not like the clothes?" Gus asks me as we get into the car.

"No, no I love them, please tell Kaia how thankful I am," I reassure him.

Although it may not be the clothes, I still have an uncomfortable feeling.

"Then what's up? You seem upset," he presses.

I'd hoped him driving would distract him from any more questions but when he hums reminding me of the question I know there's no escaping .

"Can I ask you something? Like without you running to tell your brothers. One brother in particular."

Augustus scoffs. "If you think I run and tell my brothers everything, you must not know me at all Val. What's up?"

"Even Adriano," I add.

His brows raise. I know he confides in Adriano, as all the Vitales do, it's his job to know everything since he does most of the negotiations. If something's bothering one of the brothers it'll affect his work.

"I promise Val." Augustus extends a pinky out to me and I giggle interlocking mine with his. He brings the closed part of his fist to his mouth kissing it before allowing me to do the same to my hand.

"Okay, so for the third time, what's up?"

"How long did Ambrose and Kaia date for?"

My question must surprise him because as we stop at a red light he turns to me with furrowed brows. "Kaia? Uhm I don't remember. She worked at Trescatelli's when she was sixteen and that's when she and Ambrose dated, it lasted for maybe a month or two I think," he answers.

"And she's Ambrose's age?"

He nods. "Why? I mean, why the sudden interest?"

I shrug. I don't even know why I asked or why it's bothering me. So what if she and Ambrose dated?

"It isn't something you have to worry about if that's why you're asking," Gus says looking over at me.

"Uhm, no I-I ." I straighten my shoulders and cross my arms. "It's just everyone says Ambrose doesn't do girlfriends yet she was the only other girlfriend he had so I was interested as to why."

He nods slowly. "Her dad is big into politics in South Africa and has certain opinions about who Kaia dates, and let's just say he wasn't happy when he heard about her and Ambrose. Ambrose was quite pissed at the time and I think that may have had something to do with it. "

I sit silently and nod. "Val, I haven't seen Ambrose feel or act this way about a girl ever, not even with Kaia. He took down the entire Vitality Insurance firm all because they fucked you and your father over."

As soon as the words escape his lips, his eyes widen and he faces the front. "I never said that, you never heard anything from me."

"Gus, what do you mean?" I eye him carefully.

"How about we go for lunch." He smiles, his voice has an air of nervousness to it.

The car pulls up at a restaurant along the coast, surprisingly not one owned by the brothers. Café Caprice. Memories of sundown cocktails in the summertime or Sunday lunches with my family flood my mind. This place has always been one of my favourites.

"Let's go." Gus smiles as he hops out of the car and hands his key off to the valet. I join him at the door. They allow him in easily but stop in front of me.

"I'm sorry miss, it's reservation only," the male says, eyeing both me and my outfit. I look down at my clothes which are even more formal than what Augustus is wearing and a scoff leaves my lips.

"So, why does he get to go in? I didn't see you ask him if he has a reservation," I ask loud enough for it to start causing a scene.

"Is there a problem?" Gus towers over the server who nervously looks up at him. Augustus is not the most intimidating Vitale once you get to know him but on the surface level, he exudes the same confidence and flair as any of his brothers do. He also has the same murderous gaze Adriano has when he's annoyed. One of the many things they share.

"No-no, Mr. Vitale. I'm dealing with a customer that doesn't have a reservation," he explains while turning to me and glaring.

I sneer up at him. He genuinely has no idea and I almost feel bad for him. I'm not usually one to cause a scene or to use the Vitales to my advantage but I hate being treated like this a lot more.

"That customer is Ambrose Vitales' girlfriend," Gus growls out and the server swears under his breath before staring down at his shoes .

"I'm so-so s-sorry," he barely stutters, getting out of my way.

Gus looks over at me motioning for me to come in. I shake my head and brush past the server.

"You're lucky I'm in a good mood or this would be the last place you ever worked in Tevici," Gus says to the server before placing a hand on my back and guiding me in.

"I'm sorry about that Valerie," he apologises as we take a seat next to a large window that overlooks the shore.

I shrug. "Nothing new Gus, we are treated like that all the time at places like this."

He frowns at my words. "We don't ever deal with things like this."

"I know." I don't dwell on the topic seeing as it'll only upset me further. Well, I try not to until the owner of the restaurant makes his way over to our table and strikes up a conversation with Augustus.

The conversation seems slightly heated and Gus' eyes flash to me multiple times before he eventually rises to his feet. He leans into the man's ear and mumbles something. The owner's body visibly stiffens as he nods quickly.

"I understand Mr. Vitale," he switches to English as Gus takes his seat. "Apologies for the interruption." He graces me with eye contact as if he's only just noticed I'm sitting here.

Augustus sits down and seconds later a waiter is taking our order.

"Okay, start talking," I frown at him.

He pulls the beanie off his head and runs a hand over the hair, in a similar way to how Ambrose runs his hand over his beard. "So, I'm sure you've heard of Vitality Insurance?" he confirms.

I nod, honestly wishing I didn't know about them. They've caused so many problems for me in the last six months. If I never hear the name again it'll be too good to be true.

"Well, we own it, surprise surprise." He rolls his eyes and my eyes widen.

"What? So you all are the reason I've been in so much shit in the first place?"

"Well, technically Enzo is.'' He frowns. "We're investors, he oversees all of the operations."

My blood is boiling before he even reaches the end of the conversation. "And when Ambrose found out that he was the insurer that fucked you and your father over, he shut the entire place down."

Shock ripples through me. "What? How can he shut the entire place down? Aren't there people who will still need the insurance? Or need their jobs?"

"Yes, it isn't a permanent shutdown – more like a restructuring process for us to send in new people to clean up all the shit Enzo caused." He leans back and pulls out a box of cigarettes offering me one. I haven't smoked since the night Ambrose stole my pack at the restaurant. I shake my head, the craving has almost completely disappeared.

"So, what are they doing to fix all of this? The hospital staff said they'd heard of numerous cases when patients were on the same plan?"

"They have to pay everyone the money owed, as if the Vitale name could take any more hits–then this happens." He frowns, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"So after all that work, we're starting from scratch to rebuild ourselves?" I ask and a small smile plays on his lips.

"That's a lot of ‘we's' and ‘ours' spoken like a true Vitale. My papá would be proud," he says and I flinch at the mention of his dad. "He would've loved you for Ambrose, we all do."

"Well not all of you," I frown looking down at my hands.

"Antonio's judgement is clouded by his feelings but he'll come around and see it for himself. You're good for Ambrose, for all of us."