Shattered Loyalty, A New Beginning Blooms novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Seat

The table met in the back room of Valentini's club on a Tuesday.

There were seven chairs around the polished wood, and six men sat in them.

The seventh chair had a black leather back and brass nails, and it had been Carlo's for thirty years.

I stood in the doorway in my father's coat with Santino at my shoulder.

Every face turned toward me.

I knew them all.

I had served them coffee, balanced their books, and sat at their daughters' weddings.

Not one of them had ever asked what I thought.

"Sit," Valentini said from the head of the table.

"I haven't agreed yet."

A murmur went around the room.

One of the bosses, a squat man with a pink scalp and a diamond pinky ring, laughed shortly.

"A girl who keeps books," he said. "Augusto, with respect, you want a clerk at this table?"

"I want the best counter in Philadelphia," Valentini said. "I would like to hear her terms."

I walked to the empty chair and put my hand on the back of it.

"I have three," I said.

The room went quiet.

"First. Every family opens its books to me. All of them. I don't tell anyone's business to anyone else, but I see everything, and nobody skims in the dark."

The squat man snorted.

"Why would we agree to that?"

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