Chapter 3 Raphael I leaned against my bedroom window that looked out over palm trees and desert dunes , and swirled the drink in my hand .
The other side of the penthouse overlooked the city but I preferred the desert view to the urban chaos .
es harsh , dry , lonely I never stayed in one place very long .
I would spend a few months in each country , making sure the Segretto Star hotels were running according to my exacting standards Italy , Spain , France , Japan , Australia and the UAE .
But the penthouse in Dubai was the closest thing I had to a home base And very soon , I would add the United States to my list of hotel locations .
I had just signed a deal to take over a 20 acre resort that was a mere forty minute drive from the small town I had grown up in Sentimentality might have overruled my business sense on that decision , but the elderly owners were keen to sell , and the deal was irresistible .
burn its way down my throat and into my gut .
I took another gulp of my drink and let it bur I hadnt been home in six , almost seven years .
I hadnt planned to stay away that long , but things had gotten … complicated .
vas far easier to have my accountant and my personal assistant handle everything .
I sent more than enough money each month to make sure that my mother would live out her retirement in comfort and ease .
( I had no expectation that my brother , Gabe , would contribute anything to her care from his own share of the company earnings ) My PA , Jennifer reported that my brother had hired a full time live in person to care for our mother , and that everything was in order .
Whiskey couldnt drown the guilt I felt when I thought about my mother .
She used to call and leave me voice messages .
She used to write letters and send cards .
But those had become fewer and fewer over the years until they stopped altogether last year .
Not that I could blame her How long did I expect her to reach out without anyone reaching back to her ? Finishing the liquor in the glass , I went to the bottle on my dresser and poured another , I couldnt remember if it was my third or my fourth .
The detals were getting a little blurry I looked down at the bottom drawer .
The drawer I never open 1 sank down to my knees and set my glass on the carpet as I pulled the drawer open , revealing the sparse contents inside .
The first thing my eyes fell on was a black velvet box .
It had gathered dust and lint over the years , I grabbed it and flipped open the top and gazed at the diamond and sapphire engagement ring that was still displayed on the little satin cushion .
I had gone through six of the finest jewelers in Europe before I had found the perfect ring I traced my finger over the glittering gemstones Things had ended badly I was grief stricken and panicked .
My dad had just died , and I was being called overseas to take over his position as CEO of Segretto Stars .
I had barely graduated from college with my bachelors degree in business , I was in no way prepared to take over a multi million dollar hotel empire .
I feel was being suffocated , not only by the business , but by my girlfriend .
She was clingy , reedy , begging me not to leave her behind .
Like I didnt already have enough to deal with .
So , in a fit of temper , I broke up with he And somewhere over the Atlantic , on the flight to Italy , I regretted it .

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I vowed that I would put my fathers affairs in order , and then I would come back for her I would apologue on my knees , I would give her the ring , and we face the future together , like wed always planned .
But sorting my fathers business took longer than I expected And then I got the wedding invitation in the mad The fancy envelope didnt have a would get off on rubbing my nose mit .
return address , but I knew it was my brother who had sent it .
He I put the ring back in the drawer and pulled out the envelope that was beginning to yellow and come apart at the edges .
I pulled out the invitation Chapter 3 The Segretto Family cordially invites you to celebrate the union of their son , Mr.
Gabriel Neil Segretto and Ms.
Bethany Marguerite Hall on April 11th at the Townline Country Club , Reception Dinner to follow the ceremony .
I had only been absent a few months , and she decided to marry my brother .
My father had once warned me that Beth was just a gold digger , hanging on for the Segretto fortune .
I guess he was right in the end .
When she couldnt get the money through me , she got it through Gabriel .
But the cruelest cut came later , when the birth announcement arrived in the same way .
I picked up the pink envelope with a grimace and slid out the embossed card .
Mr.
and Mrs.
Gabriel Segretto are pleased to announce the arrival of their beautiful baby girl , Lucy Ann Segretto There was a black and white photo of a baby swaddled in a soft blanket , her eyes scrunched closed , a little tuft of dark hair standing up on the top of her head .
They had certainly wasted no time starting a family together .
In fact , I could do the math .
She was pregnant before they got married .
Thats probably the only reason Gabe had married her .
Her super religious parents had probably demanded a shot gun wedding .
All of my mothers letters were scattered on the bottom of the drawer , most of them unopened .
Along with a few random photographs that had arrived in anonymous envelopes .
Wedding photos .
Pictures of an adorable , dark haired infant that morphed into a pig tailed toddler .
Pictures of Gabriel and Beth and the baby had clearly been taken by a professional photographer , looking like the perfect , happy little family.
I counted myself lucky that those anonymous letters with the family photos had also dwindled away to nothing in the last couple of years .
It seemed my brother had grown tired of torturing me with glimpses of his perfect white picket life .
I could almost forget .
I slammed the drawer shut so hard that the bottle of whiskey that was resting on top tipped over , rolled off , and fell to the floor .
Luckily , the fall was broken by the thick pile of the carpet , and the bottle didnt smash .
I tossed back the last of my drink and let myself fall backward , so that I was staring up at the plastered ceiling .
Nah , I could never forget .
Those grey blue eyes and that flaming red hair haunted my dreams every sin every single night .
And in a few days time I would be on a private jet headed back to Townline .
Back to my childhood home , my mother , my brother .
And the wom woman w who had betrayed me .