[DISCONTINUED] Don't Forget

A Family Affair

"So, you suspect Florentina and Ricardo too?" Luca asked Claudia. The two of them along with Emiliano and Simone were sitting in Claudia's office discussing plans for their time in Italy. Like Luca, Claudia suspected that Florentina and Ricardo could be the ones sabotaging business. Meanwhile, Emiliano and Simone were considering the possibility it could be Niccolo, but they did not share that with Claudia.

"Yes, I do," Claudia replied. "Based on the way this has been happening, I think it has to be someone high up in the ranks, and Florentina and Ricardo seemed to change their attitude toward me when you made me your proxy."

"What do you mean by that?"

"As you know, those two can be... difficult. But, they always seemed to have a soft spot for me. Florentina and I used to have regular spa days together, and Ricardo and I would even get drinks and smoke cigars."

"And now?"

"And now, we don't do any of those things anymore. I've tried to spend time with them and there's always an excuse or they directly reject my offers. There have also been times in which they've challenged me in front of subordinates, as if undermining my authority."

Emiliano and Luca nodded, considering Claudia's words. What she said made it clear why Florentina and Ricardo were the most obvious suspects. However, the men — although Luca also suspected the brother-sister duo — weren't ready to write off Niccolo just yet.

"I see what you're saying, zia," Emiliano said. "They'll be here for dinner soon and we can take advantage of that time to measure them up."

"Agreed," Claudia nodded.

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Emiliano and Luca's cousins arrived for dinner and they all shared dry greetings — a surprising improvement for the last time they met three years ago and could barely look at each other.

Their youngest cousin, Niccolo, was Claudia's only son. He showed a knack for business at an early age and began advising their grandfather, Raffaello, on the family operations when he was just fifteen. He was almost a carbon copy of his mother, but in the form of a young male with shorter hair of the same dark brown color.

Ricardo and Florentina were the children of Emiliano and Luca's deceased uncle Lorenzo who was the eldest brother of their father's generation and would've been Raffaello's heir had he not died under strange circumstances about 20 years ago. Luca and Emiliano's father Antonio was already happy running New York operations and Raffaello didn't trust him to take over the global business. Raffaello also refused to put a woman in charge of the Rossi empire, completely writing off Claudia. As such, Raffaello kept his role as the don until his death when he passed it over to Emiliano and Luca.

While Ricardo and Florentina weren't twins, they might as well have been considering they looked exactly alike. Both of them had almost pitch black hair with dark brown eyes, narrow noses, and long eyelashes, which Florentina emphasized with mascara. They were also relatively tall, with Ricardo being around Emiliano and Luca's height while Florentina was taller than Simone.

Simone sat between Emiliano and Luca while Ricardo and Florentina sat opposite of them. Niccolo sat next to his mother Claudia who was at the head of the table.

After they'd shared their greetings and got seated, they didn't do much speaking with each other. Luca, Emiliano, and Simone communicated in hushed tones. Florentina and Ricardo exchanged casual conversation about the food and various happenings in Florence. Claudia and Niccolo had some small talk, but despite him being her only son and Claudia trusting him so much, Niccolo didn't speak to her extensively.