A Forever Love(63)

What was his son thinking? What did he see in the two men that flanked Justin? One was shorter and thicker with dark eyes, but the same black scruff of hair as Max that hung over his forehead and nearly flopped in his eyes. Devon was the rabble-rouser. The man who always wanted a good time, whom women fell for and men wanted to be. On the other side was Leo. Closest in age to Justin, he was thoughtful and smart and taller than Devon but shorter than Justin. He cut an imposing figure, with the jet-black eyes of their mother but the black Travati hair. He kept his hair trimmed above his collar, much like Justin. Leo wore a suit and Devon had more of a hipster vibe, while Justin was all Wall Street.

“Leo, Devon, this is my son.” Justin’s voice trembled and nearly broke. This moment, damn this moment. Tears burned the back of his eyes, and he pressed one fingertip into the corner of his eye, then grasped his son’s shoulder. “This is my Max.” He nodded. His nostrils flared. Pride and love and joy shot through his body. A giant mass of emotion flooded his senses. He looked across the room to where Aubrey stood in an emerald-green dress, her red curls framing her porcelain face, her eyes understanding the depth of emotion that thrummed through Justin. Max was her son too. Her forever love. Max was their child together.

Leo reached out and clasped Max to him. He slapped his back. When he pulled back and looked into his nephew’s eyes, Leo’s eyes glistened too. He looked from Justin to Max. “I’m so happy to meet you. I’m …” He tore his eyes away while one hand rested on Max’s shoulder and his other hand rested on Justin’s. “I just … I’m so happy you’re here. That we have the next generation. Welcome, Max. Welcome.”

Max smiled and nodded and looked at his dad and then spun his head and glanced at his mother.

Devon hugged Max too. “Man, you’re tall!” Max was nearly as tall as his Uncle Devon. “You like sports? What are you playing? Huh? Football? Soccer?” He reached out and grabbed Max’s arm. “Football. You got too much Midwestern muscle not to be playing football.”

“Yes, sir. Freshman football this year.”

“I’m your Uncle Devon, you got that? I’m here for anything you need, anything you want to talk about, anything at all. You got that?” He pointed his finger straight at Max. “Anything. Trouble, good stuff, anything. We clear?”

Max nodded.

“Come here, kid.” Devon grabbed him up into another tight hug and pulled him close.

Justin’s heart was full, nearly bursting. These were his brothers, the men he loved. The men he trusted. The men who would be charged with taking care of his son, and hopefully soon his wife, should something ever happen to him.

“Man, he looks just like you,” Devon said and his eyes flicked from Max to Justin. His gaze then traveled toward Aubrey. He squinted. “You’re Max’s mother.” He tilted his head to the side. “Have we met?”

Aubrey smiled. “You were still in school when I worked at Travati Financial, but I saw you at the Murphy-Duval wedding at Mesquale.”

“You …”

“Were very close with Paloma.”

“Paloma. You knew Paloma.”

“We graduated B-school together. She was one of my closest friends.”

“One of the most beautiful women in the world. And smart. he was perfect for Ryan. But Charla seems good. They’re in love—you can see it.”

“Very different than Paloma,” Aubrey said, “and yet she and Ryan make a perfect pair.”

Justin watched Aubrey with Devon while Leo spoke to Max about his upcoming first year of high school and sports and what did he do in Kansas for fun? Then with that Travati charm, Devon was turning to talk to Max, and Leo had made his way to Aubrey.

“Aubrey, it is such a pleasure to see you again. This is the most wonderful blessing and surprise. I …” He pressed his hand to his chest. “I’m sorry. I’m never this emotional, but this is such a night. To meet my nephew and his mother and to see you and how happy Justin is? I only wish”—he looked from Aubrey to Justin—“I only wish you’d told him sooner.” Leo reached out and grasped his brother’s arm.

Aubrey nodded. Now her throat tightened, and she was choking on her words. “I do too, Leo. I do too. I pray one day that Justin and you and Devon and Anthony can forgive me for that. I was young and scared and then just scared.” The emotion of the evening was swamping her and overwhelming her. She looked to Max—he seemed happy and engaged, and he bubbled with a brilliance and joy.

“I’m glad we have him now.” Leo turned to sit, and then they were all around the table in the penthouse and the chef was bringing out plates of Travati family recipes that their mother and grandmother used to cook on special occasions and sometimes just on Sundays.