Chapter 5 - The Nephew
Salvatore found his nephew at the offices of Pierpoint Holdings, a company that once managed warehouse leases and now described itself as a private commercial lender.
Nico Moretti was forty-six, trim, impeccably groomed, and accustomed to having everyone outside the family call him sir. He kissed Sal's cheek when he entered.
“You should have called,” Nico said. “I would've sent a car.”
“I came to ask why your people approached a teenage boy about his dead mother's necklace.”
Nico stopped smiling.
“That's a strange story.”
“It's my daughter's necklace.”
For a long moment, the only sound was the printer in the adjoining room.
“Your daughter is dead,” Nico said.
“I know.” Sal's voice sharpened. “I didn't know she had children.”
“Then there are probably things about her you don't want to learn.”
The words were calculated. Nico had learned from the family that old shame could do the work of a loaded gun.
Sal sat down. “Show me the Brandt account.”
Nico opened a folder. The diner's loan had started at $160,000. With fees and a balloon payment, Curtis now faced nearly $290,000. Pierpoint had collected consulting charges, monitoring fees, and weekly cash transfers that didn't appear on the signed note.
“What is this?” Sal asked, tapping an unfamiliar line.
“Risk services.”
“You're collecting from workers?”
“Curtis runs payroll. Not us.”
“And who asked for the locket?”
Nico closed the folder. “You're getting sentimental about a girl you met over coffee.”
Sal rose. “Her name is Lila.”
He had come intending to order Nico to back off. He left understanding that the order alone wouldn't hold. Nico controlled accounts and people Sal had stopped inspecting years earlier. Sal had built an organization that rewarded silence, then called his ignorance retirement.
“Freeze the Brandt collections until an outside accountant reviews them,” Sal said.
“You can't freeze a contract because you feel guilty about Elena.”
“Try me.”
Nico stood too. His voice remained soft. “You spent twenty years teaching me the family comes first. Don't change the rule halfway through the game.”
Sal had no answer that wouldn't sound like a lie.
At the elevator, Nico added, “You do know why Elena kept that locket, don't you?”
May you like
Sal turned.
“She wanted you to recognize what you lost,” Nico said. “Not what you were entitled to get back.”
