With These Four Rings - Book Five: Wedding Bonus (Billionaire Brides of Granite Falls 5) (10 page)

“Daddy cries, Mommy. Daddy cries for Bari. Daddy loves Bari. Aria loves Bari, too. Do you love Bari, Mommy?”

“Yes, baby. I love Bari. I love him a lot.” Shaina swallowed as she watched Massimo pick Jabari up in his arms and walk toward a wooded area that bordered the rear of their camp. Aria was toddling along beside him and he made no attempt to hide the river of tears flowing down his face and falling into Jabari’s fur. The video ended when her husband and child disappeared into the trees, because at that precise moment, Shaina had put down the camera and let her own tears fall. Jabari was twenty-six years old. Most leopards lived up to twenty-one years in captivity. Jabari was living dangerously on borrowed time. Massimo had spent more time with his beloved cat than he’d spent with her and Aria on that trip. She didn’t begrudge that cat for a moment. If it weren’t for Jabari, Massimo wouldn’t be alive today.

Jabari’s condition had improved while they were there, but because he’d wandered away from his territory in the first place, and because of other age-related concerns, Mass had decided to keep him at the camp with Servio and a few other gamekeepers to watch over him. Shaina welled up as she recalled holding Massimo’s hand for most of the flight back home. Even though he hadn’t said it, his expression portrayed his thoughts that it might be the last time he would see his oldest and dearest friend alive. He’d wanted to stay longer, but Aria had come down with stomach cramps and they had to get her back home. Thank God, it was just a mild case of stomach flu, and she was fine now. Jabari was still on his way to a full recovery.

Since they got home, Mass had been on pins and needles, fearing every day that he’d get the dreaded call. He was prepared, but the news would be difficult for him. Jabari was the last link he had to his past. His grandfather, whom he loved, had given him the cub when they’d gone to Africa to scatter his mother’s ashes in the Serengeti. Jabari symbolized family ties for Mass.

Mass loved Shaina and Aria with all his heart, but except for Azi—whose kinship was so distant, it was senseless calling her a cousin—he had no one to carry into the future to remind him of his past. At least Shaina had her brother, and yes, Mass had Galen, but Galen reminded Mass of the most unhappy times of his childhood.

They’d been getting along well in the beginning. Galen had been excited to learn about their father, his paternal roots, and Andretti Industries. He’d seemed elated to have a family, a brother, in-laws, and eventually a niece whom he adored. That was until he returned from a trip to England earlier this year. He’d definitely changed, and one night after dinner, he’d asked Mass why he waited six years after their father’s death to reach out to him. Mass had told him that he simply wasn’t ready—which was the truth. Galen then accused him of wanting to keep the Andretti fortune for himself. Shaina didn’t know what Galen’s mother’s family had told him about his parents’ relationship, but he was angry, confused, and evidently uninformed.

Mass had ordered him off the estate. Galen had refused to leave, stating that he had as much right to the Andretti fortune as Mass did. Shaina had to place herself physically between them to prevent a fistfight from breaking out. After Mass stormed out of the dining room, she’d warned Galen never to broach that topic with her husband again since he had no idea what his mother’s affair with their father had done to Massimo. It had almost killed him—literally. She’d also recommended that he move out of the mansion and into Mass’ lakeside villa until the tension between them dissipated. Galen had eventually apologized to Mass, but his accusations had put a huge rift in their relationship. They were civil to each other, but the burgeoning sibling camaraderie they once shared was gone. It was anyone’s guess if it would ever return.

“I want banana, Mommy? Banana. Banana. Ba…” Aria slapped her on the thigh while she repeated the word
banana
over and over again as if saying it would make one magically appear.

Shaina glanced at the blank screen and wondered how long they’d been sitting there in silence. She took a deep steadying breath as Aria turned on her lap and wrapped her little arms around her neck, her knees digging deep into Shaina’s stomach.

“Banana, Mommy. Banana,” Aria said again.

“
Come è chiedere una banana correttamente,
Aria?”

“No. No,” Aria whined, tightening her body in defiance and thumping Shaina on the back. “Banana. I want banana.”

“Aria,
non hai una banana fino a quando si chiede correttamente
.” Getting her to say
please
and
thank you
was more difficult than getting her to speak in multiple languages. But Shaina was insistent, and had instructed Reese and all the servants not to give her anything she asked for until she said
please
, and to take it away if she refused to say
thank you
. Aria’s screams and tantrums when she didn’t get her way didn’t faze Shaina in the least. She was not raising a spoiled child who thought that the rules of etiquette and simple manners didn’t apply to her, just because she was born into wealth. Inside, though, she smiled each time her daughter fought against authority.

“Like mother, like daughter,” was Massimo’s usual response to Aria’s stubborn trait.

After a few tense moments, Aria raised her head from Shaina’s shoulder and gazed at her with wide sparkling dark brown eyes. “
Per favore, può Aria hanno una banana, Mamma
?”

“Certamente, la mia bambina.”
Shaina grinned. It was Aria’s snack time, and bananas were her favorite treat.

“Ti amo, Mamma.
” Aria clasped her hands on Shaina’s cheeks and kissed her full on the lips.

“Just like your daddy,” Shaina said on a chuckle. They both thought they could kiss her into submission. Well, Massimo usually kissed her… Never mind. “
Mamma ama anche tu, Aria
.
Moltissima.
“Come on. Let’s go find you a banana. She hugged her daughter to her chest as she vacated the leather sofa and walked toward the stairs leading to the second floor.

Aria wrapped her arms around Shaina’s neck and her legs around her waist. “Aria loves bananas. Mommy loves bananas,
troppo
?”

“Yes, Mommy loves bananas,” Shaina lied as she headed for the kitchen. She couldn’t stand the smell of the fruit lately. She hadn’t fully understood why, until this morning. “Perhaps we can have
Bibi
peel it and cut it up for you.” She wasn’t about to stick around the kitchen and ruin Aria’s favorite snack time indulgence.

“
Bibi
Azi.
Bibi, bibi, bibi
…” Aria crooned the Swahili word for
grandmother
with a new round of excitement.

Shaina smiled at her enthusiasm. From the moment she’d brought her home from the hospital, Aria and Azi had developed a special kind of love for each other, so it was only fitting that Massimo encouraged his daughter to call Azi
Grandma
. The sweet old woman who’d taken care of him since he was ten years old was a beloved and important part of his family. Shaina loved that Aria preferred to spend more time with Azi than she did with her nanny when Shaina wasn’t around. Truth be told, Shaina only kept Reese around to give Azi a break from Aria, and so she and Massimo could hide out in their love nest when Azi wasn’t available.

For doing practically nothing, the lucky young woman was cashing a hefty paycheck each month, living in one of the most luxurious mansions in the northeast, and flying in private jets to some of the most exotic places on the planet. Not a bad life for a twenty-year-old girl. Shaina wished her life had been that plush when she was Reese’s age. Instead, she’d been struggling to keep a roof over her and her brother Cameron’s heads and food in their bellies while hiding out from the law and a vengeful criminal at the same time.

“Oops.” Shaina stopped short of a collision with Azi under the archway leading into the kitchen.

“Miz Shaina. I was just on my way to find you. It’s Aria’s snack time.” She ruffled Aria’s hair. “Did you have a good time with Mama, my little angel?”

“
Bibi
.” Aria lunged into Azi’s arms. “Banana,
Bibi
. Please.”

“Bibi has your banana all cut up with a side of homemade vanilla gelato, for her baby. But first we have to wash your hands, make sure they’re nice and clean.”

“Wash hands. Nice and clean.” Aria rubbed her palms together, excitedly.

While Azi took Aria over to one of the three sinks in the recently renovated, contemporary kitchen, Shaina glanced at her three young apprentices—one male and two females—who were already busy with dinner preparations.

Tomorrow would mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of Massimo’s mother and sister’s deaths. As customary, Uncle Alessandro, Aunt Bella, Adam, and now Tashi, Alex, and Paul had been invited to dinner in honor of the two lives that had been cut short. They were having the dinner tonight because the Andreases were leaving for Ohio tomorrow for the verdict at the trial of the three men who’d murdered Tashi’s mom, nineteen years ago.

“There you go,
mwana
.” Azi set Aria into her high chair at the kitchen table, filled her cup with water, and placed it on her tray.

Shaina swallowed as Aria picked up a slice of banana and placed it into her mouth, and then immediately reached for another as if she’d just come off a long fast. Even the sight of the fruit was making Shaina queasy.

“I noticed you have developed an intolerance for the smell of bananas, lately, Miz Shaina.”

Shaina averted Azi’s inquisitive eyes by focusing on one of the young women dressing the turkey they would be having tonight. Thanksgiving was Massimo’s mother’s favorite time of year, so they always had turkey on the anniversary of her death. “Well, I—” Shaina stopped and tilted her head as the notes of
Für Elise
came floating through the air. Anxiety spurted through her. “Is Massimo home?”

“I don’t believe he is. I haven’t seen him.” Azi made the sign of the Cross over her chest.

“Oh my God. Keep Aria with you.” Shaina sprinted out of the kitchen. The music room was one place where nobody was allowed to go. It was the room where Massimo had his last happy memory of his mother, and ironically, his worst. Except for Trudy, the maid assigned to maintaining it, only family—Azi included—were allowed in there. Massimo kept it locked, except on days when he wanted it aired and dusted. Today was such a day. After the celebratory dinner, the family usually gathered around the piano while Massimo played
Für Elise
, the only tune he could play—the tune he’d learned just to honor his mother. It brought tears to everyone’s eyes every single time.

Nobody in this household would dare sit at that piano and attempt to play a tune, so Shaina knew that it had to be Galen. Apart from Massimo, he was the only other person in the house who played the piano. What the heck was he doing here? He wasn’t banned from the mansion, but since he moved into the lakeside villa, he always called before he visited. Why the hell had he not today of all days so she could warn him to stay away? He was the last person Mass should have to deal with today.

Shortly after he’d moved in with them, Shaina had caught him trying the door to the music room. She’d warned him never to go in there. When he’d asked why, she’d told him that he should take it up with his brother. She didn’t think it was her place to discuss Massimo’s mother with him. She was certain that when he was ready, Massimo would share that part of himself with Galen.
If ever
.

Galen must have been wandering around the mansion, and finding the door opened, seized the opportunity to go inside. Damn it! Why did that boy have to challenge his brother’s patience so incessantly? There would be hell to pay if Mass found out that the son of the woman he blamed for his mother and sister’s deaths had been in the room where she had received the news that sent her into early labor, and her and her child to an even earlier grave. Mass was certain that it was Galen’s mother who’d called his on that fateful day twenty-five years ago, but he couldn’t prove it. He’d been too young at the time to even think of performing the kind of investigation that would give him answers, and by the time he was old enough, the evidence was long gone.

As she turned a corner, Shaina’s heart sank to the floor when she spotted her husband running from the opposite direction. He was dressed in his suit and tie and must have just walked through the front door when the music started. She quickened her pace as he disappeared into the music room.

It immediately became quiet, then the distinctive sounds of blows being delivered to a body, followed by curses in Italian, Spanish, and she thought, French, erupted.

Shaina jumped back from the door, screaming, when Galen came flying through the air to land on his ass on the floor in the hallway. He was a big man, but evidently not too big for her husband to pick up and toss around like one of Aria’s stuffed animals.

In the next breath, Massimo tore past her like a hurricane, the wind in his wake almost knocking her off her feet.

“What is wrong with you?” Galen yelled as Mass went at him. “It’s just a damn room. What’s so special about it? Have you gone mad?”

Mass collared him, picked him up off the floor, and shook him. “I’ll show you mad.” He delivered a crushing blow to Galen’s jaw that sent him back to the floor. “I will break you.” He dropped his knees into Galen’s stomach and tightened his hands around his throat.

Shaina flew into action, all thoughts for her own safety vanishing. “Mass, stop!” She grabbed him around the waist and pulled with no success, so she tried to pry his hands from Galen’s throat.