Whack! Whack! Whack!

There was little better for working out frustrations than demolition day, and starting one on a Monday morning was perfect. Adrian wielded his sledgehammer with repetitive ease as he took down an old brick fire pit in the Nguyens’ backyard. So far this morning, his sister had needed more money for college expenses since she’d be doing the summer semester as well, his mother had needed coffee, so he’d had to run to the store early, and his favorite pair of work jeans had split at the knee. On the bright side, they hadn’t fallen behind on the Chu project thanks to Sofia’s wrangling, so he could shift his crew easily to help Enzo with a little landscaping gig. They’d gotten the tiles down Saturday and let them set up Sunday. They could get back in this afternoon. He hoped his crappy morning would be the end of his bad luck. Dom and his crew were counting on him.

“Hey, man!” Enzo yelled from behind him, breaking his swing.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“I’m trying to save as many of these bricks as possible for a reuse project. I don’t know what’s got you so pissed off, but don’t take it out on my poor fire pit.” Enzo laughed, lightening the dark mood that had gripped Adrian since Friday night. Speaking of…

“No problem. How did the big family meeting go?”

“Ugh. Shit show.”

“That bad?”

“The worst, but I told Dad I wouldn’t spill the beans. He wants to tell everyone himself.”

“Jesus, Enzo.”

Was he getting fired? Were they closing the firm? Would he be back at square one? In his position as crew chief, he’d been able to support his mother staying home to raise the girls, and put his little sisters through college. True, they’d gone to local state schools and community college, and he’d be paying off the loans for the next twenty years, but his job with Valenti Brothers had qualified them all for financial aid. Financial aid that his baby sister still needed. If he lost this job, the intricate web holding the family’s finances together would unravel.

And it wasn’t just his immediate family who would suffer. He’d also found work for his cousins and friends looking for stable jobs. Half of his neighborhood depended on Valenti Brothers for some part of their income. His fear must’ve shown on his face, because Enzo was quick to reassure him.

“Don’t panic. It’s just a big change. He’s on his way here now, so you can ask him for yourself.” Enzo bent to sift through the rubble for his precious bits of bricks.

“Thanks, man. Sorry about the bricks.”

Adrian handed off the sledge and strode around the edge of the house, tugging off his leather work gloves and safety glasses as he went. Perfect timing. Dom’s truck pulled into the drive and the boss man himself honked jauntily. He climbed down from the cab of his Ford F-150 and clapped his hand into Adrian’s for a hearty handshake.

Passing Adrian a steaming cup of takeout coffee, Dom Valenti stood beside him, surveying the work site while having a no-eye-contact conversation in the manner of busy men.

“This yard is gonna be a showpiece.”

“Yes, sir. Enzo has the touch.”

“All cleared up on the Chu tiles?”

“Yep. We’ll get them grouted today and the toilets installed this afternoon. Might need a little overtime, so we don’t fall behind.”

“Sounds good. We can afford a little overhead to keep the customer happy. Keep your two best guys late if you need to. No more than four hours though.”

“Shouldn’t even need that many, but sounds good.”

A silence descended between them as a noisy backhoe trundled past. The yard was a well-organized hive of activity, a thing of beauty. Adrian was the first to break the peace. He had too much riding on this conversation to let the opportunity slide.

“So…is there anything else?”

“Enzo talk to you?” Dom’s face revealed nothing.

“He said I should hear it from you.”

Adrian turned, forcing the older man to face him or be rude. Even though at six feet two inches Adrian was taller than him, Dom Valenti was a man he looked up to. If he was getting the axe, he wanted to hear it face to face.

“You know Jojo’s been after me to retire ever since…she stepped back from the business.”

Adrian had been around long enough to hear what hadn’t been said. Since Gabe died. Since everything had changed. Since the Valenti clan had lost their eldest son to the war in Iraq.

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about that.” Adrian gathered his words carefully around his fledgling dream. He had a feeling it was now or never. “I want in.”

“How so?” Dom locked eyes with him. He definitely had the old man’s attention now.

“I want to buy in. I’ve worked my entire adult life for this company, and you couldn’t leave it in better hands.”

“We’ll see how you feel after you hear my announcement.”

“It’s not that you’re retiring?”

“Not yet. I wanted to give the company one last boost before I step down. Your idea has merit though. I’ll have to think about it.”

“That’s fair. What’s this boost?”

“We’re doing a TV show, and I need you on board. We’re gonna have film crews crawling all over the Shah project when we break ground, to film the pilot and a sizzle reel, whatever the hell that is.”

“TV? What the hell do I know about TV?”

“Probably as much as I do, but you know good construction, and you’re good at explaining things to our younger guys. Just talk to the cameraman like he’s a grunt, and it’ll be fine. The idea is to explain how we do renos that look good without going over budget.”

“Jesus, Dom. I thought you were going to shut down the business or lay me off. This is making my head spin.”

“Let it spin awhile. You think about my idea, and I’ll think about yours. Fi should be done going through the contracts soon. I’ll tell her to walk you through it. If this takes off, it could be a big win for everyone.”

If Dom needed Adrian on board, there was very little to think about. He might be uncomfortable with the idea of being on camera, but he’d do it anyway.

After his own father had been deported, he’d had to grow up fast. The first man to give him a chance had been Domenico Valenti. If there was anyone in the world who deserved his loyalty outside of his family, it was this man. He’d become something of a surrogate father in the years in between, giving Adrian a taste of the approval and stability he’d craved.

Adrian could see the potential. And if business boomed, well, that was good for everyone. If he could just see his littlest sister through college, he’d be free and clear to start his own family. Obviously, he’d need to find the right woman first, but he hadn’t even been looking. Time for that to change. Maybe.

His mom was comfortable in her house, which he owned outright. When the foreclosure had gone up on his block, he jumped at the chance and bought the dump cheap. Renovations made possible by Valenti Brothers’ overtime paychecks and his own hard labor had made the house livable, and as the girls began working, he’d had more cash to pay off the mortgage. It was small and not in the greatest neighborhood, but it had ridden the rising tide of home prices in the area anyhow. He’d already gained enough equity to consider approaching Dom about buying in. He loved his mom and sisters, but he wanted his own place, a wife, kids in the yard. He was thirty, and feeling the pinch to get started. He’d delayed as long as he was still needed to play big brother for his sisters, but the prospect of more money pulled his own dreams into sharper focus.

“I’ll talk to Sofia. Thanks, Dom, for thinking about it.”

“If there’s anyone in the world who’s earned it, it’s you. But I’m not the only decision maker. We’ve always been family first, but there’s no reason that can’t change.”

* * *

Everything was changing, and Sofia could barely keep up. As she’d predicted, the contracts for the show had landed on her desk with a disheartening thud. Her father had dropped them off Monday at the end of the day, and she had deliberately not looked at them or him. Tuesday morning, though, they were still waiting. Armed with her coffee and fast food breakfast sandwich, she dug in, looking for any opportunity to turn this tide in her favor.

The contract for the pilot and sizzle reel seemed pretty straightforward. The crew would follow them around job sites, the office, and family functions. The production company would retain rights to use any footage gathered. Each main actor would receive a per diem payout, but ancillary talent wouldn’t be compensated beyond a normal salary. They’d negotiated a twenty-five percent fee paid back to the production company on any branded merchandise lines they might do, but since they didn’t have anything of that nature going, Sofia wasn’t too bothered by it. The ten percent of increased business profits was more worrisome, and she made a note to discuss it with her dad. The production staff would approve the homeowner’s designer for the projects, and Valenti Brothers would handle the construction.

Sofia drew a line through that part of the contract.

“Sofia Valenti will do the initial designs for all properties and have first right of refusal, subject to approval by the production company and homeowners,” she muttered as she wrote. This was it, her window, her chance to shine. To show her dad that she had the chops to do more than paperwork. To reclaim her creativity. If she had to be sneaky to get her shot, then so be it.

When Adrian knocked on her partially open door, she jumped like a teenager caught cheating on an exam. Guilty much? She wouldn’t have to do this if only her dad would listen.

“Adrian! You startled me.”

“Sorry, querida, I didn’t mean to. Dom said you’d walk me through the TV contracts. Is now a good time?”

She pushed aside her irritation over the casual endearment. She spent her days around construction workers. She’d certainly gotten worse. She wasn’t going to let him fluster her, even if those golden brown eyes had a tendency to throw her off. It was criminal for a man to have lashes that long. He folded his long, rangy frame into the chair across from her desk before she’d even summoned an answer. When he crossed his arms and his biceps flexed beneath the short sleeves of his T-shirt, Sofia’s mouth went dry and her thoughts scattered.

Down, girl. He’s not for you. The truth of that statement helped her find the thread.

“Sure, make yourself at home.” Her sarcasm was wasted. He just grinned at her.

“Got any coffee?”

“Yes, I do.” She raised her full mug along with her eyebrow and took a lukewarm sip. “If you want a cup, there’s some in the kitchen.”

“Good to know. I’m dragging today.”

All she wanted was to win one point with him, one little jab to land home so she could feel like she’d stood up for herself. He hit all of her nerves, and he didn’t even seem to notice. Maybe he was just used to women jumping to do his bidding. She let her irritation creep into her voice. Otherwise it would build up inside until she snapped at some poor, unsuspecting whipping boy. No, much better to point her anger where it belonged. “Oh? Late night? You should know better than to go out partying on a work night.” Damn it. Where had that thought come from? Now she had a picture of him out with some beautiful, faceless woman with an itty-bitty waist and mile-long legs at some club. Of course that’s the kind of woman he’d date. His beauty equivalent. Not that she was jealous or anything.

Damn it, again. Sofia’s subconscious kept betraying her. Her own recent drought was weighing on her heart, but that wasn’t his fault.

Not his problem to solve either, she firmly reminded her racing pulse.

“No, just family stuff, and then finding out about the show, and pitching my proposal to your dad. Yesterday was a roller coaster.”

Sofia rummaged in her snack drawer for a second and tossed a Kit Kat in his lap. His eyebrows rose in question.

“Gimme a break…” Sofia sang the Kit Kat theme song. “You looked like you could use one. Now what’s this proposal?”

He grinned and snapped into the crispy chocolate. “I told Dom that I want to buy in when he retires. I want to help run this place. He said he’d think about it.”

Shock pushed Sofia back in her chair. She’d always assumed Valenti Brothers would stay in the family. It was a family-owned and -operated business, after all. She had been counting on her siblings and cousin understanding when she hired on office staff so she could tackle more design projects. Would Dom sell the business to Adrian outright? Would Adrian become her boss? Or would they have to learn to run a business together as part of a five-way split? She couldn’t deny that Adrian was an extremely talented and loyal employee, but if he had more control of the company, it would change the dynamic drastically. Would his casual “baby” and “beautiful” endearments take on a different tone? And since when did her father make big decisions like this without consulting the family first? Yesterday a TV show, today a new partnership? What was going on? Why was he changing so many things at once?

“Do you have a problem with that?” His deep voice pulled her from her scrambling thoughts.

She grasped at anything she was thinking that would be appropriate to say out loud. “Uh, no, but isn’t this kind of sudden?”

“I’ve been working here for twelve years. I’m good at what I do, and I want to own that. Again, is there a problem?”

Sofia knew she looked like a fish out of water, mouth open as she gasped for the right words. “You never mentioned this to me. I’m just surprised. Give me a minute to catch up.”

“If this is about me not being family—”

“It’s not.” She answered too quickly, and he finished his sentence with a grin.

“We could always fix that.” He wiggled his eyebrows comically, and she wasn’t quick enough to suppress the laugh.

“Don’t be an ass. It’s just a lot to think through. We’ve done things one way my entire life. Fresh ideas aren’t necessarily a bad thing. I just need to think things through before I give an opinion.” Maybe this could work for her after all. If she was the one in favor, backing him up, would he do the same for her? Or would he continue to be oblivious to her inner struggles? Hmm.

Adrian cleared his throat, pulling her back from her plotting.

“So about this contract. The one that actually exists…”

“It’s pretty straightforward. You agree to allow cameras to follow you around job sites, the office, and home. This is just for the pilot and a teaser short, so it’s a short-term contract but it includes an exclusive option on the larger contract if it gets picked up. You walk the viewer through the steps of the renovation.” She flipped to the pages involving his particulars. “Included is a supplemental bonus to your current salary.”

A bonus she wouldn’t get since she wasn’t listed on the main talent list. That burned, but she wasn’t going to argue. She was already pushing her luck to get listed as the designer. And if that side of her career took off, the money would sort itself out.

“Well, babe, I gotta say, more money always sounds good to me.”

Ugh. It’s like he does it without even thinking. She passed him the paperwork and pointed to the pertinent sections.

“I just started going through this. Give it a read-through, and tell me if you see any red flags. I’m going to refill my coffee.”

She needed a minute to calm her swirling thoughts, and sitting in a small room with a man who simultaneously generated a low-level buzz of attraction while also making her want to punch him in the stomach was not helping. His proposal had stunned her, and she’d not responded well. She pulled down another mug out of force of habit and filled it before topping hers off as well. She added one sugar and a healthy dollop of cream to his, fake sugar and cream to her own.

All done, but nowhere near ready to return, she braced her hands on the peacock granite countertop, stretched her arms long and dropped her head between them. She lengthened her spine and took a deep breath, aiming for some of the peace she’d felt when she’d dropped into a yoga class with Brandy.

Change itself was nothing to fear. So what if most of the changes in her life had been awful? That didn’t mean these changes were going to be bad, too. She could handle whatever needed handling. She’d managed before, and she could do it again. And she was absolutely full of crap. She was three seconds from panicking, and her deep-breathing exercises were getting trapped in her clenching throat.

“Hey, are you okay?” Adrian’s deep, husky voice skittered up her spine, leaving a trail of goose bumps that didn’t subside when she jumped and squealed.

Why did this man have the power to make her feel like a twelve-year-old girl? She spun to face him, only to find that he’d invaded the space she’d cleared and was reaching for her shoulder, as if to steady her. She backed away swiftly, bumping into the counter and rattling the cups. Remembering why she’d come to the kitchen in the first place, she handed him the coffee she’d made him, being careful not to scald herself with a brush of his fingertips. She could pick apart the ridiculousness of her response later.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She retreated into a fortifying sip of her own coffee.

He mirrored her sip and stepped back as well. Message finally freaking received. Good.

“You know how I take my coffee?” He grinned as if this detail somehow meant something special.

“I know everyone’s coffee order. Have you not noticed who keeps the lists for meeting coffee runs? Or who is constantly being charged with stocking the kitchen? Or did you just think a magical caffeine fairy came in at night and brought lattes to all the good little boys?” She tried once again to take him down a peg while setting him straight. She couldn’t have him thinking that she’d been watching him, paying attention to his personal preferences. Even if she had.

Once again, her sarcasm flew right over his head. He raised the contract in his hand and held it out to her.

“Listen, I tried to read through this, but it might as well be written in Latin. Can you walk me through the specifics?”

“I just got it myself. Give me a day or two to really pick it apart, and I’ll fill you in.”

“Thanks, angel. That sounds good.” He tossed the contract on the break room table, supremely confident, coffee in hand.

She’d wager he hadn’t even heard the “Sure thing” she’d managed through clenched teeth. How could she be so attracted to someone who pissed her off so royally?

Good thing he didn’t know, or he’d be insufferable.