Oh, who was he fooling? He’d been the one and only reason. He’d left himself wide-open to her. And as she’d shrewdly commented, he was doing it again.
Clearly unaware of his turmoil, Alonzo pursued his own perplexity. “But most important, who?” Alonzo grimaced as if at an unsavory thought. “Please, don’t tell me it’s one of those women you parade for the paparazzi!”
This was another of the privacies that only Alonzo was privy to. That Vincenzo’s reputation had been manufactured. By him. To keep hopeful and gold-digging women away. To keep women away, period. He’d found a ruthless playboy’s image much more effectively off-putting than a reclusive scientist-prince’s. Around a year after breaking up with Glory, he’d started hiring “escorts” wherever he went, to paint the image he wanted.
Not that he hadn’t been with women outside his propaganda campaign. He’d tried. If not for long. After a few encounters had ended with him being unable to…rise to the occasion, he’d given up. Alonzo had even once asked if Vincenzo had changed his mind about his orientation, asking if he could take the glad tidings to the gay community that Vincenzo might be on the market soon.
Alonzo had been scandalized when Vincenzo had told him he’d just decided to take an open-ended leave of absence from sex. According to Alonzo, that was the most unnatural thing he’d ever heard. A virile man in his prime owed it to the world to give and receive pleasure to and from as many people as possible. Since he had no partner, of course.
But that had been the problem. While Vincenzo didn’t have a partner, his body didn’t know that. It had already been imprinted with Glory’s code. And though his mind had rejected her, there’d been no reprogramming his body.
Now he decided to tell Alonzo what would appeal to the hopeless romantic in him. What had been true, if he didn’t mention the parts that made it also ugly and painful.
“Her name is Glory Monaghan. She’s an American who was once my executive consultant, and now she’s consulting for major humanitarian operations. I fell in love with her during that time you went with Gio to Brazil. It ended…badly. Then Ferruccio slammed me with a royal decree to get married to clean up my image so I can be Castaldini’s representative to the United Nations. And after all these years, and in spite of the way we parted, she was the only one I could think of. I sought her out again and found her hold on me is stronger than ever. Things…developed, and now…I’ll marry her.”
Alonzo’s eyes, which had been reddening as he listened, now filled. “Oh, mio ragazzo caro! I have no words…no words…”
Vincenzo wondered if he’d ever get used to Alonzo calling him “dear boy.” And he wondered if he was making a mistake by hiding the nature of his impending marriage.
Alonzo interrupted his heavy musings by doing something he hadn’t done since Vincenzo was twelve. He pulled Vincenzo into a fatherly hug. Alonzo had been that to him, even more than his real father, though Bernardo D’Agostino had been an exceptional father, too.
Vincenzo accepted Alonzo’s distraught joy, only wishing it was founded on something genuine, already starting to regret that he’d misled him.
Before he could make qualifications that would temper Alonzo’s delight and expectations, and his subsequent letdown when things came to an inevitable end, Alonzo pulled back with a look of absolute anxiety on his face.
“Please tell me you’re giving me enough time to prepare!”
Vincenzo shook his head, his lips once again tugging at how passionately Alonzo felt about everything. “Anyone hearing you would think it’s your wedding, Alonzo.”
“If only!” Alonzo’s eyes filled with mockery and not a little resignation. “If Gio hasn’t popped the question in fifteen years, he isn’t about to do so now.”
And for that, Vincenzo considered Giordano Mancini a major ass. Everyone knew Alonzo was his partner, but Giordano seemed to think that if he didn’t openly admit it and didn’t live with him he would avoid the prejudices that plagued same-sex relationships. As a businessman who came from a deeply traditional family, everyone turned a blind eye to his sexual orientation as long as he wasn’t blatant about it.
Which outraged Vincenzo to no end. He considered Giordano a coward who shortchanged Alonzo to protect himself. So same-sex marriages were still not accepted in Castaldini, but Vincenzo had told Gio he’d stand up for them, make sure everyone showed them every respect and courtesy, personally and professionally. His assurances hadn’t been enough for Gio, and he’d convinced Alonzo that they didn’t need a certificate or the world’s acceptance to be happy. Or at least, Alonzo pretended to be convinced so he could stay with the man he loved. But his reaction now proved that he still yearned for the validation of his beloved’s public proclamation, and the delight of preparing a ceremony to celebrate their bond.
Vincenzo’s gaze settled heavily on Alonzo. Everyone thought Vincenzo couldn’t be more different from the man, fourteen years his senior, who’d been his closest companion since he was ten. Only he knew how similar they were where it mattered. They were both detail-oriented and goal-focused. But most important, they suffered from the same fundamental ailment. Monogamy. The one thing stopping him from telling Alonzo to kick that guy out of his life was that Gio was equally exclusive.
At least so far. Vincenzo had made certain. If that ever changed, Gio wouldn’t know what hit him.
“But it’s worse.” Alonzo’s exclamation interrupted Vincenzo’s aggressive thoughts. “It’s your wedding. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day?”
“I can subtract, Alonzo. Since you started droning that I should get married when I wasn’t yet twenty. It’s been two decades since you started longing to plan the elusive day.”
“But it’s elusive no more! I could kiss King Ferruccio for pushing you to make the decision.”
“You just want to kiss Ferruccio under any pretext,” he teased.
After that, Alonzo deluged him with questions, milking him for info on dates, preferences, Glory and everything besides, so he could start preparing the “Wedding of the Century,” as he was adamant it would be. He insisted he’d have to get his hands on Glory ASAP so he’d get her input, and construct the perfect “setting” for Vincenzo’s royal jewel.
Alonzo only left him alone when he told him of his ring-picking mission, for which he’d yet to prepare.