“The only way to save the estate and the business is to find an immediate influx of cash.” Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe it was his pride and not some do-gooder notion that had him refusing to ask for her help. “I suggested that my father take on a partner with deep pockets, but he outright rejected the idea. He said that this was our legacy and only a DiSalvo would ever own the lemon grove.”

“Even if it means losing his business and his home?”

Luca sighed. “Yes. He’s a very stubborn man.”

“Maybe he sees this as his chance to reconnect with his son.”

The same thing had crossed Luca’s mind. “I shouldn’t have let things get to this point.”

When Elena didn’t interrupt, he was inclined to expand on his statement. The truth of the matter was that he hadn’t opened up to anyone about this part of his life. By not talking about it, sometimes it was easier to pretend that his mother hadn’t been stolen away and his family hadn’t fractured under the weight of grief.

“It wasn’t always this way,” he said aloud as a way of convincing himself. “After my mother’s death, I needed my father’s assurance that everything would be all right—that we would be all right.”

Luca drew an unsteady breath as his thoughts rolled back in time. He didn’t want to go there and experience the too-familiar pain. Still, he needed Elena to understand how important his endeavor to save the lemon grove was to him. It was his plan to undo some of the damage that had been done to his family.

“My father withdrew from my sister and me. He was cold. He didn’t cry. He didn’t speak of my mother. I was convinced he didn’t love her.”

Elena sat down on the beach and patted a spot next to her. When he joined her, she said, “Maybe he was in shock. I don’t know. But anytime I saw your parents together, there was obvious affection.”

“I’m starting to think you’re right. But back then I was an angry, confused kid. When my sister couldn’t get love and assurances from my father, she turned to me, and I failed her.”

“You can’t blame yourself.” Elena reached out and placed her hand over his. “You were so young. It was just too much.”

“But I was the oldest. I should have been there for Annabelle. I should have been her rock.”

“And because you couldn’t be there for your family after your mother’s death, you’re trying to make up for it now?”

He shrugged and then nodded. Finding warmth and strength in her touch, he laced his fingers with hers. “Do you think it’s too late?”

“No. I think saving your family’s business is heroic.”

“But I haven’t accomplished it yet. The only option I can think of is to gain one of Mirraccino’s contracts. They are lucrative and far-reaching with their export business. I talked with Demetrius, but he said that they are experiencing a full audit after what the king’s lord-in-waiting did to my mother. There’s fear that he was embezzling from the crown. Demetrius said he couldn’t do anything for me now, but that we could revisit it in the future. The problem is that will take too long. The creditors will call in their loans before then. The only way to get around Demetrius’s decision is to go directly to the king, but I can’t get to him.”

“And you need my help to get access to him.”

Luca nodded.

Now it was up to Elena. And he had no idea how she would feel about pulling strings with her father in order to help him. He hated to put her in this position, but at that moment, he just couldn’t think of any other plan.

CHAPTER TWENTY

TALK ABOUT STRESSFUL.

Luca had been in a lot of tense business meetings, but this one was the worst.

He sat on a wing-back chair in the king’s suite of rooms. He hadn’t been in here since he was a little kid, and to be honest, it was still a bit intimidating as an adult. The room was regally decorated, mostly in maroon, with cream-colored walls. The furniture was all antique and he couldn’t even begin to guess their ages, but every item was well maintained.

The king was up and dressed, but he looked to be a shell of the man that Luca once knew. Luca couldn’t decide if it was age or stress or a little of both.

Luca had given his uncle an overview of the challenges facing the DiSalvo family. He had brought some projections with him, but he knew not to present them unless invited. As of yet, no invitation had been extended. The king had merely listened and nodded at the appropriate moments. And now that Luca had said everything that he’d come here to say, silence filled the room.

After a few moments, the king said, “Luca, I am sorry I haven’t been around, especially as I hear that you and Elena have married. I want to offer you my best wishes.”

“Thank you, sir. We appreciate it.”

“I hadn’t realized that you two were seeing each other. But then again, I haven’t exactly been accessible recently. But I thought that Elena’s father would have mentioned it.”

Luca swallowed hard. “Actually, it was a bit of a whirlwind relationship, and we sort of kept it to ourselves.”

Tags: Jennifer Faye Billionaire Romance
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