Chapter 6 - The Day Dante Finally Chose
Maya reported the envelope.
She kept the original, saved the photographs, and followed the advice she was given.
Tony offered to have Marco walk her to the subway.
She accepted.
For the first time, she understood how quickly pride could become another way of making life harder.
Dante offered a driver.
She declined.
Then she explained why.
“I don’t want my movements managed by someone connected to the people I’m reporting.”
He looked wounded.
She let him.
After a moment, he nodded.
The investigation inside the Russo companies widened.
Independent accountants reviewed transactions related to the redevelopment project.
Attorneys compared versions of the documents Elena had been asked to sign.
Dante stepped back from decisions involving Adrian.
It was not dramatic.
It involved meetings, records requests, and people being told they could no longer approve their own work.
Maya heard only the details relevant to her.
That was enough.
She did not want to become a detective in a wealthy family’s private disaster.
She wanted her second job back.
She wanted Tony’s lease respected.
She wanted Sophia to stop believing that asking for comfort might make someone leave.
On Wednesday, the café manager called.
He had decided she could return.
Maya looked at the restaurant schedule Tony had already rearranged to help her.
“Will my hours be the same?”
He hesitated.
“I can’t promise.”
She thanked him for calling.
Then she said she would think about it.
That answer felt reckless.
It also felt like the first decision she had made in days that belonged entirely to her.
Tony found her staring at the café’s number.
“You should bake.”
She looked up.
“I can’t afford to open a bakery.”
“I didn’t say open one.”
He pointed toward the kitchen.
“Sunday mornings. We’re closed until noon. Use the ovens. Sell a small menu for pickup.”
Maya stared.
“You’re dealing with losing the restaurant.”
“Which is why I’d like the kitchen used for something hopeful.”
She began to protest.
Tony held up a hand.
“You pay ingredients. You pay a reasonable kitchen fee when there is revenue. We write it down. Nobody owes anybody their firstborn.”
Despite everything, she laughed.
They planned six items.
Almond cookies.
Milk bread.
Lemon cakes.
Scallion buns.
Chocolate pastries.
Her grandmother’s orange rolls.
Marco designed a simple order form after his shift.
Elena offered to share the menu with friends.
Maya accepted after making clear that nobody should feel obliged to buy.
“People can decide whether they like bread,” Elena said.
“Apparently I needed to hear that.”
Meanwhile, Dante faced a meeting he could no longer delegate.
Adrian arrived with his own attorney.
So did the other directors and the independent advisers.
Maya was not there, but Dante later told her the part that mattered.
Adrian argued that everything had been done for the family’s benefit.
The documents.
The intercepted messages.
The pressure on Elena.
The plan for Bellanotte.
He described the harm as unfortunate confusion around necessary business.
Then he reminded Dante how much he knew.
For years, that reminder had ended arguments.
This time, Dante let the silence remain.
He did not offer money.
He did not agree to handle things quietly.
He authorized the review to continue and accepted the recommendations limiting Adrian’s access to company systems and funds.
Where the evidence suggested misconduct requiring outside attention, the attorneys would make the appropriate referrals.
Dante would not interfere.
The decision cost him.
Longstanding partners withdrew.
An older relative called him weak.
Two deals collapsed before the week ended.
For once, he did not describe the losses as something someone else had done to him.
He told Maya about them only because she asked whether Tony’s building was still at risk.
“The notice is being reviewed independently,” he said. “The company has agreed not to proceed while that happens.”
“That isn’t a guarantee.”
“No.”
She appreciated the answer more than a promise.
On Saturday, Maya visited Sophia briefly after her shift.
A qualified caregiver now worked with the family, and Dr. Harris remained involved.
Sophia showed Maya a new page in the yellow book.
There were two houses.
One had a red roof.
The other had blue windows.
Between them stood a sunflower.
“Mommy lives here,” Sophia explained. “Daddy lives there.”
“Where do you live?”
Sophia pointed to both.
Then she looked worried.
“Is that allowed?”
Maya glanced at Dante and Elena, seated nearby.
Elena answered first.
“Yes.”
Dante nodded.
“Both places are yours.”
Sophia considered this.
Then she drew a third building.
“What’s that?” Maya asked.
May you like
“The place with Tony.”
For the first time all week, Maya had to look away so the child would not see her cry.
