Perfect decelt

ent, surrounded by wine-stained notebooks, reports with red flags, and the glow of my lapt

t some quirky

thing far m

ollaborative ventures with foreign investors." But the evidence suggested something entirely different. Hidden payments. Diversions of vineyard research. Confid

mach t

wn to the soil type. But the worst part? The narrative being crafted in t

ar ca

wine publications had been fed subtle but damning pieces about Laveldi's "s

ing Laveldi fr

the inside wa

hrough every assumption I'd had. This wasn't about family

ded a

*

h the glass doors and up to the executive floor, not bothering to announce myself. I storm

I said, tossing the fl

ed, eyeing the device warily. "

," I said. "

ptop, and within minutes, the

this can'

les to an overseas group. They're replicating your wines and positioning Laveldi as the fraud. When

is jaw, stunned. "No one t

to know," I said. "This isn't just busin

u know

I cut in. "

ground had just shifted beneath him. "You real

ey've alrea

once, eyes hardening. "Alright. Keep d

trusti

ave me a tight smile. "You'r

ow. "You finally

id the digging. And the more we worked together, the more I realized how wrong I'd b

tratingl

rway of my office, a space he had created for me so we can work together and I'll be abl

ri

ed. "Ex

me all week. I think t

't mix business wit

frame. "It's not business. It's a thank-yo

ways promise that. Then your fa

d. "Is th

d. "One

posed brick, amber lighting, jazz humming low through

red a bottle of Gamay. Laveldi. I didn'

uces," he said,

uth," I replied, clin

iar and warm on my tongue. Comforting, l

ck, "you always keep sec

father... he kept everything compartmentalized. I was alwa

sound like a

d away.

y in his voice I hadn't

he said. "But now that he's retired, all I'm left with are pieces I don't kno

g in me

ws, the exhaustion just beneath his sharp exterior. There was n

asked. "Why

if I do, then everything he built... everythi

ou're trying to fix someth

"But I'm glad to h

respond

and tilted his head, the

ink about starting over somewhere els

the past doesn't leave you ju

oming from you. At least now you kn

led. "

slightly into

s of his eyes crinkled, the way his shoulders relaxe

me... my he

o

. Not f

dangerous warmth settling in my chest. I

as a

rsation dipped and turned, unravelin

d at the cuffs. "You think we'll actu

gure things

lazily. "C

nes

ddenly softer. "I'm really

harder than th

hand brushing mine in passi

too long. Wh