Chapter 7 - The Girl at Table Four
“Why that night?” I asked.
“Why threaten me before I knew anything?”
Mateo leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“Three weeks ago, I asked for a review of payroll at Bellori.”
“Because of me?”
“Your wrist was burned.
You were limping.
Paul said you were careless.”
My stomach tightened.
“So you investigated me?”
“The workplace,” he said.
“Not your private life.”
The restaurant’s property company belonged to the Vitiellos.
Carlo oversaw its finances.
Mateo had found unpaid hours and medical claims that never reached the insurer.
He’d ordered a broader audit.
“I asked you to work dinner because I trusted you with my father,” he said.
“And because I wanted to see you.”
The second admission arrived without a smile.
I didn’t know what to do with it.
Nadia placed another page on the desk.
During the payroll review, Paul had sent Carlo my employment file.
Attached was a photograph of the emergency contact form I’d completed six years earlier.
Elena Bellandi.
Mother.
Deceased.
Paul’s message beneath it was short.
Same daughter. Still here. Does she know?
I stood so fast my chair scraped the floor.
For years, Paul had watched me count tips.
He’d cut my hours when I refused extra work off the clock.
He’d called me ungrateful when I asked for a weekend to study.
All that time, he’d known exactly whose daughter I was.
Salvatore closed his eyes.
“I wanted to make things right quietly.”
“Quietly seems to be how your family does everything.”
Nobody argued.
Rachel requested copies of the audit material through proper channels.
Nadia preserved the originals.
When we stepped outside, my phone vibrated.
Paul.
I put it on speaker with Rachel beside me.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“Tell the police.”
“You don’t understand.
Carlo thinks I kept the garage receipt.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Did you?”
“He said nobody would get hurt.”
“Paul, where are you?” Rachel asked.
A car horn sounded on his end.
May you like
Then Paul whispered, “He’s here.”
The call cut off.
