Jess shook her head.  “I told you I didn’t need to know.  You need to talk to Mom.  And the two of you need to figure out how to tell Jams that his whole life has been a lie.”

“I’ll handle all of that.  I just have one question for you.  How did you figure this out?”

Geesh, what was it he’d always told us?  “Pay attention?”

“Well Ben, I did what you’ve always told me.  I paid attention.  He has your eyes.  I figured it out last month because of Joey.  I knew I’d seen those eyes somewhere and then it hit me.  Joey’s eyes were my brother’s eyes, and yours.  I took your toothbrushes and sent them in for DNA testing.  I’ve been sitting on this this for weeks, but it’s not the kind of conversation you have over the phone.”  She let out an exasperated sigh, “Mom and Gabe are waiting.  I need to go.”  She turned and walked out of his office pulling the door closed behind her once again.

Ben stood looking out the window, staring at the lake behind the house.  How on earth was he going to have this conversation with Lane?  Why had she left him that morning all of those years ago?  The reason she didn’t drink tequila made sense now.  What was the name of that song?  Tequila makes her clothes fall off.  Tequila shots had certainly done the trick 18 years ago.  He shook his head.  Jamie is my son.  Maybe they’d both felt it on some level, it would explain why he’d always felt close to Jamie and why he’d called him Bambino from the first time they met.

He was building the question tree in his head.  It was something he’d learned in law school.  You build a tree with the questions you planned to ask a witness.  Each question could solicit one of two answers and you kept building the tree, asking questions until you got the answer you wanted.  He had the in-disputable evidence sitting on his desk.

Maybe he should just show her the paternity report and tell Lane.  He would definitely be gentler than Jess had been.  He had a few hours to figure it out, but they needed to have the conversation and sooner rather than later.  He was still staring out at the lake when his cell phone rang.

“Bellini.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah, Bambino.  What’s up?”

“Mr. Tanner and I are going to take a break for lunch and I thought I should check in.  Is Jess home yet?”

Ben laughed.  “Your timing’s perfect.  Yes, Jess is home and she brought Gabe Greer with her.  They’ve gone with your Mom for lunch at Papa’s.  They left about five minutes ago.  You can probably join them, if you want to.”

“Why didn’t you didn’t go?”

“The Garcia trial starts on Monday and I have some prep work I need to finish.  By the way, be warned, we told Jess what’s going on with the football team.”

Jamie heaved a heavy sigh.  “Great.  How worked up is she?”

“Not as much as I expected.”  Then again, she had other things on her mind.

“Okay, I guess I’d better have Mr. Tanner take me to Papa’s.”

“Probably a good idea, Bambino.  Tell Tanner to call me after lunch.”

Ben still needed to talk to Tony’s bookie.  He knew that Tony used Freddy, whose brother Enzo was the bartender at Papa’s restaurant.  He knew that while Enzo wasn’t actually making book in the bar, he did carry information and cash back and forth for Freddy.  Ben needed to talk to Freddy, and the best way to do it was through Enzo. Hell, I just as well join my family for lunch. He walked to the bedroom and opened the safe in his closet.  He placed the paternity report in it and closed the door.  He dialed Lane’s cell number as he walked through the house.  Damn.  His SUV was still at the office where Uncle Sal had taken it yesterday afternoon.  If Lane had driven the Escalade, he’d have to drive the Jag.  As he opened the door into the garage, he saw that Lane’s Escalade was sitting in its bay.  Gabe must have driven.  He took the key from the hook and pushed the button to open the door.

Chapter 13

Gabe followed directions and parked as directed.  He looked for signage saying “Papa’s” but all he saw was “Bellini’s.”  He turned and looked in the back seat, at Jess, who had let her mother take the front seat.

“Good thing you were in the vehicle.  When you said we were going to Papa’s, I thought it was the name of the restaurant.  I might still be driving around the parking lot looking for it if you hadn’t told me where to park.”

Lane reached for her door handle.  “No, I’ll get that.”  Gabe said as he got out and hurried around the SUV.  He opened both the front and back passenger doors at the same time.  Lane wasn’t sure what she had expected from this famous child of Hollywood, but this polite well-mannered young man was a pleasant surprise.

They walked into Papa’s and Dante Bellini met them at the door.

“Bella, Bella, bellisima.”  He said as he reached out and held first Jess and then Lane, kissing each of them on both cheeks.  “To what do we owe the pleasure of seeing you two days in a row?”  He asked as he tucked Lane’s hand in the crook of his left arm.

“Papa, may I introduce Jess’s friend Gabe Greer?  Gabe, this is Ben’s father, Dante Bellini.”

Dante Bellini was about the same height as Gabe’s six foot two inches.

“Il Sig. Bellini. Ho il piacere di incontrarvi.”  Gabe said as he shook hands with the older man.

“Sono onorato di essere nel mio ristorante.  Let me show you to your table.”

Jess looked at Gabe.  Who knew he spoke Italian?  “Always full of surprises, aren’t you Greer?”  Jess whispered as she took Gabe’s arm.  “We’re going to the Board Room.  It’s a private dining room for the family and their guests.”

“Well, we are going to be in Italy for months.  I thought I should bone up on the language before we go.” He answered her.

Of course, Jess was fluent in Italian, but it wasn’t something she wanted the Bellini and Luciano families to know.  By speaking Italian to Papa, Gabe had just announced that there could be no private conversations in front of him, and she wanted to wring his neck for it.  She’d been listening in on private Bellini-Luciano conversations for 2 years now because the family, except Joey, had no idea she understood what they were saying.

They were quickly seated at a table in the back corner.  Olive oil was seasoned with herbs and warm bread was placed on the table as water glasses were filled.

Gabe was used to VIP treatment.  Yet he knew this wasn’t for him and he had to say, this was better than the star treatment he usually got at every restaurant in L.A. The waiter asked Gabe if he’d like wine with lunch, and Gabe looked at Jess.

“Hey, they know I’m under age and that Mom’s pregnant.  Just know if you say yes it’ll be some of the best wine you’ve ever tasted.”

Lane’s cell phone rang.  She picked it up and stepped away from the table.  “Ben?”

“Hey, Red.  The Bambino just called, and I think he’s going to join you for lunch.  As it turns out, I need to talk to Enzo, so I’m leaving the house now.  I’ll see you in a few minutes.  I love you.”  Then, she was listening to dead air.

Lane turned to walk back to the table as the doors opened and Jamie and Roy Tanner entered the Board Room.  She looked at the waiter and smiled.  “My husband’s on his way too, so I guess we’re going to need a bigger table.”

The waiter smiled back.  “It’s no trouble, Mrs. Bellini.”  He looked at Gabe.  “Your wine decision has just been made for you.  Mr. Bellini’s table always gets his reserve.”

The waiter motioned them toward a table already set for eight.  Jess hugged her brother and made introductions.  “Gabe, this is my younger brother Jamie and this is Ben’s investigator, Roy Tanner.”  She motioned toward Gabe.  “This is Gabe Greer.”  The two men shook hands with Gabe and they all sat at the new table.

The waiter quickly returned with fresh olive oil and bread, quickly followed by someone else who was filling water glasses.