“On spring break?”
“In an estate, I’m told. Though I fear Queen Lucia’s children have been on perpetual spring break ever since carving a swath of scandal through Europe. The Queen lives there with her granddaughter. She was the rumored subject of the painting—” his grandfather paused “—and the last person to have it. So I’ve heard.”
Alex wasn’t a fool, and he didn’t appreciate that the old man was playing him for one. Giovanni wouldn’t send him off to Aceena because of half-heard rumors. And he would know full well who the subject of that painting was, had it been in his possession.
Leave it to Giovanni to have a portrait of a disgraced queen in his collection of lost treasures.
“You seem to know a great deal about the royal family,” Alex said.
“I have some ties to Isolo D’Oro. I…visited for a time. There are…fond memories for me there and I carry the history with me.”
“Fascinating.”
“You don’t have to be fascinated, Alessandro, you have to do my bidding.”
Of course, if Giovanni asked, Alex had to comply. He owed him. Giovanni had raised Alex after the death of his parents. Had given him a job, instilled in him the work ethic that had made him so successful.
Without Giovanni, Alex was nothing.
And if his grandfather’s dream was to see his Lost Mistresses reunited, then Alex would be damned if he was the weak link in the chain.
Enough suffering in his family was tied to his pigheadedness. He would not add this to the list.
“As you wish,” Alex said.
“You’re turning this into a clichéd movie, Alessandro.”
“A quest for a hidden painting secreted away on an island by disgraced royals? I think we were already there.”