His Command

Whatever Giovanni had to say must be important that he had to come to Manhattan when he knew Gael asked for a few days to be with Angela with no distractions. They spoke on the phone yesterday, and it didn't seem like there was an interruption in their movement. So Gael wondered what his visit meant.

Closing the door behind him as they walked into the spare room of his apartment that he turned into an office space, he flicked the lights on and walked over to the shelf where he kept a decanter and a couple of crystal glasses. Pouring a finger of golden yellow liquid into each of the crystals, he handed one to his uncle and nodded. "What is it?"

Giovanni took his time, glancing down at the glass, throwing back a slosh of the liquid as he leaned against the desk, and then setting down the crystal next to his hip. "Good news and bad," he said, but his face was devoid of any emotion.

This was probably more serious than Gael thought. "Tell me."