Pietro.
I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I hope you can believe me when I say it wasn't done to hurt either of you, or out of any desire to be malicious. It was a difficult situation that I didn't know how to handle, and though neither option was going to be easy, I can see now that we should have been more upfront about what happened. You were both invaluable members of our team, and still are, if you want to be.