She shrugged. “Not exactly.”
“But you must have been excited to take on such a big venture.”
“I like dealing with people. They are the best part of the business. And I had a lot of fun turning the villa into a boutique hotel. But I didn’t go into the venture because it was a dream of mine.”
“What is your dream?”
She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Sure, it matters. Life is short. You need to be passionate about the time you spend on this earth.”
She arched a brow. “I didn’t figure you for a philosopher.”
“It’s something my uncle used to tell me. At the time, I didn’t think he was serious. I thought he was just trying to get me to go do things and leave him alone.”
“But now you know different?”
Ric nodded. “He was trying to help me, but I was too young and too angry with my mother to notice.”
“But you remembered and that counts. And you listened to him. Because if anyone is passionate about their work, it’s you.”
He smiled. She was right. He hadn’t thought of it that way, but in a sense, he’d honored his uncle’s memory. He just wished his uncle was here so he could tell him thank you for always being there for him—even when he wasn’t the easiest to deal with. And...and that he loved him. He was the father that he’d never had.
“Thanks,” he said. When Gia sent him a puzzled look, he added, “For helping me realize that my uncle cared.”
“I didn’t do anything. You would have stumbled over those papers eventually.”
“Would I have? I don’t know. I was so determined that he didn’t care to the point I might have thrown all that stuff out without paying much attention. But you made sure that didn’t happen. So thank you.”
“You’re welcome, though I still don’t think I did much.”
He glanced down at his desk. “It seems we got off topic.”
“Oh, yes. You need to figure out how to show Mr. Grosso that your program works in the real world but without telling anyone.” She frowned as though giving it some serious consideration. “I’m not sure you can do that unless you were to try it on my business. But I don’t transport anything.”
Ric shook his head, dismissing the idea.
“Which is a shame because now that my sister has pulled out of the wedding business to marry the prince of Patazonia, the business at the hotel is spiraling.”
“Wait. Your sister is marrying a prince?” When she nodded, he asked, “How is it that we’ve been sharing this apartment and puppy all of this time and you’ve failed to share this most interesting bit of your life?”
Gia laughed. “Like you’re interested in fairy tales.”
“I am when they concern you. So your sister...she’s really going to become a princess?”
Gia nodded. “The royal wedding is set for Christmas.”
“Next year.”
Gia shook her head. “This year. The prince is going to be crowned king on New Year’s.”
“Wow. Your sister isn’t just going to be a princess but a queen. And you’re good with all of this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? I love my sister and want her to be happy.”
“But you haven’t found your father.”
“One thing doesn’t have anything to do with the other.”