“Perhaps I should talk to-”
“Absolutely not!” Athena forced herself to calm. “This will surprise him, bellissima. He may not believe the child is his at first. He...may not believe you were a virgin if you gave yourself to him so easily.”
Rosella uttered a sound of profound dismay and Athena made no effort to reassure her. Nothing could put her in the position of having to explain how her son and Rosella Campagnone had wound up in such a situation that night. Stone might never forgive her if he knew the lengths she’d gone to. Worse, his anger might cause him to keep her grandchild away from her. She would make sure he never knew of the child, before allowing such a thing to happen.
“Calm yourself, girl. Upset is not good for the baby. Just have your mother call me so we can set things in motion.”
“Yes, yes I-I promise. Th-thank you Mrs. Tesano.”
The connection ended. Athena studied the phone for a while and then made another call.
~60~
Stone looked up from scowling over an open file when he heard the knock and smiled when he found Aaron standing just inside the door.
“Can I interrupt you for a second?”
“Please interrupt me and for way more than a second,” Stone begged. “What’s up?” A curious smile quirked his wide mouth when he saw his brother close and lock the office door.
Aaron offered no comment, only placed a group of stapled pages to the desk.
Stone’s vibrant jades scanned the first page and then moved on to the next. He mouthed a yawn when he got to the third. “Somebody’s got some bland reading tastes.”
Aaron paced the room while Stone reviewed the pages.
“What the...?”
Stone’s hushed query made Aaron halt his steps and turn.
“Surgical techniques for human reproductive ex-extractions...Ari, what?”
“Keep going.”
Stone shook his head, but did as he was asked. “Shipping economics. Ocean freight management. Refrigeration shipping containers for preserving biological specimens...Ari, what the fuck?”
“Humphrey’s reading list according to our local library,” Aaron explained.
“Well what the hell is he into?”
Aaron leaned against the desk. “Whatever it is, I’d say he’s in over his head.”
“Shipping economics,” Stone murmured the title.
“Sounds like he’s trying to bone up to comprehend the lingo in your proposal.”
Stone chuckled. “That’s Hump, alright. Can’t let anyone in the room think they’re smarter than he is. Rather read through all this nonsense than ask me to explain it to him.”
“You think that’s all is it?”
Stone regarded his big brother doubtfully. “Well what else?”
“Maybe it’s not about you. Maybe it’s someone else he’s involved with. Remember what you found in those shipping manifests? The surgical equipment and what not?”
Stone looked to the list again. “Human Reproductive Extractions. Jesus...”
“If you’ve got any ideas for handling this, other than ripping into every Tesano shipment set to leave on the next rotation, I’d love to hear them.”
Stone settled back in his desk chair. “We may not need to go that far. Our little brother may’ve given us the answer. Ro’s got one of his guys set to be planted among the crew. He’s gonna sniff around, see what he picks up.”
“And then what?” Aaron pushed off the desk and began to walk the room again. “Do we take what we know to our brother or our father?”
Stone dug the heels of his palms into his eyes. “Hell...either way is a nightmare. Either our brother winds up thinking we don’t trust him or our father gets crushed.”
“Come on Stow,” Aaron winced, “it’s not like that. If anything, we’re looking out for Hump, making sure the jackass doesn’t get in over his head.” He sighed. “Now we just have to hope he sees it that way.”
***
“Ma?” Humphrey straightened behind his desk when Athena walked into the office.
Vale, perched on the edge of his brother’s desk, straightened when he saw his mother in the room.
Athena stopped in front of the desk. She offered no words of greeting, only action when she slapped a folded newspaper to the polished maple surface. The insert read “Fire At The Stonewall”.
“Does this look familiar?” She asked.
Humphrey frowned fiercely as he scanned the article. “No Ma,” he said, his voice quiet and reverent.
“But that’s not the case for you, is it?” Athena looked to her youngest then.
