Chapter 7 - THE FRIDAY THEY PLANNED WITHOUT HIM
“Clear it without your permission?”
Luca stood so abruptly that his chair moved backward across the marble floor.
Frank reached for him.
“Son, please.”
But Luca wasn't looking at his father.
He was staring at Matteo.
“Did you authorize that?”
Matteo took a breath.
“The site team was instructed to prepare for vacancy.”
“That's not what I asked.”
“We expected Frank to cooperate.”
“After you threatened him?”
Matteo's face reddened.
“Nobody threatened him.”
Frank looked up.
“The man told me my locks wouldn't matter.”
Matteo closed his eyes briefly.
Luca's voice dropped.
“Look at my father when you answer.”
For twenty years, Matteo had been the man Luca trusted to stand beside him in difficult moments.
Tonight, Luca looked at him like a stranger.
Matteo finally met Frank's eyes.
“I didn't authorize anyone to frighten you.”
“Then why did they say they were coming back?”
“Because the relocation schedule had already been issued.”
Frank looked confused.
“But I hadn't agreed.”
Matteo didn't answer.
Evelyn rose from her chair.
“This is a much more serious issue than a design change.”
She turned toward Luca.
“If site workers enter a privately owned property without permission, my firm will not fund that activity.”
Matteo immediately looked at her.
“Evelyn, that's unnecessary.”
“No. What's unnecessary is treating Mr. Moretti as an obstacle instead of a property owner.”
Frank glanced toward her.
“Thank you, ma'am.”
She smiled gently.
“You don't need to thank me for that.”
Luca turned toward Mr. Romano, who had been quietly attending to the remaining guests.
“Please make sure my father gets something warm to eat.”
Frank shook his head.
“I'm not hungry.”
“Dad, you haven't eaten.”
“Neither have you.”
Luca managed a small smile.
“Then we'll both eat.”
I brought two bowls of hot minestrone.
Frank thanked me again.
As I set the bread beside him, he caught my wrist gently.
“Claire, I'm sorry Vanessa threatened your job.”
I was startled.
“You heard that?”
He nodded.
“I did.”
Luca looked up immediately.
“What threat?”
I hesitated.
Vanessa stared at me.
I could feel every eye at the table.
Then Frank spoke.
“She told Claire she'd be fired if she didn't send me away.”
Luca slowly turned toward Vanessa.
“Is that true?”
She looked exhausted.
“I was trying to keep the evening under control.”
“By threatening my housekeeper?”
“I needed things handled discreetly.”
Luca glanced toward me.
“Claire, your job is safe.”
“Thank you, sir.”
He shook his head.
“You don't have to thank me for refusing to punish you for treating my father decently.”
My eyes burned.
I'd needed that job badly enough that I'd almost followed Vanessa's instructions.
My mother depended on the money I sent her every month.
But seeing Frank outside with his suitcase had reminded me of something.
A man can spend his entire life building a home and still be made to feel like a guest in it.
Vanessa lowered herself into a chair.
“I know how this looks.”
Luca studied her.
“Then tell me what you thought would happen.”
She looked toward Frank.
“When I found him on the garage floor, I was terrified.”
Her voice trembled.
“I imagined finding him there again, except next time nobody would arrive.”
Frank looked down.
Vanessa continued.
“I asked Matteo whether he could arrange somewhere safer.”
Matteo said nothing.
“He found the apartment in Joliet. I paid the deposit.”
Frank looked surprised.
“You did?”
She nodded.
“I wasn't trying to leave you on the street.”
Luca's expression softened slightly.
“I believe you were frightened for him.”
Vanessa looked hopeful.
“But you didn't tell me he fell. You told him I was ashamed of him.”
Her eyes filled.
“I thought if he believed you wanted him to move, he'd finally agree.”
Frank looked at her.
“Vanessa, you could've asked me.”
“I did ask.”
“You asked whether I wanted an apartment. I told you I wanted my garage repaired.”
She lowered her head.
“And instead of listening, you decided I was too old to know what I needed.”
Vanessa began crying quietly.
Luca looked toward Matteo.
“You used her concern about my father to get access to his property.”
Matteo shook his head.
“She came to me because she needed a solution.”
“You gave her one that benefited you.”
“I gave her one that protected the project.”
Evelyn leaned forward.
“Matteo, there's a question you still haven't answered.”
He looked toward her.
“Which one?”
“Why did the service route change?”
“We've discussed that.”
“No. We've discussed the cost of changing it back.”
She pointed toward the original drawing.
“I want to know why you changed it in the first place.”
Matteo looked away.
Evelyn continued.
“Your warehouse already had an approved access corridor. My firm reviewed it before committing funds.”
Luca frowned.
“Then why weren't we using it?”
Matteo's expression tightened.
“Because there were other commercial considerations.”
“What considerations?”
Matteo said nothing.
Frank looked at the drawing.
Then at the suitcase beside his chair.
“Matteo, you grew up in my garage.”
The younger man turned toward him.
Frank's voice shook.
“I taught you how to use a wrench before you could drive.”
“I remember.”
“Then I need you to tell me something.”
Matteo lowered his eyes.
“Go ahead.”
“Were you ever planning to repair my roof?”
The question seemed to hurt him.
For a long moment, he said nothing.
Finally, he whispered, “Not under the revised plan.”
Luca stared at him.
“And yet you took the money.”
Matteo's jaw tightened.
“The money was reassigned to project expenses.”
Evelyn immediately sat straighter.
“Without authorization?”
Matteo didn't answer.
Luca took the roof receipt from his father.
“Forty thousand dollars.”
He looked at the friend he'd trusted for twenty years.
“Tell me where it went.”
Matteo stared at the table.
May you like
Then he spoke so quietly that only those nearest him heard.
“I used it to cover a payment on the warehouse. If I missed that payment, the whole arrangement would collapse.”
