Chapter 73

29

Duchy of AragoniMarco

AT THE AIRPORT in Aragoni, Dani and I were surprised to find my father waiting for us with a driver. After we’d exchanged hugs, I said, “We’ve got a little surprise for you, Father.”

“A surprise?”

“Give me a minute.”

I went back up the steps, into the plane, and carried a case of wine to the door. “Come take this from me, Dani, please,” I said.

He took the case and set it on the floor of the hangar, and I retrieved the second case and handed it to him.

“From the Conti wine cellar,” Dani said. “We thought you might like them.”

“Don’t give me any credit,” I said. “It was your idea.”

“You’d have thought about it, too, if you hadn’t been so busy.”

“Perhaps.”

“In any case,” Father said, “I appreciate it, and, from what you boys told me about that cellar, I’m eager to have a look.”

On the drive back to the castle, Father sat in front with the driver while carrying on a conversation with us.