“I’m sorry you wish to speak English,” Santo said. “Have you forgotten your native Italian, then?”
“I am a bit rusty,” Dani admitted. She was sitting across from her uncle in a secluded booth in the back of the Tesoro di Mare restaurant, a five-star establishment located on the seventeenth floor of the Stella d’Italia Verona. She was perusing a menu, which her uncle hadn’t bothered to look at, when the waiter arrived to take their orders.
“Well, you must try the Aragosta Fra Diavolo,” Santo said, leaning forward on his elbows and looking at Dani intently. He wore a heavy gold ring on his right hand which showcased what looked like a bluish-black sapphire. “The seasoning is superb.”
Dani loved lobster, but hated it when someone was so arrogant as to tell her what to order. “Um, no thanks, I’m allergic to shellfish,” she lied.
Santo gazed at her, his eyes signaling his disbelief. But all he said was, “How sad. I do not remember that about you. Then try the Pesce Spada alla Siciliana. It is quite exquisite as well.”
“I’ll have the mushroom risotto, thanks.” She handed the menu back to the waiter, holding her hand over her wine glass when he began to pour from the bottle that Santo had selected. “Just iced tea, please.”
Score two points for me. Dani had been deflecting her uncle’s overbearing behavior ever since she’d turned down his offer of a driver earlier that morning. After Gabe showed his true colors, she’d given herself a pep talk worthy of a halftime locker room speech at the Super Bowl. No more feeling so tense and, well, anxious. She was a grown woman now. She couldn’t rely on anyone but herself, so she’d better buck up. No one was going to push her to do anything she didn’t want to do—not even her dictatorial Uncle Santo.
“You are quite…grown up,” Santo commented. “You are not the shy young sprite who grew to womanhood at La Tana.” He paused, as if appraising her. “I find I like the change. Very much.” He took a sip of his wine and made the gesture of a toast to her.
Dani felt the hair at the back of her neck stand up. Overbearing she could handle; it was this…this courtliness of his that felt so odd. She’d sensed it last night at the funeral reception, and now he was at it again. Santo must have noticed her uneasiness.
“I’m sorry if I have embarrassed you,” he said. “You have turned out to be an exquisitely beautiful woman, and I believe such beauty should be acknowledged, if not celebrated.”
Point Santo. It dawned on her that he was doing it on purpose; he wanted to make her uncomfortable. But why? She was screwing up her courage to ask him when the waiter brought their entrees. As they ate, Santo shifted the tenor of the conversation, retreating to safer topics such as Dani’s degree in hospitality management and her current position as owner and manager of the Havenwood Inn.
“You see, hospitality is in your blood,” Santo said. “You were born to this calling.”
Calling? A funny way to put it. She might have said “career” or “line of work.” But running hotels was obviously much more important to Santo. “I enjoy innkeeping,” she said carefully. “It’s an honorable way to make a living.”
Santo smiled. “Of course it is. Which is why I would like you to rejoin the family business, now that you are a part owner. I have in mind a position you may find irresistible.”
Dani took a sip of iced tea to hide her shock. Work for him? When Santo had mentioned “financial matters” the night before, she assumed he’d meant signing documents related to her father’s estate. But a job offer? He had to be kidding. Finally she found her voice.
“Are you talking about me joining Stella d’Italia here in Italy?”
“In Italy, yes, but not with our original brand. We feel that ten properties bearing the Stella d’Italia name are sufficient to maintain its elite status. However, we are in the process of signing a contract to purchase the Alberghi Paradisi hotel chain. They operate thirty-five three-star properties throughout the country—the perfect ‘inns’ for an ‘innkeeper’ such as yourself. I would put you in charge of the entire operation, cara. What would you say to that?”
“I would say that my father hasn’t even settled into his grave and you are moving way too fast for me. You don’t even know if I am qualified for the job.”
Santo’s face showed a hint of irritation before he smoothed it over. He probably wasn’t used to pushback. “But I know all about you, Daniela,” he said. “Did you think I wouldn’t keep track of a close member of the family? I know from a reliable source that you are more than capable of doing what I ask.” He looked at her intently; she didn’t have to ask who his source was.
Her anger at Gabe resurfaced, but something about the way her uncle said those words, and the way he had let the endearment cara slip, put Dani even more on edge. “How long have you been considering this?” she asked.
“For some time. If my poor brother hadn’t died so suddenly, I would have contacted you eventually, after the acquisition was made, of course.”
“Is this what you meant last night by ‘financial matters’?”
“In part. After signing documents related to your inheritance, you will be able to vote your father’s shares, and that will give us the majority we need to finalize the purchase of Alberghi Paradisi.”
“Why do you need my vote if everyone else wants to do the deal?”
Uncle Santo took a sip of the Amaretto the waiter had brought for dessert.
“Everyone else wants to purchase the company, don’t they?” Dani prodded.
Santo shook his leonine head. “Not everyone, no. Dear Mama enjoys putting the brakes on ideas large and small. But her forty-nine percent is moot once you give your approval.”
Something didn’t feel right. If this was such a great investment, why wasn’t her grandmother on board? “I take it this deal has been in the works for a while. Did my father vote for it but die before you could get it in writing?”
“Not precisely,” he said, his voice clipped. “The vote has yet to take place.”
Dani frowned. “I’m not sure I understand. Why not?”
Santo’s gaze bore into Dani. She could feel the anger radiating off him in waves. “My little brother didn’t quite understand the situation. He seemed to be sorting through some misinformation at the time of his accident.”
Now she knew something was off. “So my father, who never cared a fig about the hotel business, basically gave his votes to you, and you assumed he always would,” she mused. “But this time he didn’t. Why, Uncle Santo? Why didn’t he rubber stamp his vote this time around?”
She watched, both unnerved and fascinated, as her uncle’s face turned to stone.
“I have no idea,” Santo said coldly. “You are right that Mando cared nothing for the business, only the lifestyle it afforded him.” He paused to flick a piece of imaginary lint off the arm of his jacket. “He was very shallow that way. You, on the other hand, are the natural heir apparent to the Forcelli hotel dynasty. You would be the perfect champion to carry our family name to greater heights.” He took another sip of the liqueur, slowly savoring it as if he had all the time in the world. But his free hand gave him away: he began to lightly tap his fingers on the table.
He needs my shares desperately, she thought. He’s even willing to bribe me with a dream job. She began to gather her purse and jacket. “Uncle Santo, I’m flattered. Really. You’ve given me a lot to think about. But I will have to read the pro forma for the company and talk to Nonna Stella to hear her objections before I vote my shares.”
“Where are you going?” he asked tightly.
“I…uh, I’m supposed to meet Gabriele in a little while.”
“Then allow me to drive you where you need to go.”
“No. No, that’s quite all right, grazie. I’ll just take a taxi. Thank you for lunch, Uncle. You’ve been most generous.”
Leaving the restaurant with a purposeful stride, Dani felt a curious mixture of elation and disappointment. Elation because even though Uncle Santo had tried his best to intimidate her, she had stood her ground. Disappointment because the person she most wanted to share her triumph with was now more interested in connecting with some stranger than spending time with her. But that’s good, she rationalized. That’s the way it has to be. But was it wrong to want to be near Gabe, just as a friend?
Determined not to wallow, she refocused on her victory, mouthing a fervent “Yes!” as she rode the elevator down to the lobby. She was no longer the biddable young girl Santo could order about. She had a mind of her own, and a good head for business, too. So she’d hear both sides of the merger issue and make up her own mind. If her decision didn’t go Uncle Santo’s way, he’d just have to deal with it.
She was about to exit the building when she realized just where she was. “Duh,” she muttered as she changed course and went to a nearby bank of courtesy telephones. “Signora Furlan, per favore.”
To keep the public from intruding, Nonna Stella lived at the hotel under her maiden name. Josefa, her grandmother’s assistant, answered the phone and, after conferring with her employer, gave Dani the code for the special elevator that led directly to the penthouse floor.
Dani traveled up eighteen stories, one level above the restaurant she had just dined in. Josefa greeted her warmly in English.
“Signora Forcelli will be so happy to see you,” she said. She gestured down a hallway. “She is still despondent over your father’s death. Perhaps you can cheer her up a bit.”
Dani found her grandmother seated in a chair by the window, a full cup of espresso and several uneaten biscotti languishing on the table next to her. She wore a simple black dress and Dani noticed that her beautiful white hair, which Dani always remembered being perfectly coiffed, was in slight disarray. The old woman held a crumpled handkerchief in her hand and as Dani approached, she quickly dabbed her reddened eyes.
“Oh, Nonna,” Dani cried, bending down to clasp her grandmother, her own eyes brimming. “I am so sorry.” The two women hugged for several moments, one a mother, the other a daughter, both of whom had lost someone dear to them. After a bit Dani could sense her grandmother gathering strength.
“There, there, cara. No more of that,” her grandmother said, patting Dani’s back.
Dani smiled through her own tears as she sat on a nearby chair. “You’re a fine one to talk.”
“Yes, we are a couple of crybabies, aren’t we?”
“I think we’re entitled to be, at least for a little while. But truly, how are you, Nonna?”
“My son was almost sixty. He was the father of a grown woman, for goodness’ sake. But to me he was always a little boy.” She shook her head. “Perhaps that was part of the problem. If I never thought of him as an adult, why should he have considered himself one?”
“He did like to play, my babbo.”
Stella snorted. “Yes, only your daddy’s toys got more and more expensive…and dangerous. I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised at what happened.”
“What exactly did happen? No one has told me anything, and I’m not sure I can trust the newspaper accounts.”
“He was down in Siracusa for a race. They said he had too much to drink and took his boat out racing in the middle of the night. He lost control, fell out, and drowned. That is all I know.” Her eyes began to well up and she resolutely dabbed at them again. “I suppose we should be happy he died doing what he loved.” She reached for Dani’s hand. “So, tell me, how did you and Gabriele come to know each other? There was a time I would not have approved of such a union, but I can see that he has turned out to be a fine young man. And he is very easy on the eyes, as they say.”
Dani could feel herself blushing. “It’s not like that at all. About a year ago Gabe moved to the same town in California where I live and we…we struck up a friendship. That’s all there is to it.”
Stella looked at Dani intently before she spoke. “Davvero?”
“Yes, really.”
Nonna Stella gazed at Dani and smiled tenderly. “It seems quite unusual that you should end up in the same part of a country so far away from ours,” she said. “And by the way he looks at you, it seems he has more than friendship on his mind.”
“Do you think so?” Dani found herself asking before she could check herself. Then, to make matters worse, she added, “So…what do you remember about him?”
“I remember a very bright eyed, active little boy whose mother, Eliana, was an excellent cook and whose father was a lazy do-nothing. And I remember how the light in that little boy’s eyes dimmed when his no-account father decided to leave poor Eliana to suffer from that debilitating disease all on her own.”
“On her own?”
“Well, with no one but her sister, Fausta, to take care of her. I suppose they didn’t want Gabriele to watch his mother slowly waste away, but still, how cruel to take away her only real reason for living. I am only glad we had the resources to help out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Fausta was such an excellent caregiver for all the members of our family, especially your Nonno Ciro—” here she paused, crossed herself and muttered, Grazie a Dio “—that he agreed to take care of Eliana’s medical expenses. When Ciro died, Santo stepped in and helped until Eliana passed away.”
“How sad that must have been for Gabe.”
“Indeed. But it looks like he has come through the worst of it with no lasting damage. He’s a police office, is he not?”
“Yes, a detective.”
“How nice to have some law abiding citizens in the family.”
Dani conquered her embarrassment, replacing it with indignation. “First of all, he is not a member of the family. And second, what do you mean by saying such a thing, Nonna?”
Stella waved her hand. “Oh, merely the rantings of an old woman. How long will you and your young man—because whether you want to admit it or not, he is your young man—be staying?”
Dani gave up denying that she and Gabe were a couple, but it gave her the chance to bring up Santo’s offer. “I’m not sure yet. I know I have to deal with paperwork regarding the estate. But Uncle Santo asked me today to vote my father’s shares in favor of acquiring Alberghi Paradisi. He even offered me the job of running the division. He also said you were against it, that you were always trying to block him. Why do you want to stop this venture?”
Stella looked at Dani, her eyes no longer clouded. She took Dani’s hand in her own. “Please understand, my reservations have nothing to do with you or your abilities. In fact—wait a moment.” She went to an elegant writing desk in the corner of the room, picked up two large manila envelopes, and brought them over to the couch. The one marked “Alberghi Paradisi” she handed to Dani. “These are the financials, including pro forma projections for the new hotel company. I am not impressed, but you may feel differently once you’ve analyzed them.”
“Thank you.” Dani took the envelope, pleased and proud that her grandmother trusted her judgment.
Stella then pulled out the contents of the second envelope and spread them on her lap. “It’s true that I have always been more conservative where our family company is concerned. Neither your grandfather nor Santo shared my reticence, but fortunately, I was able to prevail. As a result, we have weathered up and down markets because of our envious cash position.
“But over the past few years I have sensed that something is not right with Stella d’Italia. I asked my accountant to give me a summary comparison of revenues, occupancy rates, staffing levels, and so forth. The numbers, while they would pass scrutiny from a legal standpoint, seem off to me. The problem is not too little funds, but too much. I called the accountant to ask him to dig a little deeper but was told he had quit the company.” She handed the material to Dani. “I know you understand this business, cara, and I would like you to look at these figures and see what you think. If you find nothing amiss, and if you check the Alberghi Paradisi numbers and believe the merger would be beneficial to Stella d’Italia, then I will vote my shares with you.”
“I take it you haven’t mentioned your concerns to Santo?”
Stella caught Dani’s eyes and didn’t look away as she slowly shook her head. Dani swallowed hard and felt a chill run through her. She had always been wary of Uncle Santo, but only as a child would avoid an overbearing patriarch. But Nonna Stella was talking about something entirely different. Something dangerous, happening within their own family. She was counting on Dani to get to the bottom of it. Who knew what she would find? Her thoughts ran, as they often did, to Gabe. She could trust him to help her if she needed it, couldn’t she? Of course she could. She took a deep breath, let it out slowly.
“Daniela?”
Dani gazed directly at her grandmother, letting her know without words that she could be trusted, that she would do her best for the family. “Let’s see what you have here, Nonna,” she said, and began to spread out the papers.