Pipe Burst Guest novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: The Signature

Back in the suite, I spread the three pages on the table and read every word.

It took a long time, because the lawyer had made it as dull as possible.

On the last page, under a paragraph about "continuity of stewardship," was the sentence that mattered.

The signer releases the Fontanelli oath and the captains' obligations under it.

If I signed, the fourteen men would owe me nothing.

Cesare would own the trust, and my father's name would mean nothing at the table.

Nico read it standing behind my chair, with one hand on the back of it.

"Clean," he said. "Very clean. She didn't even have to lie about what it was."

"She told me it was about resting."

"She told you the truth in a soft voice."

I picked up the pen.

"What are you doing?"

"Giving her what she asked for."

I signed on the line, in my best handwriting.

Then I looked at it and smiled, because I had signed my mother's maiden name.

"Marisa Orlando," I said. "My mother died before she could give her daughter a legal name that wasn't Fontanelli, so nobody has ever checked."

"Is it valid?"

"It looks valid for about a week. After that it's a crime for whoever submits it."

Nico laughed, low and delighted.

"Let Tullio file it and sit on it," I said. "If he thinks I've given up, he'll stop counting captains and start counting money."

"And Ines?"

"Ines will tell Cesare, and Cesare will smile at lunch."

"You're enjoying this."

"I'm terrified," I said, and my hand was shaking so hard that the pen rolled off the table.

Nico caught it before it hit the floor.

He set it down, and then he put his hand over mine and held it there.

"You were at that grave this morning with your father under your feet," he said, "and you let her hug you."

"I wanted to put the knife in the same place she put hers."

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