Chapter 145

Christian “You’re here early.” Christian chuckled at Beau. He had no idea that he would take his job that seriously, but still, Beau had shown up early in the morning.

“Yes, I wanted to make a good impression.” Beau joked. Christian grew a smile on his face at his changed behavior as his mind traveled back to their first meeting.

It was years ago when the two were still teens. Vince had introduced Beau to Christian, and he felt uncomfortable just by looking at him. It was the first time Christian was grateful for Marc and his over- the-top presence. He isn’t always like this. He talks a lot when it’s just the two of us, Vince used to defend him, and he turned out to be correct.

Beau did what he was supposed to do and stopped Vince from making stupid decisions. He didn’t only work for besides him but was also his best friend.

“Where’s your sister? Why is she not here yet?” Christian asked. He came up with a plan to deal with Dario’s mess and invited Marc, Beau and Serena over to discuss it. “Have you ever seen Serena get up early?” Beau commented.

“No.” Christian sighed. “She can sleep for hours. That was a stupid question.”

It used to be one of her many traits which he disliked, but he didn’t care anymore. He was just happy to know that Serena and Siena would be moving back home, and that was all he wanted. He didn’t care about Serena not waking up until noon, having to take care of Siena so she could rest, or cleaning up all of the dirt she left around the house. He missed it, he missed all of it.

“Who are those people?” Beau pointed out as his attention shifted to the men who were carrying boxes. “Serena had a request,” Christian explained. He was willing to do anything for Serena, even if that meant sending people over in the early morning to renovate the bedroom. “Demanding, sounds like her.” Beau shrugged.

“I appreciate you being here early, but shouldn’t you be with Isobel?” Christian wondered. He would’ve done anything to turn back the time, so he could be there for Serena throughout her entire pregnancy. “I need some space. She can be a bit demanding at times” Beau complained. “And Luis doesn’t have school today, so he can keep her company and listen to her nagging.”

“Demanding, sounds like her.” Christian mocked Beau’s words. “How is Luis doing?” Christian wondered. He still felt guilty and didn’t want to face Luis. He could’ve saved Vince from the start but he chose to protect his brother and he couldn’t get over that decision. “Luis is doing fine, but you need to visit him more often.” Beau encouraged him. “He misses you.”

“I’m sure he does, I’ll give you a quick house tour.” Christian changed the subject.

Christian led Beau around the house and explained to him what his job would be. “That’s simple, stick by me and make sure I don’t do anything stupid, that’s what I’m known for.” Christian told him as they ended the tour and made his way to the office.

“We’ll get through more important stuff like the Lamberti warehouse some other time.”

“There is one more thing.” Christian spoke as he made eye contact with Beau. It was a straightforward request, but it was necessary. “Whenever you’re working, please keep in mind that you’re not here as Serena’s brother but as my friend.”

“So we’re friends now?” Beau laughed. “I’m serious. You have to promise me.” Christian spoke as he pulled out a contract. “My priority is to protect Serena, and she doesn’t have to know everything.”

Christian explained.

“She doesn’t need to know every little detail about what we do and where we do it. I don’t want her to think of me as a monster, not again.”

Beau nodded his head and grabbed the contract from the desk. “That’s one thing you and Matteo agree on.”

“He keeps everything hidden from Serena and Carmen, but they’re not stupid. They just know they’re not allowed to ask too many questions.” Beau spoke. “Anyway, I’ll read through the contract.”

Christian could sense that Beau shared a different opinion, but he also knew that Beau was loyal and trusted him to do the right thing.

“Serena isn’t like Isobel,” Christian explained. “She overthinks, and I don’t want her to worry too much. I just want her to shop and paint her nails all day or whatever it is she’s doing-I don’t care, I just need her for one more thing and after that I want her to stay out of it.”

“What do you need her for?” Beau asked. “I’ll tell you later when she gets here.” Christian told him.

It was one thing he didn’t want to ask from her because he could see through her and he could tell that she was afraid, but she was his only hope.

“Wow.” Beau reacted. “The news of her starting a charity with Dario must’ve really bothered you.”

“Yes, I understand that Serena wants to do things on her own, but she doesn’t have to work. I’ll take care of her,” Christian spoke. He already felt as if Dario was terrible news from the start and couldn’t forgive him for encouraging her to do things on her own. Christian knew that Serena had a mind of her own and was not like the other girls. He couldn’t control her, but Christian also knew that the best thing for her would be to live her life as quietly as possible.

This was what mom meant when she said Serena wasn’t cut out for this, Christian thought to himself.

“Fine.” Beau shrugged. “You probably expected me to tell her everything, but I won’t say a word. I understand and I work for you, not for Serena.”

“Good.” Christian smiled. Not many people listened to him, but he knew Beau would. “You must be really busy after…your assistant left, right?” Beau asked.

“Yes.” Christian answered. Despite her actions, there was one thing anyone could give her credit for, and that was for her work ethic. She took over many of his tasks and never complained. She did whatever got asked and stood behind him without asking too many questions. He had it easy, and it was all because of her.

“Yes, I know you don’t want to hear it-but I’m not going to lie and say that she was useless. She knew how to do her job,” Christian admitted. “It feels like my grandpa is doing more than me nowadays. How can we send him away?”

“We can always kill him,” Beau suggested. “He doesn’t have that many years left, so we might as well get it done right now.”

“You have this strange sense of dark humor.” Christian chuckled. “Your jokes are even worse than Serena’s.” He pointed out and reached to grab something from his desk.

“This is your first task,” Christian spoke as he threw the envelope with cash on the desk. “I need you to bring this over to Gina, sometime this week-”

“Your ex-assistant?” Beau asked. “Yes,” Christian sighed. “No questions please, my dad requested me to look after her until she gets back on her feet again-so that’s all I’m doing, and I can’t go there myself, not anymore. It would be unfair to Serena.”

“But why?” Beau muttered. “Why is your dad helping her?”

“Beau, my dad, is a dying man,” Christian explained. “He just wants to do something good, and I can’t say no to a dying man.”

“I can trust you, right?”

“Yes, you can trust me.” Beau nodded. “But can I give you some advice?”

“That depends. Do you want to give me advice as Serena’s brother or as someone who works for me?” Christian asked. He knew that it was a complex request, and that was why he wanted Beau to do it. It was also a good way to see if he was loyal to him.

“Neither, I’m giving you advice as someone with a crazy fiancée,” Beau told him. “You need to tell Serena about the money. How can the two of you start over again if you’re already lying to her?”

“Lying?” Christian frowned. “She knows I gave her a roof over her head. She just doesn’t know about the money.”

“Exactly.” Beau spoke. “Serena is not the devil, and she knows how it is to live like that-she won’t yell at you, she isn’t like that.”

“But that’s up to you, of course. I’m not here to judge your relationship. I’m here to work for you.”

Beau spoke as he grabbed the envelope and stuffed it away. “Thanks.” Christian smiled and thought about Beau’s words. Beau had a point. lying to Serena wouldn’t do him any good and he should’ve learned from his mistakes by Hot.

“Don’t you feel uncomfortable?” Beau asked. “I’m still Serena’s brother, and I don’t want to anger you or to make you uncomfortable. I mean, at first I hated you and I wanted to, but now that I-”

“You talk a lot.” Christian sighed. “Vince was right. You actually talk a lot-there’s just no stopping you. You’re just like your sister.”

“Am I?” Beau laughed. “It’s my twin, so I don’t really mind.”

“You’re not that close with your family, are you?” Beau suddenly spoke. “I mean, I’ve seen my cousins’ faces more than I’ve seen my own, and I have a lot, but I don’t really see you with your family.”

“You’re good at observing others.” Christian noticed. He could already see through Beau and noticed how much he and Serena were actually alike. “I have one cousin, Johnny-he’s the only sane cousin and there was no need for me to get close to them because my dad took care of everything, but a lot has obviously changed,” Christian explained. “They follow my orders out of respect for the family name and my dad, but that’s it.”

“That’s too bad,” Beau spoke. “I think you’re way too comfortable and need to be more in control.

Aren’t you afraid of losing your position?”

Christian had an amused smile on his face by Beau’s boldness and was curious about his thoughts.

“Please tell me more.”

“Your own people will turn against you because they think you’re not good enough for the job, so they’ll replace you with some side cousin or maybe even one of your brothers who can offer them better things,” Beau stated. “You might not like your family, but you shouldn’t turn away from them —”

“That’s what I thought.” Christian interrupted him. “I’m sorry?” Beau spoke, confused. Beau had not realized it yet, but he shared the same thoughts as Christian. Christian had finally figured out Dario.

If Dario was indeed a Lamberti and his uncle was really alive, it would only be a matter of time before they would try to erase him from the family.

Telling Serena about Gina, stealing her away from him, making the video go viral, and trying to start something with the Alfonzo’s who had always supported him as the heir was all Dario’s doing. His family never liked him to begin with, and Dano made it even worse. Christian had concluded that someone else was pulling the strings in that household and had a very good idea of who that person could be, his uncle Berto. The man with the mask.

“Beau, it’s nice to be in the presence of someone who gets me.” Christian praised him.

“Am I interrupting something?” Marc made his presence known. “No, you’re not-you’re right on time.” Christian invited him in. “You know Beau.”

“Ah yes, what did you call him again? The corpse who you dislike and is only here because he’s Serena’s brother.” Marc frowned as he glared at Beau, who stuck out his hand. “Corpse?” Beau asked, confused, and pulled back his hand as the two laughed at the startled look on his face.

“You can’t joke around with him like that. He’s too serious.” Christian told Marc. “I can tell.” Marc smiled at Beau. “Don’t let him meet Luca.”

I was kidding. It was a joke.” Marc clarified. “Also, what are all those people doing in your room?”

“Renovating.” Christian sighed. “Serena’s request, please don’t ask me more questions.”

“After Serena gets here, we can discuss how we’re getting rid of Dario and my uncle, who’s supposed to be dead.” Christian spoke.

“W-what?” Beau asked. “That’s right. You don’t know anything yet. Come on.” Christian sighed as he pulled him by his arm. “I have a lot to tell you before Serena gets here.”

The three made their way downstairs and Christian told Beau every single detail about Dario and the discovery about his uncle. “I should kill you right now, both of you.” Beau threatened him.

“As Serena’s brother or as my employee?” Christian joked, but Beau was not in the mood for any jokes. “I’m serious, what if he found Serena in his office?”

“Then he wouldn’t have done anything, he told Serena that he never looks at his security cameras, but he’s not stupid,” Christian spoke. “He must’ve already seen her, but he won’t hurt her because he likes her.”

“He probably doesn’t trust her anymore, but I have a way to fix it.” Christian explained. “I need her to do one more thing for me, she’s our only option.”

“What?” Beau and Marc spoke at the same time. “So much for keeping her out of it.” Marc chuckled.

“Dario probably thinks Serena is just like him.” Christian shared. “I need Serena to gain his trust again, and I will help her with that.”

“But why?” Beau asked, confused.

“Because Dario will open up and lead her straight to my uncle, and I’ll get rid of him.” Christian spoke. “It’s time for all of this to end.”