Page 33 of Wicked (Wicked Billionaires #2)

DANTE

As I clear out another room in the castle, I think of ways to keep the castle. Memories flood back of my family time here. The best times of my youth.

As I push on, I find an old oak chest with ornate detail. Inside are my old childhood trinkets. Books, a train set and medals for winning various sports.

As I kneel, I’m lost in memories. When I left Italy to make it in the world, I’d not taken a single thing.

My grandfather, my friend and inspiration, must have placed them here for me, knowing I’d find the chest one day. I pause, noticing a letter on top.

I walk below to the room I’m using, and fireside, I open it. It’s in my grandfather’s handwriting, and in his gentle way, so different than my father’s dictatorial voice, he tells me he enjoyed the time we spent when we were last together.

He explains he was proud of me and proud of my business accomplishments. He also says he valued our friendship and that life races by. It’s a difficult read, but I push on, full of emotion.

He tells me to follow my own path in life and that it is wise to question everything and remain curious.

He then tells me finding his wife, my grandmother, enriched his own life. And that, one day, he hopes I meet that someone special. That person that sets me alight and matches my energy. And that if I do, to never let them go.

I wipe an eye, and it’s the first tear I’ve shed since his funeral and the second in my life.

I slide the letter back into the envelope, and I put it in my jacket. After walking to the family cemetery behind the castle, I find my grandfather’s grave.

I apologize to him for not being around much after leaving, and I look around at the family land and beach. As a warm wind blows, I try to put it all together.

Maybe I’m supposed to be doing something more, and that may include carrying some of the family’s weight on my shoulders.

I thank my grandfather for things as I grew up and for helping me become a young man.

He always knew I was a freethinker, and I was not good at being pounded into shape like a sword is: with heat, hammers, and brute force.

I thank him for accepting me for who I am, and for understanding how hard it was in the snobby elite private schools where it was complex to want to know more.

For teaching me how to drive cars and tractors, to ride horses, to work hard, box with gloves, and to use a sword.

Without that kind of education, I would never have had the skills or guts to build an empire.

My empire!

My always strong and stoic spirit feels heavy as I think of my grandfather, and I am new to the dark heavy energy.

For lack of a better way to put it, I feel my tribe reducing, and it feels wrong. So wrong.

I drive to my grandmother’s villa around the Tuscan Bay, and after a long hug, I let out some pent-up energy. “Come in, Dante,” she says, sensing my state. “Come in.”

I duck under the old-fashioned door, and I enter the small three-hundred-year-old sea villa. We have an expresso while we discuss old times, and the woman is gentle and wise, like my grandfather.

I feel the closest to Nonna out of anyone else in the world, excluding Nico and Lorenzo. Even if I’ve never told her, I suspect she knows I’ve made a small fortune. It’s something we keep to ourselves.

After some small talk, she leans back. “So, what is it, Dante?”

“The castle sale,” I say slowly before pausing. “And I found a box of things Nonno put in my chest. This was in it.” I hand the envelope to her, and she reads it.

After, we stand and hug. “He was a good man,” she says. I nod, not trusting myself to speak. “It’s hard to let go,” she adds.

I pace as she sits, and I realize I like it here. Her cute villa has always been full of amazing things and gentle family energy. She can afford a larger home, but she likes its ocean views.

It gets me thinking about when to settle down and if I could ever do it. And with whom.

We talk about women my parents are trying to set me up with, and I make it clear I’m not interested. My grandmother smiles, and without saying anything, she winks. “You know, that American is a nice girl.”

“What?” I ask, distracted.

“Raven, correct?” I nod distracted. “She’s also fun. I like her energy, Dante, and she may be a little, well… us.”

I watch her and listen.

“Like you, your grandfather, and me. You know he is right. We’re…

how should I put it? Not so good at conforming and playing along, ticking all the boxes.

That is maybe why you selected a career in the arts, in fashion.

Now, conforming is the easy path in society, but what makes it hard for people like us, Dante, is finding someone to share our life with.

Someone who gets that. Someone from a similar… tribe.”

I nod, and it’s strange. I’d just used the word tribe myself, and I’d never used it before, ever.

My grandmother explains it’s important to find someone who is of the same mold or mindset. She then asks me if I think I need a slightly colorful freethinker to match my soul, spirit, and character.

I consider her wisdom and words, and my mind processes fast. Her words make sense, but I’ll likely be the last to ever settle down. I’m too fixed in my ways, and I’m likely just a grumpy lone wolf.

I’m distracted and thinking about a life with someone when my grandmother asks a question.

“Sorry?”

“So, how is Raven?” my grandmother asks, bringing me back.

“Fine,” I say. “Fine.”

I feel her eyes on me, but before it gets awkward, my phone vibrates. Reluctantly, I take it, and I see it is Thomas.

My CEO duties call for me, and being responsible for several hundred staff has its downside. “Scusi,” I say, raising a finger. “My in-house attorney and number two.”

Three minutes later, I ring off and think fast about the phone call’s details.

The only fashion designer in Italy I want to sign to design for us is back in Italy, and she’s in Milan tonight.

The gifted woman often travels like me, and our team have been trying to arrange a meeting with her for months. I can race up to Milan, but only if I leave soon.

As I sit, I take my grandmother’s hands in mine.

“Nonna, thanks for the sage advice, and I really mean it. I will think on it all and see you again soon. If you don’t mind, I better leave. I’ll be back tomorrow, but I need to attend an unexpected work meeting in Milan. There is someone special who should join our team.”

“Then go get them!”

We hug, agree to see each other in a few days, and I run for the Range Rover.

After paying for the fairy costume and leaving the Zorro one, I drive quickly to the castle.

I need suitable clothes for the meeting, and I need to move fast.

Pausing, I remember my grandfather’s vintage Ferrari. It was his pride and joy, and it is a stunning black convertible. It will be far faster than the Range Rover, especially through the Tuscan landscape.

After I find the old ornate key, I slide the heavy oak door open.

The exotic black sports car sits where it has always sat. She is like a black panther, lying in wait, incredibly exotic and fast.

“Bellissima.”

I run quickly into the castle, but this time, I head downstairs. I eventually find the dungeon door and then the correct ornate key.

I enter slowly, and it is a large round chamber.

Arched windows sit high in the walls, and I have no idea what it was used for in the day. It was likely used to hold captured invading prisoners from foreign lands, and it is oddly clean.

I notice horse riding reins, bridles and saddles along a wall, and leather crops and whips hang from ornate brass hooks.

As my eyes run around the dungeon, they find the round marble plinth in the center.

It is waist high, round, and ornate. It is also six feet in diameter, enough for a human body to lay down, or kneel.

An image of my student on it flashes through my mind.

She is covered in oil, naked, and doing bad things.

“Dear God.”

I run quickly up the castle stairs, and I make the call. It picks up fast, and Raven’s voice is warm. “Yes, teacher?”

“Have you done your homework?” I ask, getting my suit and items for my planned overnight stay.

“I didn’t know I had any.”

As I walk quickly downstairs, I talk fast. “Homework is playing with yourself and thinking of me. Now, because you’ve been bad and failed in your assignment, you will need to be punished.” There is silence, and it concerns me. “Student?”

As I place everything in the back of the Ferrari, the unsure voice comes through. “Yes.”

I notice some of my grandfather’s wine collection next to the sports car, and I select two dusty bottles of vino from wooden crates.

Raven’s voice cuts in. “I will accept the punishment.”

As I start the powerful engine, I smile. “Good,” I say, “I’m on my way.”

“What?”

I toss the phone on the leather seat, and I spin out of the castle. As I race the Ferrari under the trees, leaves fly, and my hair blows in the wind. I streak down towards the villa and beach, the sense of freedom pumping in my veins.

I’m alive!

A night away is just what I need. A night of fun and adventure. Milan, the world’s fashion capital, and an incredible city for one night.

One special night.