Chapter 6 - THE ROOF HE HAD ALREADY PAID FOR
“Not one repair?”
Luca looked at his father.
Frank shook his head.
“Not that I saw.”
Matteo immediately leaned forward.
“The contractor had to reassess the structure.”
“After I paid forty thousand dollars?” Luca asked.
“The building's condition was worse than expected.”
“Then why wasn't I told?”
“We were waiting for the engineering report.”
Luca stared at him.
“You've used that explanation three times tonight.”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
“Because it's the truth.”
Evelyn reached for the roof estimate.
“Who received the payment?”
Luca answered.
“Rinaldi Development. Matteo said he'd coordinate the work through his contractors.”
Matteo looked irritated.
“That's standard practice.”
“It can be,” Evelyn said. “But the expenses should still be accounted for.”
She studied the receipt.
“There's no completion date.”
Frank looked embarrassed.
“I wasn't sure whether that mattered.”
“It matters,” Evelyn replied.
Luca turned toward him.
“Dad, why didn't you tell me nobody had come?”
Frank rubbed his thumb across the edge of the table.
“I didn't want to sound ungrateful.”
“For what?”
“Spending all that money.”
Luca looked hurt.
“Dad, you don't have to be grateful for a roof that doesn't leak.”
Frank gave a small smile.
“You sound like your mother.”
That made Luca look away.
I could tell he was struggling.
He'd spent years building a reputation for knowing exactly what happened inside his businesses.
Yet in the space of one dinner, he'd discovered that his closest friend had misrepresented an acquisition, moved an access route, and failed to complete repairs to his father's garage.
And Frank had been too worried about burdening him to complain.
I stepped closer.
“Mr. Moretti, may I ask something?”
Luca turned.
“Of course, Claire.”
I looked at Frank.
“When the men came to measure the garage, did they wear uniforms?”
He nodded.
“Dark blue jackets.”
“Did they have a company name?”
“Rinaldi Site Services.”
I pointed toward the red clearance tag on the suitcase.
“That's what it says here.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
She read the small print.
“Rinaldi Site Services isn't the roofing contractor named on this estimate.”
Matteo sighed.
“They're part of the same development group.”
“Then why were they inspecting a property you hadn't acquired?”
“Because we'd been authorized to assess it.”
Frank looked confused.
“They weren't checking the roof.”
Everyone turned.
He continued.
“They measured the shop doors and the back wall. Then one of them marked the floor with red chalk.”
Luca frowned.
“What did he mark?”
“A line from the back entrance to the street.”
Evelyn looked at the revised drawing.
She followed the new loading route with one finger.
“That's the proposed service road.”
Luca slowly turned toward Matteo.
“You weren't preparing for roof repairs.”
Matteo didn't answer.
“You were preparing to clear the building.”
“Both possibilities were being evaluated.”
“Without telling the owner?”
Matteo's composure finally cracked.
“Luca, we had deadlines. You can't build something this large by asking permission for every decision.”
Luca stood.
“You can when the property belongs to somebody else.”
Vanessa suddenly spoke.
“The garage really is dangerous.”
Everyone looked at her.
She took a breath.
“I went there last week. The ceiling was leaking, and there was water on the floor.”
Luca turned.
“You went to my father's garage?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because Frank asked me not to.”
The old man's shoulders dropped.
Luca looked toward him.
“Dad?”
Frank stared at his hands.
“I didn't want you worrying.”
“Worrying about what?”
Frank remained silent.
Vanessa spoke more gently.
“Luca, I didn't invent the safety concerns.”
She looked toward Frank.
“Tell him what happened.”
The old man's face reddened.
“Vanessa, please.”
Luca immediately knelt beside his chair.
“Dad, what happened?”
Frank shook his head.
“Nothing serious.”
“Dad.”
He swallowed.
“I slipped.”
The words seemed to stop Luca completely.
“Where?”
“Inside the garage.”
“When?”
“Last Thursday.”
“Were you hurt?”
“Just a bruise.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“It wasn't just a bruise.”
Frank looked miserable.
Luca gently took his father's wrist.
“Dad, please tell me.”
Frank finally looked at him.
“There was water near the old lift. I didn't see it.”
He hesitated.
“My foot went out from under me.”
Luca's expression changed.
“Did you hit your head?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, son.”
Vanessa quietly added, “He was sitting on the floor when I arrived.”
Luca looked toward her.
“You found him?”
She nodded.
“He'd been there long enough that his trousers were soaked.”
For the first time that evening, I saw something unmistakably sincere in Vanessa's face.
She'd been frightened.
Not of losing money or status.
Of finding an elderly man injured in a garage nobody had repaired.
“I helped him up,” she said.
Frank looked toward her.
“She did.”
Luca took a long breath.
“Thank you for helping him.”
Vanessa's eyes filled.
“I didn't want him living somewhere dangerous.”
“Then you should have helped us make it safe.”
“I thought moving him would be easier.”
Luca looked toward Matteo.
“And Matteo offered you a way to do it.”
Vanessa didn't answer.
Frank gently squeezed his son's hand.
“I know you would've come if I'd called.”
“Then why didn't you?”
The old man's eyes filled.
“Because you've spent your whole life trying to give me more than I ever asked for.”
Luca shook his head.
“Dad—”
“And sometimes I wanted to be the father who could still take care of himself.”
Luca lowered his head.
For a moment, the anger in the room gave way to something sadder.
Two men who loved each other had been so careful not to become burdens that neither had asked the other for help.
Then Frank touched Luca's sleeve.
“But there's something I didn't tell Vanessa either.”
Everyone looked at him.
Frank's voice grew quieter.
“After I fell, one of Matteo's men came back.”
Matteo went still.
“He said they'd stop bothering me if I handed over the keys.”
Luca straightened.
“And what did you say?”
May you like
Frank's hands began trembling.
“I told him no. So he said they'd come back Friday and clear the garage whether I was there or not.”
