Chapter 5: Mara Says Hello

I looked at that photo for a long time.

Nate was smiling with all his teeth.

He'd gotten a haircut.

"Tell Carlo the don will consider it," I said.

Santino raised an eyebrow.

"You want to let him in."

"I want to let him all the way in," I said. "It's a longer fall."

For two weeks I didn't leave the house.

I slept when Rosa slept.

I learned my father's business at the long dining table with a laptop and a baby on my shoulder.

Santino brought me files at night and coffee in the morning.

He never once asked if I was sure.

On the fifteenth day, I wanted my mother's rosary back.

Santino wanted to send someone.

"No," I said. "I'll get it myself."

"Then I'm driving."

"You're waiting in the car."

He didn't like it.

He did it anyway.

Corrigan Freight was a cinder block building off Route 440 with nine trucks in the lot.

I'd done its books for three years at the kitchen table.

I knew the door code.

It still worked.

The front office smelled like diesel and burnt coffee.

Three drivers were sitting around the space heater.

The oldest. The biggest. The youngest, a kid.

They all stood up when they saw me.

"Mara," the oldest driver said. "Jesus. We heard about the house. You okay? The baby?"

"She's good. A girl."

"A girl," the big one said, and smiled for real.

Then the door to the back office opened.

My old desk was gone.

In its place was a white velvet chair.

Gianna sat in it with her feet up on a filing cabinet.

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