Page 52 of The Billionaire's Destiny

Adelina: Thank you both for the beautiful flowers and well wishes. I’m going to the Duomo with Rocco and to see Leonardo da Vinci today.

Ding.My phone alerted me to an incoming text.

Grandmother: Good, go to Mass. Where did you get that photo of me?

I puzzled at her response, and my heart panged. Was Grandmother losing her memory? We finally had a chance to be close, something I had wanted since the day I met her, and time once again reminded me that it wouldn’t wait.Then again, I could be wrong. Still, I was careful in my response.

Adelina: No, Grandmother. That’s me today in Milan. I’m holding a rose from the bouquet you and Grandfather sent me.

Grandmother: I know I sent you the roses, but I swear I have the same photo of myself in my album.

I sighed in relief that it wasn’t her forgetting and messaged back.

Adelina: Really? I’d love to see it!

Grandmother: Hold on. I’ll send a copy.

Anticipation filled me as I waited for her response.

Zane’s phone sounded, and he looked at me when he answered. “Rocco’s a block away? Fine. I’ll help with security.” He ended his call. “Did you hear that?”

I smiled. “Couldn’t miss it.”

He laughed. “I’ll be right back.”

Ding. A new text arrived, revealing a photo of my grandmother outside a grand mansion. Our resemblance was almost eerie: the same wide-set, navy-blue eyes framed by long brows and lashes, high cheekbones, and lips painted a deep, confident red, both of us wearing identical smiles. Even our dresses and heels blurred the years between us. It made me wonder if time was as unyielding as the North Star, holding us all in its orbit.

Grandmother: That’s the New York mayor’s house. I was twenty-three.

I blinked back tears and sent her a text.

Adelina: It looks like the same photo! I love it.

Grandmother: I do, too. Can you send me a copy I can frame here for our mantle? Your grandfather says you look like his mother, Tessa.

Reading my grandmother’s message, I felt a surge of emotion sweep through me. After all the shadows that haunted our family, knowing they saw themselves in me made me feel, finally, that I belonged.

Adelina: I’ll make sure to do so. Grandfather said I look like Tessa? Lorenzo Rossi said I look like her, too. He lived near her in Rome.

Grandmother: The Maestro Lorenzo Rossi? Yes, he did. Tessa called him the troublemaker, but now he sells outconcert halls around the world. We’re off to golf. Enjoy your visit, light candles, and say prayers for all of us. We’ll be visiting Jacob during your next scheduled call.

Jacob had been busy, and we had rescheduled our call for later this week. I hoped to catch up on his gallery tour, and I also had another chance to see how my grandparents were doing after all the press and Mama’s separation from Glenn.

Adelina: Great. I’ll see you all then.

The elevator dinged, and footsteps echoed closer. My heart thudded as I rose, just in time to see Rocco enter, dressed in jeans, a hoodie, and sunglasses—a rare sight that made him almost unrecognizable.

“Incognito today?” I teased.

His lips spread into a smile. “Something like that.”

I took a step toward him, but he raised his hand, removing his sunglasses. Makeup from the photoshoot was still on his face, and as I knew from previous photoshoots, it usually covered parts of his body.

“I’m going to take a shower before we go.”

I nodded and folded my hands in front of me. “Yeah, okay. Uhm, how was it?”

“Good. My favorite photographer, Liv, got right down to business, and we finished close to time.”