Chapter 14 - The Bargain
Nico asked his uncle to meet at the old Moretti family house on a Wednesday evening. Sal agreed on the condition that his attorney attend. Nico objected, then consented when he realized Sal would not come otherwise.
The house smelled of furniture polish and the cold fireplace Elena used to sit beside, drawing strange little boats on the margins of her schoolbooks.
Nico poured wine. Nobody touched it.
“I can restructure the Harbor loan,” he said. “Restore the employees' jobs, settle their complaints, and let this go.”
“With whose money?” Sal's attorney asked.
“Company reserves. In return, Uncle Sal stops cooperating with people who want our business buried.”
“Those people are investigators,” Sal said.
Nico lifted his shoulders. “Names change. Motives don't.”
“You asked a boy about his mother's necklace.”
“I gave a contractor an instruction to retrieve family property. He took it too far.”
“She wasn't property. Neither was Elena.”
Nico's expression hardened. “I spent twenty-five years cleaning up what you wouldn't look at. You built the methods. Now you're pretending I invented them.”
The words landed because they were partly true. Sal had rewarded intimidation when it kept stores paying and tenants moving. He had told himself he could retire from the dirtier work while keeping the income.
“You're right about one thing,” Sal said. “I taught you something rotten.”
Nico set down his glass. “Then don't make me the only one who pays for it.”
“No one is asking you to be.”
Sal stood and left without agreeing to the bargain. He had not felt brave. He had felt old, guilty, and frightened of what truthful records would show.
The next morning Nico's lawyers sent Curtis a formal demand under the diner's debt documents. Curtis forwarded it to Dina. The legal process would have to run its course, but Nico was clearly trying to pressure anyone still considering a statement.
At home, Lila reviewed Elena's notebook again. Near the back was a page she had avoided because it addressed Sal by name.
Dad, if you read this, don't tell me you loved me more than anyone. Love would have meant listening when the people with less power told you they were afraid.
May you like
Lila photographed the page for her own records and took the notebook back to its protective folder.
She didn't know if she would ever show him. She had always believed the locket was the last thing her mother left her. Now she understood that the harder inheritance was a standard she would have to live by.
