THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 20•

•PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY•

Andres' POV

The house was quiet this morning. Half of the men and women my father hired- people that my brother and I had come to know and love- were now replaced by strangers.

Everything about our estate was getting cold, stripped of any memory of our previous tolerably happy life.

Adrian got a lot of things from my grandfather, the art of strategy was not one them.

All week I decided to behave normally- shipment exchanges, bank deposits, and my favorite- organizing financial reports.

As the days passed the more I thought about what Julia said, the ultimatum Gianni gave me, what he said, and how I felt about it all.

Gianni was right. I was a rat.

An educated, financial genius- but a rat non the less.

I pushed myself from the warm blankets as I groggily scratched my bare chest and stepped into the bathroom. The bottom of my feet stung as they met with the cold tile floor, but I didn't have time to think about it.

My meeting with Adrian was in an hour and didn't want to further piss him off. He could be really testy before noon.

I glossed over the fresh neatly arranged towel and washcloth set on my marble sink counter. It was good to know Adrian at least kept Bianca. She was the only thing that still gave this place a touch of the Maniscalco Manor that I remember.

She forever had my love, even if I did hate that she was dragged into this family by her husband DiCaprio.

She's no different than any woman in this business.

In love with the wrong man.

After I showered, shaved, and brushed my teeth I headed for my closet, pulling out one of my favorite day suits.

I got it while visiting family in Palermo last year. It's a cream colored jacket and pants that I loved to pair with a deep navy blue shirt.

I slicked my hair back and pulled at my cuffs, buttoning them as I admired myself in the mirror beside my door.

If I was going to come clean, might as well look good right?

My eyes darted to the clock.

9:45

Fifteen minutes to go. I might've actually been early, but I didn't wanna seem too eager.

I snagged the black folder I'd been putting together all week from my desk and stepped out of my room.

The silence in the house was insane. I was used to Roman or Leo shouting to one of our other men about calcio, but now it felt...empty. My heel knocked against the wood flooring as I neared my father's old office- now occupied by Adrian.

He wasted no time claiming it as his either. My tongue pressed against my teeth and I silenced the anger that burned in my chest.

I reached out to knock but the door was pulled away from my hand as Bianca solemnly walked out. Her face was frozen, almost robotic as she brushed past me gently without a word.

That wasn't like her at all, but I'd have to worry about it later. It was showtime.

"Buongiorno." I greeted in a low tone, closing the door.

Adrian looked up to me from his computer, his eyebrows raised in confusion. That was expected. I never greeted him and we hardly just talked- this was the nicest I had been in years.