Luca sighed. “That’s because your friend Luca works too much and is never sure when he can call without waking up your kids.”
Gavin laughed. “It’s a crapshoot. Jared is an early bird and Beth is a night owl. We pretty much never sleep around here. How are you, Luca?”
“To tell you the truth, I’m overwhelmed.” It was nice to be able to talk to someone who truly understood what his days were like. He and Gavin were members of an elite club of young, successful businessmen in Manhattan.
“The restaurant business giving you trouble?”
“No. Work is fine. I called because I need your help for a more...personal matter.”
“I thought you didn’t have personal matters.”
“So did I, then it got dropped in my lap.” Oddly enough, this was another situation that Gavin could sympathize with. He didn’t learn about his son, Jared, until the boy was almost two years old. “I need your help, Gavin.”
“Sure, anything. What is it?”
“Okay. If I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone?” At this point, Luca couldn’t risk the news of Eva’s existence getting out. He’d worked hard to keep the lawsuit under wraps so far.
“Sounds serious,” Gavin said. “I’ll keep it to myself.”
“Thanks. I’m trying to ensure this whole situation stays quiet for the next few weeks, primarily because of my family. You know how they are. I need to deal with all of this without their interference.”
“Your cancer has come back,” Gavin said in a grave tone.
“No, thankfully. I’ve actually found out that I’m a father.”
“A father? For real this time?”
In retrospect, Luca had wished he’d kept the situation with Jessica quiet until he knew for certain. He’d never expected her to lie about it. He should’ve known when he saw the look on her face after Edmund demanded a paternity test. As though he’d just take her word for it. “Yes, this time it is tested and established to be my child. I have a daughter named Eva.”
“But wait,” Gavin argued. “I thought you couldn’t...”
“I can’t,” Luca confirmed. “But I had some sperm frozen before my treatment. There was a mix-up at the clinic and a woman ended up pregnant with my child instead of her husband’s.”
“Holy hell. What are you going to do?”
“Well, first I sued the crap out of the clinic. Now I’m trying to negotiate custody terms with the mother. I can assure you it hasn’t been easy. She’s not happy about all this.”
“I can imagine her husband isn’t that happy, either.”
“I’m not sure if it makes all this easier or more complicated, but her husband is actually deceased. Apparently he was in a car accident when she was pregnant.”
“I thought my situation with Sabine was complicated, but you take the cake, Luca.”
“Thanks. This brings me to the favor. I’ve proposed that all three of us spend some time away to get to know each other. She’s not very confident in my ability to take care of a baby and I’ve got to convince her everything is going to be all right.”
“Why don’t you just tell her that you helped raise your younger siblings and have spent time with a dozen nieces and nephews? The last time you came over, you handled Jared like a pro.”
That was a good question. “I doubt she would believe me. She’s a feisty woman, and to tell you the truth, it’s more fun to aggravate her.”
“It sounds like this vacation might prove a little dangerous. Where are you going?” Gavin asked.
“That’s where you come in. I was hoping that we could stay at your beach house for a couple weeks. A month, actually.”
Gavin only hesitated a second before he answered. “Sure thing. We’re not going back up there until after Memorial Day. But why wouldn’t you stay at your family’s place in the Hamptons?”
That had occurred to him. They had a huge place in Sag Harbor where the family liked to gather. But it was too big. And at this point, he didn’t want to run the risk of crossing paths with his family. “To do that, my mother would find out. As it is, I’ve got to feed my brother an excuse to run the business while I disappear for a month. I will tell them, and soon, but I need to spend time with Claire and Eva without Mama circling like a shark around her granddaughter.”
Gavin laughed. “Fair enough. When are you going up? I’ll have the place cleaned and the pantry stocked before you arrive.”