Page 69 of Gary
“What am I looking for?”
“You’ll see it.”
“If it’s some holiday deal, I am going to…” Her voice tailed off as she stared at the familiar face.
“That is Gary. What…?” She sucked in a breath as she read the caption: ‘Son of multi-billionaire businessman with ties to the mafia is cleaning up.’ She sat around the counter and read the rest of it. ‘It seems that Gary Moretti (Moretti!) The name jumped out at her and for a few seconds she could not move.
The family had been linked with the mafia for decades and had faced several misfortunes, including the death of George Moretti, the second Moretti brother and now the rumor that Grant Moretti is now suffering from cancer.
The young heir to the fortune has been busily tearing down the old, dilapidated building downtown with the intention of building a multi-faceted community center geared towards helping the less fortunate young people. When asked for comment, Mr. Gary Moretti refused to give one, saying ‘that he was not doing it for the glory.’
“No, No. No.” She shook her head, hands trembling. “No, it’s not possible. He… Oh God!” She felt sick.
“Honey, I am coming over.”
Hanging up the phone, she continued to stare at the photo of the man who had walked into her shop a few weeks ago and captured her heart. He was the enemy. And he must have known her name.
She had confided in him about her dad and said the name Moretti. “Oh God.” She whispered. “Oh, please God.” She was whimpering. “Oh please, no,” her phone shrilled and had her jumping. She was about to ignore it when she saw his name. Grabbing it, she punched the button.
“You bastard!”
“Let me explain.”
“I would like to see you try. Your name is Gary Moretti. You son of a bitch!”
“Let me come over, please. I want to explain…”
“I never want to see you again! Is that clear? I hate you.”
“I love you…”
“Don’t you dare!” Even though her heart was splintering, just hearing him say it made her weak.
“Darling, give me a chance…”
“Go to hell!” She hung up and turned off her phone. Throwing it on the desk, she collapsed back in a fit of weeping and felt her life dissolving.
*****
“Are you going to continue prowling the length of the office?”
“She hates me.” Gary’s face was ashen, his jaw clenched tight. He had tried calling her several times, but the calls went straight to voicemail.
“I thought you were going to tell her.” Graham had instructed his assistant to hold his calls and the meetings he had lined up when his nephew barged into his office without knocking.
The look on his face told him that something was horribly wrong. “I was waiting until after the dinner on Sunday. I swear to God that I had no idea that reporters were sniffing around.”
“You should have expected that!” His uncle pointed it out patiently. “You are doing something newsworthy, bringing some respectability to the community, people are going to sit up and take notice.”
“I thought I had more time.” He resumed pacing, his shoulders hunched. “When I saw that son of a bitch come into the shop a few nights ago, I should have realized that something was up. I have to see her, to explain that I had no part of what was going on.”
“You lied to her.”
“No!” he spun around, a wild look on his face. “I started using my mother’s maiden name when I left for Europe. Technically, I did not lie.”
“She is not going to see it that way. Look, allow her some time to cool off before you confront her.”
Gary gave him an incredulous glance. “Cool off? This is not some small infraction, like forgetting to take out the trash or breaking a frigging date. The woman I am in love with just found out that my family caused her father’s death.