Be Mine Forever (A St. Helena Vineyard Novel) Read Online Free Page B

buyers, and if I don’t get back to Paris ASAP, they might decide to go with someone else.”
    Gabe shrugged. “Do it by phone.”
    Was he even serious? “And get the kind of numbers you guys are expecting? No way. Not to mention, I’m meeting with a company in Long Beach to take over all of our domestic shipping and tracking. I need to get down there and see their setup before we can finalize the contract.”
    Last summer his brothers had signed a deal with one of the nation’s largest retailer food and beverage distributors, and as a result, DeLuca wine was available in supermarkets around the globe. Making sure the wine got to its destination on time was becoming a hundred-hour workweek on its own, meaning Trey was falling behind on their other customers. Which was why he was meeting with a logistics company, hoping to outsource some of the work—and outsource some of the burden.
    “I can do it,” Marc offered, sucking his drink through a dainty little straw. “I’ll be in Santa Barbara the week after Valentine’s Day. I’m taking Lexi on a little babymoon.”
    “Nice, man,” Gabe said, as if Marc were making complete sense.
    “This isn’t just something you can tack on to a few days away,” Trey said. “I’ve been researching this for months, know the process, know what to ask, what to negotiate.”
    “It isn’t rocket science,” said the guy who was just getting all girly over a freaking babymoon—whatever the hell that was.
    “Maybe not, but it’s my job and I can’t drop everything to hang out here and take dance lessons. I have plans.”
    “Yeah, well, change them,” said Abigail, his sister, sliding up to the bar next to him. She was so tiny that even with him sitting and her standing, she barely reached his chest. “I need you to help finalize the sale for the Fairmont Hotel and make sure everything runs smoothly for a big delivery in Santa Barbara.”
    “As I was just explaining, I am kind of strapped for time right now. At the rate DeLuca Wines is growing, there’s no way I can take on Ryo.”
    Four years ago, Nonna ChiChi and Abby opened Ryo Wines, a boutique winery in the valley. Female-owned, female-run, and female-branded Ryo Wines was estrogen in a bottle. Every time Trey set foot in that office, he felt his nuts shrivel.
    “Sorry, sis. Your sale, your mess,” Trey said. “And last I checked, I have too much penis to be a part of your woman-run company.”
    “Could have fooled me,” Marc choked out and Trey slid him a wanna-go-there? look.
    “Come on, when have I ever asked you for a favor?”
    She had a point. Abby hated when her brothers interfered with her life. So of course, the DeLuca brothers had mastered interference. But this time, she was here on her own.
    “I have some deals already on the table that need finalizing. In Europe,” he explained.
    “Please?” Abby begged, batting those big lashes his way.
    Oh, hell no. This was a no-lash-batting-allowed, Y-chromosome-required event.
    “No. And since when do you join in on guys’ night?”
    He’d already lost his brothers the other six nights of the week, but Thursdays were their nights. If they broke man-night code for Abby, it wouldn’t be long before the wives started coming. Immature or not, he didn’t want to share.
    “Since a Mr. Rossi e-mailed me about a perfect piece of property in Italy.” Abby pulled up a stool and slid a packet, complete with photos, across the bar. “It’s fifty hectares.”
    “About one hundred and twenty acres,” Nate said picking up the photo and studying it. “And it looks to be nearly all planted.”
    “It is,” she went on, her face one big smile. “Half Sangiovese and half Barbera grapes. It’s located right on the coast, making it a perfect destination-villa. Think about it: I could design it, Marc could oversee the facilities end, and you three could add the vineyard to the DeLuca umbrella.”
    Great, more wine to sell.
    Trey spread the aerial photo of the