Chapter Four

~ Janos ~

I took a puff of my cigar and watched the man sitting on the bench from the shadows. I'd spotted him come into the fundraiser and had been unable to look away from him ever since.

There was something about him that reminded me of the man I'd spent the night with all those weeks ago. I doubted they were the same person simply because this guy didn't scream "gold digger" to me. He was dressed as if he came from money and he carried himself as if he was used to the finer things in life.

Still, I had been intrigued, and that didn't happen often. When he walked out onto the patio I had felt compelled to follow him. At a distance, of course. I wasn't ready to make myself—or my weird obsession—known.

"Who's there?" the man asked before wiping quickly at his eyes, making me wonder if someone had upset him. "Hello? Is someone there?"

I stepped partway out of the shadows, just enough for him to know where I was. "I didn't mean to intrude."

A faint smile graced his lips. "Oh, no, you didn't. I was just getting some fresh air." He was polite and his speech said he had some higher education.

"It is a bit stuffy in there."

"Just a bit." The smile widened. "I didn't really want to come, but a friend convinced me it was for a good cause so..."

I nodded, understanding exactly where he was coming from. "I'm forced to attend these things two or three times a month. They are meant to be endured, not enjoyed."

"Work?"

I nodded.

"Yeah, me, too," he stated, "although I don't have to attend as many as you probably do."

"What do you do?" I asked out of curiosity.

"I'm a doctor."

Nice.

"I'm in real estate." That was a broad definition of what I did. Yes, I was in real estate, but I was usually the one buying the land and having something built on it before selling it. I did buy some readymade buildings here and there, but I preferred building it myself so I could put my personal touches on things.

I gestured to the lone glass sitting on the bench beside the man. "How's the champagne?"

"I wouldn't know." He picked up the glass and took a small sip. "This is apple juice."

That got my eyebrow to cock up. "Apple juice?"

I was a little surprised when the man glanced away. "I don't think drinking a lot at one of these functions is a good idea."

That didn't sound like the total truth, but I wasn't going to question the man about it. It wasn't my place. I didn't even know the guy.

I wanted to.

"I'm János Kostas."

The smile wasn't back when he glanced at me, but at least he was looking at me. "Gianni Galeazzi."

Interesting.

"Any connection with Galeazzi Construction?"

Gianni nodded. "My parents own it."

"They're currently erecting a building for me," I stated. "I spoke with Frank just the other day about ADA compliant bathrooms."

Gianni finally smiled. "Frank is my brother."

If his parents owned the company, he'd have to be.

I took a couple of slow casual steps closer, found a good tree, and leaned up against it. "I know Frank and Martino followed in your father's footsteps. Why go the doctor route? Why not join the family business?"

Gianni chuckled. "No interest."

I realized I was basically interrogating the guy, but I had questions. I took a long puff of my cigar before asking, "Is it true that Martino retired to become a starving artist?"

"Yes and no," Gianni replied. "He partially retired. He spends most of his time in the studio he built onto his husband's family cottage, but he still helps Frank out every now and then."

"He really gave all that up to become a painter?"

I couldn't imagine it.

Gianni shrugged. "It makes him happy."

I guess I could see that. People should do what made them happy. I was lucky in the fact that I made money in the fierce field of real estate and building things. It's what made me happy.

"Does being a doctor make you happy?"

"For the most part," Gianni stated. "I'm at the tail end of my residency and then I plan to go into research fulltime. That's where my true passion lies."

This man was getting more interesting by the second.

"Research?" I asked. "What kind of research?"

"I'm basically a lab tech right now, but once I finish my residency I hope to get promoted or hired on somewhere else. My current research is on genetic cell reproduction. I just published an article in one of the medical journals on autoimmune diseases and their effects on genetic cell reproduction."

Way above my understanding.

"Is there a lot of call for that type of research?"

Gianni nodded. "There are labs all over the world studying genetics."

Huh.

"I have no idea what any of that stuff is beyond recognizing some of the words, but if you want to know where to buy the best land for the lowest price, I'm your man."

I liked the way Gianni's face lit up when he truly laughed. There was a brightness in his brown eyes that had been missing when I first walked up. I didn't know what Gianni was going through—and it certainly wasn't my place to ask—but it was weighing heavy on him.

"If you were in the lab it would be even worse," Gianni said before leaning toward me and speaking in a lower tone. "We use code words."

I let out a small snicker. "I'd probably end up blowing up the place."

"Wouldn't be the first time something like that happened," Gianni said. "I blew up the bathroom when I was nine."

My eyebrows shot up. The shock I felt was not something I was used to. "You blew up the bathroom?"

"My first chemistry set. Blew a hole the size of a dinner plate right through the wall."

My concern was instant. "Were you hurt?"

"Only after my father got done with me." Gianni laughed again. "They banned me from using chemistry sets at home for the rest of my life."

Yeah, I could see why.

"Guess it's a good thing your family went into construction."

"My grandfather started the business when he came here from Italy after World War II, but I'm pretty sure my father stayed with it because my mother gave birth to three boys. Not a girl in the bunch."

"I have a younger sister, no brothers, so I couldn't imagine what that must have been like."

"I was the baby of the family so I doubt my experience was like Frank's or Martino's. I was a bit spoiled."

I didn't want to ask.

Well, that wasn't true. I did want to ask. I just wasn't going to.

Again, I didn't know this guy.

I frowned when my phone rang and pulled it out of my pocket. I was even less thrilled when I saw who was calling. I swiped my finger across the screen and then held it to my ear. "Yes?"

"Sir, it's time to present the check for the fundraiser."

Damn.

"I'll be right there." I hung up and stuck my phone back in my pocket before looking at Gianni. "I need to head in to hand over the big fat check I wrote for the fundraiser. Apparently, they want a face to go with it."

Gianni nodded.

"It was very nice meeting you, Gianni Galeazzi. Maybe we'll meet again someday."

The sooner, the better.

I very reluctantly walked away and headed back inside. I wanted to stay and talk to Gianni some more. He intrigued me in more ways than one, and that was rare for me. I usually found people to be very tedious. Long conversations made me want to strangle people.

I was not a patient person.

When I reached the patio doors and glanced back, Gianni was still sitting there. The forlorn look on his face made me wonder what he was thinking so hard about. Whatever it was, it obviously made him sad.

That didn't sit right with me.

Knowing I had no other choice at this point, I left Gianni to his thoughts and walked into the event venue. Lester met me just inside the doors and led me over to the staging area.

The next hour was an hour of time I would never get back in my life. By the time I made my way to the car, my eyeballs ached so much I wanted to gouge them out with a toothpick from one of those stupid cocktail wieners.

I hated those damn things.

"Lester, get me everything on Gianni Galeazzi."

"Yes, sir."

"Do it quietly," I directed. I didn't want the man to know I was looking into his background. At least, not until I was ready to tell him.

"Of course, sir."

Lester sounded like a "yes man" but he wasn't. He was just very, very good at his job. He got things done in a timely manner when I asked for them. I wasn't sure where all of his connections came from, but in the five years he had worked for me, he had never let me down.

"Any news on the pregnancy test?" I asked.

"The test has been verified, but whether it is your child or not remains to be seen. We're unable to test paternity until we know who this person is. I'm still trying to track down who sent the letter, but until they contact us again, the lead is pretty cold."

"Let me know the second you have something." As much as I wanted to get rid of whoever this was trying to blackmail me—and I was positive that was what they were doing—I didn't want it affecting me trying to get to know Gianni.

"Yes, sir."

The rest of the ride back to my penthouse was quiet. Lester worked on his tablet and I read through contracts and project notes. Just because it was evening didn't mean my work day had ended.

That was the thing that most people didn't understand about the rich. I had to scratch my way to the top one dollar at a time, but it took working almost twenty-four hours a day for years to reach this point. I still tended to keep long hours simply because I was bored and had no social life.

I did not consider tonight's charity fundraiser a social event. It was a "see and be seen" event where people went to pander to their fellow rich people, look good, and make connections. Very few of them actually cared where the money they donated was going.

I didn't much care either beyond having Lester make sure that the money was actually going to fund the children's hospital. I hated organizations that raised money and only sent a little to what they were actually raising the money for, using the rest for "administrative costs", and fifty percent of those were bogus.

By the time we pulled up in front of my building, I was ready to grab a drink and call it a day. I climbed out of the back of the car and waved Lester away, telling him to head home, before walking inside.

My penthouse was on the top floor, which allowed me an unobstructed view of Upper New York Bay and the Statue of Liberty. It also allowed me to wave my keycard and get an express ride to the penthouse on the elevator. No waiting for it to stop on every floor.

Vasso, my butler, cook, and all around handyman at home, was waiting for me when the elevator doors opened. He was the only person I allowed free reign in my house. I'd brought him over from Greece ten years ago and he'd been with me ever since.

"Good evening, sir," he stated as he took my coat.

"Evening, Vasso."

"Will you be wanting dinner tonight, sir?"

"No, I had some finger foods at the fundraiser. I'm just going to head to my study for a little while and then I will be going to bed."

"Very good, sir."

I liked the efficient man.

I headed down the hallway to my study. Once inside I headed right for the crystal decanter of ouzo I had sitting on a small round table in the corner and poured myself a drink.

I took a deep sip of it as I strolled toward the floor to ceiling windows all along one wall of my study. In my line of work I had been all over the world, but I'd never found another night skyline like the one in New York City. Between the bright lights and the view, it couldn't be beat.

I wonder if Gianni had a view like this.

I pressed the cold glass against my forehead a moment after that thought filled my head. Why couldn't I stop thinking about this guy? Between him and the mysterious man I'd slept with, my libido was in overdrive.

Strange thing was, I'd hadn't been attracted to anyone in ages, so why these two men? One was a mystery and one was lost in some sort of sorrow that I didn't understand. Both seemed unattainable at the moment.

I needed to fix that.