Dressed in a suit with no tie, Lorenzo made it to his official office, which was tucked at the back of the upscale conference center. He had a ‘home’ office in his rooms, but many of his meetings were held here, even the ones with his family.

“Captain,” his executive assistant and admin, Michael Rio, greeted him. Rio was another soldier that had come through the MARC, and Lorenzo had hired him after his last assistant had moved.

He took in the shadows under Rio’s eyes. “Rio. What time did you get in today?”

Rio blinked. “My usual time, around six. Did you need me earlier?”

“No. I’m concerned because you were here until about eight last night. Am I working you too hard?”

“No, of course not, Captain. I really enjoy my work.”

“I didn’t ask if you enjoyed your work, I asked if you had too much of it.”

“Sir, your brothers and Agent Bashiera are waiting for you.”

“You’re changing the subject, and just this once I’ll let you. But we’re not done. Also, he’s not an agent anymore.”

The corner of Rio’s mouth tipped up. “He told me differently.”

“I bet he did,” Lorenzo muttered.

“How should I address him?”

“You can call him an asshole, like I do.” His eyes flicked to Eddie, who’d just stepped into his line of sight.

Rio grinned, but said in a warning voice, “Captain.”

Lorenzo sighed. “Have some coffee and my morning shake sent over, will you?”

“Any breakfast today?”

His gut was too wound up for food. “Not today.”

“For your guests?”

“They don’t get any, either.”

Eddie stepped closer. “I wouldn’t mind a pastry.”

“Then go out and get one your own damn self. We’ve got work to do.”

“I’ll take care of it, Mr. Bashiera,” Rio said.

Lorenzo narrowed his eyes on Rio. “You do remember who you work for, don’t you?”

“Well, Captain, while you are my supervisor, I’m technically employed through the conference center, which is run by a board of directors, and your brothers sit on that board, so it would be in my best interest to assist them however I can.”

Lorenzo’s lips thinned, not in annoyance but in an effort to keep from smiling. “Thanks for reminding me why I should start searching for a new assistant.”

“Oh, you shouldn’t do that, Cap. You love me.”

“Not today I don’t.”

Rio put a hand over his heart. “You’re breaking my heart, Cap.”

Lorenzo shook his head smiling. “Get my shake, would you?”

As Rio stepped to the small kitchenette near his office, Eddie pulled Lorenzo to the side. “You all right?”

Lorenzo crossed his arms over his chest. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Because this morning you were pissed off at us, then you got pissed off at some woman on the beach.”

Fucking hell. “I told you not to follow me.”

“And I didn’t listen.”

“Jesus. You just can’t mind your own fucking business, can you?”

“No, not when you’re terrifying random people on a beach. She had a kid.”

A small wave of relief swept through him. If Eddie thought Lily was a random woman, his secret wouldn’t be revealed just yet. “Did you see me treat that kid like shit? No,” he said, without waiting for Eddie to respond. He gestured with his head towards his office. “You tell the rest of them about this?”

“No, but I will if you don’t get a hold on your anger.”

“My anger is under control.”

Eddie gave him a disbelieving look. “Yeah? This is what you call having your anger under control?”

Lorenzo fisted his hands, not to fight but to tamp down the rage burning within him. It was times like these that no one understood him, not even his fucking brothers who had served. Not even Eddie, who’d lived through personal horrors of his own and should have understood him. “Let me tell you something about me, since you clearly don’t get it.”

“Loren–”

“I am allowed to be angry. Just because I suffered from PTSD doesn’t mean I can’t get angry. Anger is a human fucking emotion and, the last time I checked, I was a human.”

“Lor–”

“We’re done.” Lorenzo turned away, and took a deep breath on his way to his office.

“Goddamn it, Lorenzo.”

He didn’t bother responding. He walked into his office and sat down just as Eddie followed him in and stood behind Marcello and Nate, who were seated in front of his desk.

Nate eyed him over his desk. “Took you long enough to get here. Do you always run so long?”

Lorenzo’s hands clutched the arms of his chair and tensed. “Not that I answer to you, big brother, but I stopped at the MARC after my run.”

“You’ve been running a lot lately,” Marcello noted.

Goddamn security. He always forgot they answered to Marcello. He wondered if they’d told him about his Lilys and the additional security he’d ordered. If they had, Marcello was keeping a good poker face. “I like it. You have an issue with me running?”

“No.”

“Then shut the fuck up about it and let’s move on. You’re here about the dock strike, which hasn’t happened, by the way.”

Nate leaned back in his chair, and steepled his fingers in front of him, an action their father often did. “We think one’s imminent.”

“What you think, and what the reality is, are two entirely different things. I’m at the docks almost daily. Not just overseeing our family’s interests or Valleria’s, but overseeing port business. I know those workers. They’re not happy, but they haven’t decided to strike. Not yet, anyway.”

“How can you be so sure?” Eddie asked.

“Because a lot of those men and women came through the MARC. The docks and the shipping companies are the top job placement locations for our service personnel, either during or after recovery. And, because they came through the MARC, they know me. They trust me.”

Marcello gave him an even look, giving nothing away. “I didn’t realize that many former service personnel worked there.”

“You would if you bothered to give a shit about what I do here, instead of criticizing me every four fucking seconds.”

Marcello tensed. “Lorenzo, I didn’t–”

Lorenzo held up a hand. “Not the point of this discussion. What I want to know is why there are three of you here.”

“Alex is on his way, too,” Nate said, and Lorenzo barely held back a curse; he’d forgotten about Alex.

“Fucking fantastic. Then why will there be four of you here to handle something that hasn’t happened yet?”

Marcello, Nate, and Eddie all glanced at each other before they turned back to him, and Nate shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “We just want to be here to help you if you need it.”

“I don’t. There. Non-problem solved. Go back to Valentia.”

Eddie crossed his arms over his chest. “We’re not leaving.”

“Why?”

“We just told you,” Nate said.

“No, you just gave me some bullshit story. Why. Are. You. Here?”

A heavy silence filled the room, exasperation and anger emanating from Lorenzo.

Nate’s voice was quiet when he spoke. “We wanted to check on you. You were…uncomfortable during the wedding.”

That was a fucking understatement. His father had decreed any son of his who’d served was to wear their full dress uniforms for Alex’s wedding. To say putting on the uniform on again had triggered some memories was putting it mildly, but he’d managed his anger. He hadn’t broken down or broken apart. He’d kept his shit.

Not that he got any credit for that from his family. Of course, most of them probably didn’t realize the effort it had taken to hold it together. He wished they had.

He also knew, however, that some wishes never came true.

“The wedding was almost three months ago. It’s a little late to check on me now.”

Marcello continued his even stare. “You haven’t spent a lot of time in Valentia since the wedding.”

Lorenzo felt a pang in his chest about that. He did miss them, and his father, but he’d needed some space. “I spent weeks there while Papa recovered, then I went to visit Arianna and our new niece. Since leaving Valentia, I video chat Mama and Papa almost daily, and all of you and our sisters certainly bother me on a regular basis. I don’t need to be there in person to care about them or you. Besides, I had things to see to here.”

Eddie uncrossed his arms, and leaned against a credenza along the wall. “What’s more important than family?”

Not one fucking thing. His mind wandered to his little Lily. “The threat of a dock strike isn’t new. I’ve been keeping tabs on it for months. Not only that, my soldiers needed me.”

“You’re not in the army anymore,” Marcello said just as Rio entered with a tray of coffee and his protein shake.

“Rio, am I still in the army?”

Rio didn’t glance at Lorenzo or his brothers, but poured everyone coffee as he answered, “Yes, Captain.”

Marcello’s brows furrowed. “Rio, you do realize that both you and Lorenzo were discharged?”

Rio handed Marcello a cup and met his eyes. “You never leave the army, Sir, even if you’ve been discharged. It’s a way of life that’s engrained in you, that lingers long past once your service is done. There’s a reason you’ll find so many men and women at the MARC awake at four in the morning, or even earlier, because they’re used to rising then for calisthenics.”

Goddamn but Rio was a good man. Rio handed Lorenzo his own cup and set the protein shake nearby. Lorenzo gave him a nod, and Rio gave a small smile before he left, closing the door behind him.

Nate ran a finger over the rim of his cup. “Do you think he heard our discussion?”

“Since he’s not deaf and Eddie left the door open, I’d say that’s true.”

Marcello set his cup on the desk. “He must have superhuman hearing if he heard us all the way down the hall.”

Lorenzo took a slug of his shake, then shook the glass slightly to mix the contents some more. “Something to learn about Rio: he already had the coffee brewing and my shake all but mixed before I ever stepped foot in this wing of the castle. He was waiting outside for the appropriate moment.”

Eddie glanced at the door. “Does he have clearance?”

Lorenzo barely held back an eye roll. “Yes, he’s got clearance. He’s also fucking efficient, so don’t give him any shit.” He knocked back the rest of his shake in three long gulps before wiping his mouth and reaching for his coffee. “I’m going down to the docks later. If Alex arrives and wants to go with me, he’s welcome to.”

Nate gestured between the brothers. “One of us could go with you.”

“You could, but the dock workers will respond better to Alex as long as we go low-key.”

“He’s acting king,” Marcello reminded him. “He’s got to have a team with him. One of us will go.”

“They don’t like you. Is Ethan still in Valentia? He’d be good to go with me.” Their youngest sibling, Ethan, was a doctor in the Vallerian Royal Navy. He’d been given leave to spend a few months with their sister Arianna, who’d had a difficult birth, and their father while they recovered.

“Ethan’s shipping out soon. Why don’t they like me?” Marcello asked.

“You’re a spy, for one. They trust you to do your job, but they don’t necessarily trust you.”

Marcello’s mustache twitched as his lips pursed. “I’m not a spy.”

“Says the man who went on an undercover mission barely a year ago and almost got himself killed. Not to mention the fact that even if your spying days are behind you, you still manage all of Valleria’s spies.”

“I don’t manage spies,” Nate said. “I can go with you.”

Lorenzo slugged back the rest of his coffee, the searing liquid leaving his tongue and throat burning. “Nope. Ethan or no one. I don’t need any of you to handle this.”

His brothers glanced at each other before Marcello nodded and pulled out his phone. “I’ll let Ethan know. It will still take him a few hours to get here.”

“The drive’s two hours, if that. Besides, I’ve got a full schedule until then, anyway.”

“We have more to discuss,” Nate said.

“Not right now we don’t. We’ll regroup after Ethan and I visit the docks.”

“We’ll talk over dinner,” Eddie said.

Lorenzo shook his head. “I’ve got plans.”

“Break them,” Eddie demanded.

“No can do.”

“Lorenzo–”

“Non-negotiable.” Lorenzo checked his watch, then mentally flipped through his calendar. “If you want to meet earlier, then meet me for tea time at the MARC this afternoon.”

Nate choked on his coffee. “Tea time? You do tea at the MARC?”

“Yes, though we also serve coffee. If you’re going to act like an asshole about it, though, don’t bother coming. If you can be respectful to my men, then come and you’ll see why we host it every day.”

Lorenzo’s phone rang signaling a call from Rio; he put it on speaker. “Captain, Signore Cellini is here to see you.”

“Thanks, Rio. Send him in.” Lorenzo turned to his brothers as he hung up. “I believe that’s your cue.”

Nate set his coffee cup down. “You’ll be there this afternoon?”

“Yes. I rarely miss tea time.”

Nate nodded then stood, Marcello and Eddie following his lead. They were leaving just as a man was poised to enter.

“Pardon me.”

Nate held up a hand. “No, excuse us. We were just leaving. See you later, Lorenzo.” The men nodded as they passed Lorenzo’s guest, then walked down the hall.

Lorenzo barely spared his brothers a glance before a smile split his lips. He took hold of the man’s shoulders and gave him a kiss on each cheek – a traditional Vallerian greeting – which he returned. “Dante, my good man. Come stai?”

“Sto bene, Your Highness. How are you?”

Lorenzo waved away the formal greeting. “You know better than to address me as a prince.”

Dante grinned and gestured to the door. “I know you like to defer protocol. Those were your brothers, were they not? I wonder what they would think if they heard you say that?”

“They’d think it was a normal day, that’s what. Come and sit, my friend. I’m pleased you could make it over from Italy.”

Lorenzo took his seat again just as Rio entered with a fresh cup of coffee for both him and Dante. After Rio whisked away his brothers’ cups, Lorenzo gave his friend a keen look.

Dante Cellini was the quintessential Italian male. Tall, broad-shouldered, olive-hued skin, and dark hair that gleamed. As the owner of Cellini Shipping – which was slowly and surely becoming one of the largest shipping companies in the world – Lorenzo often saw a Cellini ship docked in Masillia’s main port.

“You look happy, Dante. Another closed deal? Or another daughter?”

Dante laughed. “It seems greedy to want more children, I suppose. My Sophia doesn’t mind. She says she wants a boy, so we must keep trying.”

Lorenzo chuckled as he thought of the elegant and soft-spoken Sophia, Dante’s American-born wife. “How many do you have now? Three, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, and now I must show you a picture.” Dante pulled out his phone and flipped his finger across the screen until he found the picture he wanted, and turned the phone towards him.

Sophia was in the middle, her blonde hair shining. Their eldest, Isabella, with her father’s dark hair and her mother’s blue eyes grinned mischievously at the camera beside her mother. Their second child, Rafaela, had dark hair and eyes and was smiling as she cuddled on her mother’s other side. The youngest, little Anna, was held close in her mother’s arms, a toothless smile on her face and small, golden curls on her head. A beautiful family. Lorenzo’s heart clenched at the sight, as his thoughts ran towards his own little Lily.

He gruffly cleared his throat. “They’re beautiful, Dante. You’re a very lucky man.”

“That I know,” Dante said and took one last loving look at the picture before he put away his phone.

“Did none of your business partners come with you this time?”

Dante shook his head. “Their other businesses and families kept them away, but they did send their regards.” Dante’s grin faded as he turned back to business. “How bad is it?”

Lorenzo’s brows furrowed as happy thoughts of families and friends were swept away. “There’s nothing bad yet. I don’t know for sure that a strike will happen.”

“It would be extremely detrimental to business, not just mine but to the port. It could take months to recover from the backlog if the workers choose to strike.”

“I’m hoping that won’t happen. I’m going to the docks this afternoon, along with one of my brothers. We’ll talk to the workers, get a sense for what’s happening. I’ll keep you updated.”

“I’d appreciate it. I know you don’t keep all the shipping companies updated as you do me and mine.”

“I respect you, Dante. You trusted me when few others did. I don’t forget.”

“Bringing my business here was strategic, Lorenzo.”

“Perhaps it was, but that wasn’t the only reason.”

Dante’s voice was low when he spoke. “No, it wasn’t. When you took over the ports just as I was expanding my business here, I honestly didn’t know if I’d want to do business with you.” He flashed a quick smile. “However, I’ve since learned how much I had underestimated you.”

A quick sting of pain lanced Lorenzo. Far too many still lacked faith in him or the men and women from the MARC. If only his brothers could learn as Dante had, and not undervalue him. He covered his disappointment with a grin. “Does that mean you’ll agree when I tell you we’re raising port fees within the next two years?”

Dante chuckled. “It seems I’m guilty of underestimating you again. Do I have a choice in the matter?”

“No.”

“Then, I suppose I’ll agree. With some caveats, of course.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

“Excellent. I’ll let Adrian handle that one,” Dante said, referring to one of his business partners.

“Bernadette would be more ruthless,” Lorenzo said, referring to Adrian’s wife.

“You know, you’re exactly right. Why you’d suggest I send someone more ruthless, though, is beyond me.”

“Ruthless is much more fun.”

“I suppose it is.”

“You have some more time? I wanted to discuss some scenarios with you, in case the strike happens. I don’t want any of the workers to suffer and I’ve got some backup plans in place.”

“You said it wasn’t likely to happen.”

“I still believe that, but I’m going to be prepared if it does.”

“I have time. What backup plans?”

“The union should be able to sustain a strike salary – which is about one-fourth or one-third of a worker’s normal salary – for all workers for approximately two months. Realistically, however, I think they won’t be able to do more than a few weeks, maybe a month at best.”

He pulled out a glossy brochure and opened it so that it faced Dante; it outlined one of the first programs he’d established at the MARC. “Alumni of the MARC, however, would be eligible for disaster payments, in addition to their abbreviated union salary. It’s a program I set up to help those who serve and their families, should natural disasters strike. I also made sure other events – such as a worker’s strike – could be used to claim funds. It won’t cover all of their salaries; even with the union chipping in, it will barely cover half their normal salary, but I think it’s better than nothing.”

Dante pursed his lips while he considered. “That would only help a portion of my workers. Not to mention, you’re talking about Vallerian unions. My workers are part of an Italian union, though some live and work here in Valleria.”

“If they came through the MARC, we can help them regardless of their union. Anyone else, however, would need to seek help through your company and the Italian union representatives.”

Dante frowned and nodded. “Yes. I’ll have to think about this. I’m sure there is something I can do. Is your family’s company compensating its workers in any way?”

Lorenzo shook his head. “Unfortunately, there’s little we can do. Santoro Shipping is unique, as its primary purpose is to ship supplies – medicine, food, and the like – to areas in need. It’s strictly a not-for-profit charity venture. Trickier still is the royal element to it all; we need to show we care for our workers yet, if we try to help them, we’re blasted by others who try to paint us as a monarchy who hates business, or worker protections, or something else.”

“Do you think your meeting today will yield any results?”

“Truthfully, I doubt it, but it can’t hurt to try.”

Lorenzo’s phone rang once again from Rio. “Your ten o’clock is here, Captain.”

“Thanks. Give me a minute, then send them back.” Lorenzo hung up and turned back to Dante. “Sorry we can’t catch up more, my friend.”

Dante stood and held out a hand, which Lorenzo shook. “Soon. We’ll bring the families down for a holiday.”

“Masillia is lovely at Christmas, you know.”

Dante smiled and walked to the door. “We usually stay at a villa in the Italian Alps, a sort of tradition now.”

“New Year’s then?”

“I’ll run it by the others.”

If only his brothers could break away from their preconceived ideas about him, maybe they’d see how much he could handle. If they ever gave him a chance, he could prove just how much he was capable of doing, and doing well. Maybe he couldn’t prove that to them today, but with his Lilys moving in soon, he’d have to make sure they recognized his competence.

They shook hands again and bid farewell just as Lorenzo’s next appointment walked down the hall. Lorenzo took a deep breath, pasted a smile on his face, and focused on the next issue at hand.