Boystown Season Four Read online

  “Good, thanks,” Hugo answered.

  “Hugo wanted to see where I work -- or where I will work when it’s all done. Since we were just passing by, I thought I’d let him take a look.”

  “Of course,” Max said. “Feel free to look around.”

  “There’s not much to look at yet,” Dustin said. “But certainly more than a few weeks ago.”

  “The place looks great actually,” Jensen said.

  “Is it weird being back in here after the fire and all?” Hugo asked.

  “Naw,” Dustin replied. “It actually feels good.”

  “We’re making real progress,” Max added. “We’re ahead of schedule and that never happens with construction.”

  “You can come with me to the grand opening,” Jensen suggested to Hugo.

  “Deal,” Hugo said.

  “Well, we didn’t mean to interrupt,” Jensen said. “Just wanted to stop in and see what’s going on.”

  “You’re welcome any time,” Max said. “You know that. In fact, we’d like your opinion on a few things since you’re here.”

  “Yes,” Dustin said. “Come on over here and take a look at these samples.”

  Jensen and Hugo walked over to the table where Dustin showed them the fabric samples that Max and he were discussing earlier.

  At the same time, Justin Mancini and his brother Emmett were walking through Maggie Daley Park enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. People of all ages, alone and with companions, passed them as they made their way along the park’s winding paths.

  “What a great idea to meet here in the park,” Emmett said. “We live here and it seems like we forget about all these amazing places Chicago has to offer.”

  “Well, now that Gino and I are making Chicago our second home we are trying to get to know it as much as we can.”

  “You really love him, don’t you?”

  Justin smiled. “I do.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy.”

  “I guess I was spending so much time and energy being angry that I forgot how much easier it is to be happy,” Justin stated. “Which is why I am so glad you agreed to a double wedding with Gino and me. It’s going to be so amazing.”

  “Thank you for allowing us to share the spotlight with you both.”

  Justin laughed. “Not a problem. I think this is going to be an event no one will ever forget.”

  “So you said you had an idea?”

  “Yes, actually. First, do you think Derek is going to attend our lunch meeting today?”

  “I spoke with him this morning and he was in a mood, as he always is lately. I wouldn’t bet on him showing up, but you never know.”

  “Regardless, I want to share this idea with you,” Justin said. “It’s very important to Gino and me that our wedding day be a celebration of family -- and a way to bring the Ciancios and Mancinis a bit closer together.”

  “That would be ideal.”

  “I’m glad you think so,” Justin continued. “So here’s my idea. What if, instead of each having our own best man, you and I share three of them?”

  “Three?”

  “Yes. Let’s ask Derek, David, and Tyler to be co-best men for both of us.”

  Emmett’s face lit up. “Oh, my God! I love it. What a great idea.”

  “It’ll include everyone and also help David and Tyler feel more like part of our family.”

  Emmett hugged Justin. “Perfect. You know, you really have changed. I’m impressed.”

  “Well, I’m far from perfect,” Justin admitted. “But I am working on it -- hard.”

  “It shows. I never thought I’d say this, but I am really proud to have you as a brother.”

  “Thank you,” Justin said. “I appreciate that.”

  “And I love the best men idea.”

  “Great,” Justin said, looking at his watch. “Well, it’s almost time, so we should probably head over.” Justin and Emmett picked up their walking pace and headed to the exit of the park.

  High atop Chicago’s tallest building, Gino Ciancio was hosting a lunch in a private room of the Skyline Club. The room provided spectacular views of the city and lakefront which served as a tranquil backdrop for the serious conversation occurring at the table.

  Seated around the large table were Gino’s guests: Justin, Derek, Emmett, David, and Tyler. The server placed a glass of champagne in front of each of the six gentlemen and then walked away from the table.

  Gino raised his glass to make a toast. “Before we begin our conversation, I would like to make a toast to everyone seated at this table. One way or another, we are all connected and it is my hope that this lunch will be the start of all of us becoming closer.”

  “Cheers to that,” Justin said, as the men all touched their champagne glasses together.

  “Thank you for hosting all of us, Gino,” Emmett added.

  “I’m sure you all have questions, but I thought I would begin by sharing with you all the information that I have and then we can go from there.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” David said.

  “My parents loved each other very much. But, like all marriages, theirs had its fair share of issues. Because our fathers had been best friends earlier in their lives, your father and my mother knew each other well; they were always around each other socially. And during a particularly rough patch within her marriage, she turned to your father -- initially for some advice and support, but eventually, they began an affair. It lasted longer than either of them may have expected and she fell in love with him, but, in the end, he rejected her for another woman.”

  “And it wasn’t my mother, I’m sure,” Emmett said. “Dad had more affairs than we could count.”

  “In any event, Mother was devastated and then discovered she was pregnant with twins, which obviously run in our family. The person closest to her was her sister, our Aunt Connie, who was a nun living in Rome. She only recently passed away. In order to keep the pregnancy a secret from our father, Connie and Mother came up with a story. They said she had cancer and was going to live in Rome for some new, experimental treatments. She lived with Connie in Rome during the pregnancy. When the time came, she gave birth to twin boys.”

  “Us,” Tyler said, drinking his champagne.

  “That’s correct,” Gino said. “Angry with your father, Mother decided to only let him know about just one of the boys and told him that he’d never be able to meet or know the child. Then she put both boys up for adoption, through separate agencies. The only request she made of the agencies was that the boys be encouraged to pursue careers in health care, just like her. Even Aunt Connie believed there was only one child. Your father spent a great deal of time and money to find his son, but never did. And, of course, he never knew the child had a twin out there as well.”

  “Which is why Dad only mentioned one of you in his will,” Justin said. “He didn’t know there were twins -- and hoped that we would be able to locate his one son after he was dead, since he never could when he was alive.”

  “Mother wrote all of this information in a diary she kept for me. Then she locked the diary, gave it to Aunt Connie to keep, and instructed her to give it to me after she died, at a time Connie thought would be appropriate. Connie did so just before she herself passed away.”

  “And where did you get all the documents?” David asked Gino.

  “That was all disclosed within her diary. Mother wrote that she had hidden the birth records and adoption documents in the backs of some of the paintings in her art collection. After she died, our father auctioned the complete collection because it reminded him too much of her. So, Marco and I spent a great deal of effort locating the pieces of the collection, one of which actually hangs in your apartment above the fireplace.”

  “Wait a minute,” Tyler said. “We just had to have the backing of the painting repaired because it was damaged when it fell.”

  Gino shook his head. “It didn’t fall. Marco had one of his ‘colleagues’ br
eak into your apartment while you were at the fundraiser on the night of the fire to get the documents from inside the painting.”

  “Shit,” Tyler said. “Why didn’t he just tell us what was going on?”

  “You know my brother,” Gino said. “Our father wanted to determine who the fourth Mancini son was before any of you did. It was only after we received the diary that we knew we were actually searching for twins.” Gino paused and then added, “For what it’s worth, we did have our attorneys check out all the documents and contact the adoption agencies. According to them, everything is true.”

  “Vince Provenzano did the same for me,” Derek said. “He believes the documents are authentic as well.”

  “David, what did your parents say when you went home to visit them?” Emmett asked.

  “Well, I have always known I was adopted,” David said. “And my adoption was a ‘closed’ one; my parents never knew who my birth parents were. But they did verify that they used the agency on the documents and that there was a request made about a career in health care. Like you, they believe everything in your story is true.”

  “And what about you, Tyler?” Justin asked.

  “This is all a bit overwhelming, to be honest. I never knew I was adopted, so it’s been a double-shock for me. Both my parents are dead, so I have no one to verify this information with. So I went the science route instead.”

  “What do you mean?” Derek asked.

  David replied, “Tyler and I had some genetic testing done at the hospital. The results showed we are related. For us, that was the most important fact. Knowing we are brothers is the best news to come out of this whole situation.”

  “Agreed,” Tyler said, touching his glass to David’s and then drinking more champagne.

  “I’m glad your doubts have all been settled,” Gino stated.

  “Me too,” Justin added. “Emmett and I actually have something very important to ask the three of you.” Justin looked at Emmett. “Go ahead, tell them.”

  “Well, you know that Justin and Gino offered to share their wedding day with Max and me, and we accepted. So we are all getting married Memorial Day weekend in California. And rather than pick from the three of you, we were wondering if all three of you would stand up for both of us as our best men.”

  “Wow,” David said. “Thank you.”

  “If my mother’s affair with your father contributed to making the Ciancio-Mancini feud worse, we are hoping our weddings will help put it to rest,” Gino explained.

  “I think it’s a great idea,” Tyler said. “Thank you.”

  “I’m in, too,” David stated. “That really is an honor.”

  “Derek?” Emmett asked.

  “I’m not going to lie,” Derek said. “All of this has been really hard for me. I am having difficulty wrapping my head around the idea of having two new brothers, but I am trying. And I want to first apologize to both of you, Tyler and David. I have been angry and hostile and combative lately -- and I’m not proud of it. I’ve been taking my frustration with myself out on you both and I sincerely apologize. I’m going to try to do better and get to know you both more.”

  “Thank you for saying that,” David stated.

  “So, yes, I am cool with the three of us being best men for you.”

  “Great,” Justin said, smiling.

  “Thank you,” Emmett told Derek.

  “Justin and I are going to host a small engagement-housewarming party just before we head to California for the wedding, not just so you can all see our new place, but mainly to celebrate our families. We expect you all to be there. And then we’ll all fly out to California on one of the Ciancio jets a few days before the wedding to get settled prior to the rest of the guests coming out. You can make a bit of a vacation of it.”

  “Sounds incredible,” David said.

  “And we’ll host everyone at our estate,” Gino added. “My father insisted.”

  “That’s great,” Tyler said. “Thank you for including us.”

  “And I’m going to propose that we take the necessary steps to divide our ninety-two percent of Mancini Global equally among the five of us,” Justin stated.

  “Now I’m sure you have some more questions, so fire away,” Gino said.

  “I certainly do,” Tyler said. “What was our mother like?”

  As Gino told Tyler and David more about their mother, Hugo was alone in his living room. Wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist, he walked over to the small bar standing against the wall. He reached inside and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and a shot glass. Looking around to make sure he was alone, he poured himself a shot and downed it quickly. He made an odd facial expression as the alcohol went down and poured a second one, chugging it quickly.

  “Hey, easy there,” Rachel said, walking into the room and startling him.

  “Rachel,” Hugo said nervously. “What are you doing here?”

  “Your father dropped me here to wait for him. He had to go to the hospital for a while. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  “No problem.”

  “What’s this all about?” Rachel asked, gesturing toward the whiskey bottle.

  “Just a lot on my mind, that’s all,” Hugo said, stepping in front of the bar.

  Rachel took a step closer to him. “Don’t worry; I won’t tell. In fact, let’s do one together.” Rachel smiled, adding, “As long as you don’t tell, either.”

  “Promise,” Hugo said, taking a clean shot glass from the bar and then filling both of them.

  “Cheers,” Rachel said as they touched their shot glasses and drank. Putting her glass back down on the bar, Rachel took Hugo by the hand and led him to the sofa where they sat down. “Now, come on. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

  Hugo adjusted the towel wrapped around him. “I should probably put some clothes on.”

  Rachel put her hand on his leg. “Just tell me -- what’s on your mind that you need to do shots to deal with?”

  “Nothing in particular. Just a lot on my mind: college, football, friends, dating...”

  “Dating? I don’t think you have any problems in that department, a handsome quarterback like yourself? Come on.”

  Hugo smiled. “It’s not that dating itself is a problem. It’s who I want to date that may be the problem.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “You don’t know my father very well yet, Rachel,” Hugo said. “He has standards and expectations for me. Really, really high ones.”

  “Hugo, it’s your life. You have to do what makes you happy.”

  “Tell that to him.”

  “Maybe I will, once he and I get a bit closer.” Rachel touched Hugo’s cheek. “The moment I met you, I knew you were a special guy. Your father knows that, too. Believe me.”

  “I wish he were as easy to talk to as you are.”

  “I’ll work on him,” Rachel stated. “But in the meantime, I’m here for you no matter what you need.” Rachel leaned forward and kissed Hugo on the cheek.

  “Thank you,” Hugo replied. He leaned forward and returned a kiss to Rachel. As their kiss continued, he moved toward her on the couch. As he put his hands on her shoulders, she ran her hand up his big arm.

  Their kiss continued and Hugo wrapped his arms around her. She dug her fingers into his chest and then worked them gently over his shoulders and down his back. As Hugo leaned forward to get on top of her, Rachel pushed back against him.

  “Hugo, Hugo,” Rachel said. “Your father will be back soon.”

  Hugo pulled away from her quickly. “Oh, God. You’re right. What the hell was I thinking? I am so sorry.”

  Rachel put her finger on his lips. “Shh. No. Please don’t apologize. It’s okay. We can talk more later. You should probably get dressed.”

  Hugo jumped up, re-adjusting his towel. “Of course. Again, I’m so sorry.” Hugo rushed from the room as Rachel watched him, smiling.

  “Brava, Rachel,” she said to herself. “You couldn’t have played t
hat better if you had planned it yourself.” Rachel laughed quietly, walked over to the bar, and poured herself another shot.

  Later on, at the Boystown Athletic Club, Dustin finished his workout. As he headed down the stairs to the locker room, David was heading up toward the free weights room. They paused to talk on the stairs.

  “Hey, David,” Dustin said.

  “Dustin, it’s nice to see you.”

  “You, too. What’s new?”

  “Other than the fact that I have a brand-new family, not much,” David replied, smiling.

  “I heard about all that. How are you doing?”

  “Actually, I’m doing okay. We all got together earlier and that was really helpful.”

  “That’s great,” Dustin stated. “How’s Cole?”

  “Great. He and his friends are going to dinner tonight, so I thought I’d get a workout in.”

  “Then you two are still friends? That’s great.”

  “Still friends? What do you mean?”

  “Just that I think it’s cool you two are still friends after breaking up. That’s the best-case scenario.”

  David laughed softly. “Breaking up? What are you talking about?”

  “Well, I just assumed--”

  “Why would you assume that we broke up?”

  “Oh, boy,” Dustin said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “No, tell me. What are you talking about?”

  “Well, when I saw Derek leaving Cole’s apartment the other day wearing Cole’s clothes, I just assumed they were back together.”

  “Leaving Cole’s apartment...when?”

  “The other day, when you were out of town. I’m sorry, I just assumed...”

  David started back up the stairs. “I have to go.”

  “I’m...sorry...” Dustin watched as David bolted up the stairs and out of his view.

  As night fell upon Chicago and the lights of the city illuminated the dark sky, diners filled Boystown Bistro to capacity. The restaurant was packed and servers scrambled to meet the needs of the diners.

  Derek and Dustin sat at a table near the fireplace. With the flames reflecting off their faces, they sipped their martinis.