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Chapter 1

Paolo Francesco Peretti

Srand dining hall and all his guests—rich and not-so-rich alike It war the food of his new chef—his latest addition to his collection of the finest uests were envious of his wealth and his ability to collect the finest iteuests s

Paolo hardly ever ate with his guests, instead, he opted for the uests as they ate and spoke so highly of his That always boosted his e

Francesco had worked hard for his entire life, rising before dawn and going to bed late every day—there were no days off, vacations, or just lazy days for Paolo’s father He’d watched his father build an empire around the fruits of his continual labor and had also watched as his father grew old before his ti Paolo decided, on the day of his father’s funeral, that he would do things differently After all, thethe bank account fatter than most, so why not live easy and enjoy the money?

Paolo hired rapes, make the wine, bottle the wine, and ship the wine All he had to do was go to a few annual public shows in which he was doing what he did best—showing off his wealth and wine- savvy for everyone to envy He was proud to be a Peretti and even prouder to be a very, very rich Peretti whom everyone looked up to, envied

Standing on the indoor balcony, taking in the scene below, he could pick out bits and pieces of conversations, but not a lot It was fine; he knehatand scanned the large group A beautiful, young wo hihtly familiar

As he watched, he saw that she wasn’t chatting with the other guests, and, indeed, she wasn’t eating much Did she not enjoy the food of his Master Chef from France? He’d traveled to Paris to find the best of the best and had come home with Master Chef Jean Baptiste Dubois

She was the only person at any table who seemed to want to be somewhere else; anywhere else but there fro around as if expecting sonal that it was okay for her to etaway

“Tomas, come here” He motioned over his shoulder to his personal butler, as never more than a few yards away

Tomas stepped up beside him “Yes, sir?”

Holding out his glass of wine, Paolo tipped it in the beautiful woeous creature seated atanyone so beautiful”

“I’m sorry to say that I don’t knoho she is, sir” Tomas looked disinterested and aloof—that’s part of why Paolo hired the h; his ability to see and the exact opposite of Paolo’s nature

“Well, Too find out who she is, hers

“Of course, sir” Thestaircase