Fourteen #2
For a moment, something crosses his face that isn’t calculation. He looks away first. “I was eleven,” he says quietly. “I remember Rebecca taking me to the hospital.”
The words come slower now, like he’s choosing each one.
“They told us it was mechanical. Sudden. No warning.”
He braces his hands on the railing, shoulders tightening.
“If you’re right,” he says, still looking out at the water, “then Tom and possibly Rebecca and Henry helped bury it. Do we want to open Pandora’s box?”
Matteo drags a hand over his mouth and then lets it fall.
I look out at the traffic on the Bay Bridge. “I think I do. Because if I’m wrong,” I say, turning slightly toward him, “I’ve only wasted my time.”
He lets out a breath that doesn’t quite settle. “And if you’re right?”
I hold his gaze now. “Then someone benefited from their deaths.”
Matteo doesn’t look at me right away. His gaze stays on the bridge, traffic moving in steady lines. “Does Dante know?”
“No.” I keep my hands on the railing.
He turns slightly. “You’re putting me in the middle.”
“I’m telling you because you understand systems.” I glance at him. “And because if I continue alone, it looks obsessive.”
“And together it looks like what?”
“Due diligence.”
He lets out a breath, slow, measured. “You’re suggesting Dad and Tom built Marino Holdings with shady money.”
“I’m only suggesting the company didn’t have structure until it needed one.”
He turns fully now, facing me. “You realize what that implies.”
“Yes.”
“That our loyalty might be misplaced.”
“I’m not challenging our loyalty,” I say. “I’m challenging the numbers.”
Matteo looks back out at the water, jaw tightening slightly. “If you pull this thread, it won’t stop at accounting.”
I take a deep breath. “I know.”
“And if there’s nothing there?”
“Then we have answers—maybe not the ones we wanted, but we know the truth.”
He nods once and then turns and heads inside.
I stay where I am a moment longer, watching the traffic move across the bridge. If Marino Holdings was born from a fracture, we’ve been building on fault lines for years.
And fault lines don’t stay buried.
When we return, the room hasn’t changed, but the air has. Dante is already seated at the head of the table, his phone set aside. Luca leans back in his chair again, one arm draped over the side. Matteo takes his seat across from me, quieter now.
I don’t wait. “There’s something else,” I say, before anyone reaches for the agenda.
Dante gestures once with his hand. “Go on.”
“I hired a new employee.” Everyone’s eyes are peeled to me. We don’t usually make these decisions without human resources. I haven’t put it to her yet, but she won’t miss what this offers.
Matteo’s head lifts. Luca straightens.
“Who?” Luca asks.
“Her name is Chiara Bullucci. You might recognize her from the coffee cart outside the building.”
Matteo blinks once. “The espresso girl.”
“Yes.”
Dante’s gaze sharpens slightly. “To do what? Make coffee for everyone?”
“Operational analysis,” I say. “Short term.”
Matteo leans forward, forearms on the table now. “You hired the coffee cart girl to analyze our operations.”
“She has an MBA from Northwestern.”
No one speaks.
“And she’s been working a coffee cart for fun?” Luca asks. “Did she hand you her resume with your espresso?”
“No.” I keep my eyes on Dante. “She’s been choosing it.”
Luca moves forward slightly. “Why?”
I can’t explain that she needed to disappear and she didn’t trust anyone.
“Because she can,” I say instead. “And because we need someone in the financial analyst group.”
Matteo glances at me, and then at Dante, recalibrating his read on the situation. Luca doesn’t look away. “And you think she’d walk away from her own business for a junior operations analyst role?”
“She needs to sell the cart,” I share. I don’t want to go into it further.
Dante stays quiet, watching me instead of the problem.
Matteo turns the pen once between his fingers. “You’ve already hired her.”
“Yes,” I lie.
“Why would you offer her a job?” Luca asks. “Are you sleeping with her?”
I’m not going to answer that. It’s none of their business. “We’re testing capability. If it doesn’t work out or she quits, we lose nothing. If she works out, we gain something we don’t currently have.”
Matteo’s pen stills. “Which is?”
“She sees what’s wrong without making it worse.”
Dante is well aware of who Chiara is, and I wait for him to tell everyone. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes.” That part isn’t uncertain.
“It screams sexual harassment,” Dante says.
Luca’s mouth tightens just a fraction. “You are sleeping with her then.”
I let that sit before answering. “She’s staying in my guest room,” I lie again. “There are some issues going on, and it’s her story to tell. Not mine.”
Matteo watches me more carefully now, no longer casual about it.
Dante adjusts his stance slightly. “Will Tara be okay with this?”
“Of course not, but she’s been bugging me about needing help. We have an open cubicle in the finance department.”
Luca exhales once. “Of course.”
“And if it doesn’t work out?” Matteo asks.
“Then she leaves.”
Luca nods once, slow. Matteo says nothing, which matters more than if he had.