Pipe Burst Guest novel · Chapter 10 of 24
Chapter 10: Counting Votes
The captains ate on Fridays in the back room of Tullio's restaurant, under a painting of the bay of Naples.
I walked in at one o'clock with a leather folder under my arm and my wedding ring in my pocket.
Fourteen men stopped chewing.
Cesare sat at the head of the table in a grey suit.
Beside him, in the chair that had been mine for six years, sat Ines in a cream dress, her hand resting on his sleeve.
Her eyes went wide and warm when she saw me.
"Marisa," she said. "Sweetheart. You're early for Sunday."
"I'm exactly on time," I said.
I walked to the end of the table, opened the folder and laid a stack of photocopies at each place.
The old captain had already picked up his.
"What is this?" Cesare said.
"The Fontanelli Trust, from the second set of books."
Nobody at the table moved.
"The what?" Tullio said from the far end.
"My father kept two ledgers," I said. "The one you stole in the first year, and the one in the cellar of my hotel."
Cesare's hand went flat on the table.
"I'll read you the first page," I said.
I read the Harbor Linen account, every date and every transfer, and I read it loudly enough to carry into the kitchen.
I read the second account and then the third.
When I reached the lease on Delancey Street, I stopped and looked down the table.
"Four years of rent," I said. "Fourteen thousand a month for a two bedroom apartment in a building that was assessed at less than three hundred thousand."
"That's a client expense," Cesare said.
"It's a gift to Ines Orsatti from my father's money."
Keep reading free with an account. Start Pipe Burst Guest from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 9 · All chapters · Chapter 11 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend