“Nothing.”
He felt Luca’s roll of his eyes. “I’m not buying it.”
“You know what? I don’t give a shit, man. Just…let it go.”
He wanted to storm off, to get away from Luca, from everyone. Most of all, he wanted to get away from himself and his own damned thoughts and memories. But he turned to Luca, put a hand on his shoulder and grimaced. “Just leave it, okay?”
Only a few moments later, he crossed behind the pool and bumped into his cousin Max – the oldest of the six of them. Despite the cool of the evening, he’d been for a swim, as was his tradition. Of the six of them, Max was the most driven by routine. He had that kind of unswerving devotion to his life that meant he was up at five every day, running eight miles no matter where he was in the world, no matter the weather. A nightly swim was another habit of his.
“Hey, man. Haven’t seen you in months. What’s up?”
Nico was about to snap at Max, too, sick of the inquisition, until he realised Max was just asking the question as a casual greeting. He hadn’t meant anything by it. He expelled a slow breath. “Not much. You?”
“I presume New York’s had you working non-stop? For you not to have come to Fortune for so long?”
Inwardly, Nico winced. They all came to Villa Fortune, no matter where they were, or what they were doing. It was part of their deal. It was their family, their commitment. It was for Gianfelice’s memory, and for Yaya.
He shouldn’t have stayed away so long.
“Yeah, it’s been non-stop.” Then, memories pierced him. He’d been so self-obsessed, so Maddie-obsessed, he’d completely forgotten about Alessia. “Hey, I meant to talk to you over the summer.”
“Yeah?” Max reached for a towel, rubbing it over his head then draping it around his shoulders.
“I saw Alessia in Ondechiara.” It was impossible to miss the way Max braced. It was such a small, involuntary movement. A tightening of his shoulders, a firming of his spine, but it was enough. Nico saw it and felt like an A-grade jerk for being so wrapped up in his own issues that he’d completely forgotten about Alessia’s news.
“Oh? She’s well?” It was natural enough, but Nico could have sworn he heard a tension to the simple question.
“As always.” Nico’s guilt increased. How the hell could he break this to his cousin? But Max and Alessia hadn’t been that serious about each other, had they? Maybe he wouldn’t even care that much. Then again, how would Nico feel if he heard that Maddie was getting married to some other guy?
Something like ice dripped over his spine, swiftly replaced by heat. He recognised the panic response. He’d felt it often enough over the past months.
“Good.” A nod of his head, his trademark resolve very much in evidence. “I’m glad.”
There was no easy way to do this. “She’s getting married.”
The air whooshed out of Max’s lungs. He stood completely still, his eyes burning through Nico’s, disbelief obvious in his face. “What?”
“She’s engaged. To be married.” Then, because it felt appropriate. “I’m sorry.”
It was just what Max needed to wake him from the shock. He blinked, assumed a look of nonchalance and shrugged. “Sorry for what? It’s her life, she can live it with whomever she chooses.”
His calm acceptance did something to Nico. It fired something inside of him. An anger he had been fighting for months. “Like you don’t care?”
Max was very still. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you’re not going to do a damned thing about it?”
“Alessia’s in my past.” That resolve again, firm, intractable, as though he wasn’t going to let anything derail him from the decisions he’d made.
“Damn it, Max, Alessia is…”
“Yes? What is she?”
“She made you happy. Are you really going to let that go because of one damned mistake?”
Max shrugged out of the towel, placing it on one of the sun lounges. “I let her go five years ago, Nico. That was my decision then, and it was the right decision. I stand by it.” He stalked away and Nico watched him go, but his fury wouldn’t abate. Fury, discontent, rage, so many emotions fired through him, each and every one of them misplaced. It wasn’t Max he was angry with. It wasn’t Max’s decisions Nico took exception to.
He gripped his beer tight to stop himself from hurtling it across the pool deck. He felt like a petulant child. His life was spinning out of control. It was simple, but complex. What he wanted, more than anything, was Maddie.