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“But they do not intend to live as playboys forever, do they Athena?”
“Ah...you know young men, Delia.”
“Si, si...and when they are young men such as yours...Que bellos!”
Athena’s laughter was a mix of motherly pride and the satisfaction of knowing her sons occupied the top spots for husbandly prospects among most people she knew and many others she didn’t. That is, if what she read in the New York society columns were anything to go by.
“I’m sure my boys will choose wisely,” she sighed then and smiled mischievously. “I hope your fine prospect will have just as fine a pool to choose from when the time comes.”
Delia Campagnone beamed. “I suppose I can speak for myself by saying yes. My Rosella is a truly angelic prospect.”
“Ah yes,” Athena’s expression captured a concerned flair. “Are you sure you want your only girl sentenced to a life as a Tesano wife, though? Tell me, have you and Rubius had more than five meals together this year? Between him sitting on the Tesano board and you flying hither and yon whenever I hear of new weavers and fabric dealers- that’s a lot to ask of a marriage.”
Delia eyed her boss with high regard. “You run your own business, Athena. How many women can say that today?”
Athena’s violet eyes shimmered with pride. She took a cursory scan of her office located in the garment district side of the first Tesano Textiles factory.
“The business is under the control of my husband's company-not exactly my own domain.”
“Closer to your own than any woman I know,” Delia reasoned. “Definitely closer than any woman I know from the Old Country. You practically built the company with Liam. It wasn't just inherited or handed to you like a Christmas gift. My Rosi would be blessed to know you and to learn from you.”
Pride all but consumed Athena and she felt her cheeks burn. “You’re too kind, De,” she said to the woman who had started as an employee and later became something of a friend-the first Athena believed she’d ever had. That a true lady like Delia Campagnone saw her as someone she wanted her daughter to emulate, was a thing Athena would never have thought possible. If you could see me now, Papa, she thought.
“Oh my!” Delia gave a start, having looked at the wall clock. “You don’t want to be late to your meeting with the Clemmons boutique people, they’re eight blocks away.” Delia rushed to action, zipping Athena’s notes for the meeting into a brown portfolio. “You should make it with time to spare, if you hurry.”
Athena got her sweater and handbag that were perched on the corner of the light oak desk. She smiled, reaching for the portfolio. “I’d like to discuss things further, De. I’d be honored to have Rosi for a daughter-in-law.”
Delia Campagnone looked close to tears and clutched the hand Athena used to squeeze her arm.
“I may be back late. Why don’t you head home after lunch?” Athena blew a kiss to the woman and then rushed from her office.
~~~
She debated hailing a cab even though her car was parked along the side of the building. A cab could do a far better job of cutting through mid-day traffic in the heart of New York, than she could.
In the end, she decided on the car and made her way to the side of the building. She could go right home after the meeting. Perhaps she’d arrange for a quiet dinner, just her and Liam. They could discuss which of their sons would make a perfect match for-
“Thea?”
She turned, still smiling about the hoped for talk with her husband. That smile froze when her uncommon gaze flared with horrified recognition. She backed away from the man who had called out to her with such familiarity. He too was...familiar, but he was...dead.
“Giaimo?” Her voice half cracked on the name she hadn’t uttered in a lifetime.
Giaimo Tesano lifted a big hand in a gesture of calm. “Don’t be afraid, Thea-”
“You’re dead.”
Her blurted response brought that sinful, devilish grin to his face. “Scusi, bellissima but I’m not.”
Athena backed away until she was stumbling against the passenger door of her red Chevelle. “W-what is this?” she shuddered.
Giaimo’s still handsome face, tensed. “This, is Emilio,” his tone was brittle.
“Emilio? Giaimo-”
“Emilio wanted Liam. Liam wanted me dead. Emilio found a way for everyone to benefit. Especially me-keeping my life.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Thea...” Giaimo rubbed his jaw. “Li needed you-wanted you like the air he breathed. He was about to accomplish great things and what happened between us would have destroyed that. Em was sure of it. You needed to stay by Li’s side and Li needed to want you there without feeling as though he was being made a fool of-to keep his manhood.”
“That’s insane.”
“Perhaps, but considering the powerhouse he has become, does it matter?”
Athena shook her head in reluctant disbelief. Nervously, she fidgeted with the black scalloped collar of her dress. “What did Emilio do?”
“I wasn’t in that car. Emilio and the twins...it was a set up. Li got there in time to see the car go up in flames. Those Irish fuckers were the perfect scapegoats. Liam needed a place to put all that rage...and grief. Em says he forgave me in the end.”
Athena slumped along the side of her car. Her head hung as if it were a chore to keep upright between her shoulders. “Why?” Was all she could ask.
“Control. Emilio always had it over us all. All, except Li. That was fine when he was just a goat herding delivery boy. Then he became...” Giaimo looked up at the looming building with the Tesano name on the side.
“He became all this and Emilio had to be part of it. He had to be a powerful part of it.”
“And you went along with it.” Her tone was mildly accusing, unlike the chill in her eyes.
“It was for the best Thea-”
“No.”
“Liam is my brother, Athena. We were never outrageously close, but when I wronged him...it cut deep, Thea.”
Athena closed her eyes in acknowledgement, but only briefly. She couldn’t let herself go back to that time.
“The pain of that-that wound was only beat by what I found when I took you in my arms.”
“What you found in my arms?” Her smile was grim. “Did you ever wonder about your son? Our son? Did you ever want to know who he was? What kind of man he’d become?”
“I do know. I know Stone,” he sounded deeply satisfied. A smile followed. “At first I thought Li told you about the name, what it meant and you gave it to our boy. But then Em told me Li said he insisted on the name. I really believed he forgave me then. If I came back, Thea,” he shrugged. “All that would’ve been undone.”
“How did you know-know Stone?”
Giaimo’s striking features softened, something akin to nostalgia filled his intense emerald greens. “Em’s sent me everything, any news, every picture he had of the boy. It made it bearable-”
“For you!” Her words wavered on a sob. “Did you ever wonder about me, Giaimo? Did you?!”
“Oh I did. You better believe I did, Thea.” His smile carried a knowing thread. “But be honest now. Tell me you don’t love your life.”
“I would’ve gone with you,” she shook her head slowly, sadly. “We could’ve raised Humphrey, Aaron and Stone together-”
“And your other boys?” He countered. “Knowing them now, are you saying you could bear it if they were never born?”
What remained of the argument, evaporated like mist in her eyes.
Satisfied, Giaimo nodded.
“Why did you come here, Giaimo?”
“Both my reasons involve Stone. Em’s out of the company. Li cut him out. I don’t know all the details, apparently our son uncovered some illegal dealings on Em’s part. He needs to lay low, so he called me,” he fixed her with a winning smile. “No better guy to lay low with than one whose done it for over twenty years. I told him he could come stay with us.”
“Us?”
Some of Giaimo’s ease faded. “My wife and I,” he said. “We have three girls. It’s a good life, Thea. A very good one. Doubtful I’d have found it if...not for everything that happened.”
Athena had no words, could conjure no response. She wanted to feel anger, at the very least betrayal or sadness. There was nothing.
“Are you happy?” She asked finally.
“I am.”
She nodded as if the matter was settled. “You said you were here for another reason.”
“The reason is gratitude.”
“Gratitude.”
“I never thanked you, Thea. You may be the smartest woman I know. I guessed you would have found a way to get rid of him, but you had him. Thank you for having my son, Athena.”
“Giaimo,” she put a trembling hand to her mouth.
“I’ll never be able to thank Liam, but I have the highest regard for my little brother.” Giaimo’s voice hitched and he cleared his throat. “He raised my son like he was his own. Does he know, Thea? Stone? Does he know he-”
“No. Liam never wanted him to feel different from the others and besides...you were dead.”
“Like I said,” Giaimo cocked his head approvingly, “the highest regard. Thank you both for bringing my son up to be a great man. Great like the only father he knows-the only one who matters.”
Athena nodded and once more, closed her eyes. She couldn’t look at Giaimo again, not even when he moved close to put a kiss to the top of her head. When she finally opened her eyes, he was gone.