Chapter 19: Half the Docks

I took off the apron and folded it over a chair.

Cesare came out of the kitchen behind me, and I felt him take his place at my left shoulder.

The dining room had gone quiet.

Forty people were looking at the bar.

The boss of the other family sat on the end stool with a cup of coffee in front of him.

He wore a gray overcoat, and his silver hair was combed back.

He had come without the man in the gray suit.

"Miss Orsini," he said. "A lovely room. Forgive me for coming unannounced."

"You're welcome in this restaurant."

"Thank you."

"Sit as long as you like. The coffee's on the house."

"Generous."

He turned the cup on its saucer.

"I came to make you an offer, with all these good people here to hear it. It seemed only fair."

"Go ahead."

"Half the docks," he said. "A partnership."

"And the paper you hold?"

"I tear it up. You keep your chair, and I never trouble the Table again."

He spread his hands.

"No vote. No fuss. A woman should not have to fight for what her father left her."

Behind me, someone shifted a chair.

I looked at him for a moment.

"That's kind," I said.

"I thought so."

"Foreman."

The foreman stood from the wives' table with his knit cap in his hand.

"Miss."

"Do the Orsini docks need a partner?"

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