Chương 9
For four years, Amelia had treated keeping the shop as proof of love.
Sometimes it felt more like evidence she was afraid to examine.
“I could close,” she said.
Tasha leaned her head back against a fabric roll. “Do you want to?”
“No.”
“Then that was a boring thought.”
“It was a practical thought.”
“Practical thoughts can be boring.”
Amelia looked at her.
Tasha shrugged. “My mother says that too.”
Adrian arrived after nine. Amelia nearly did not let him in, but Isabella stood beside him holding a paper bag of sandwiches.
“You are using your mother to gain entry,” Amelia said.
“Yes,” Adrian replied.
“Shameless.”
“Effective.”
They ate at the cutting table again. Isabella removed the onions from her sandwich and placed them on Adrian’s wrapper without asking. He ate them without comment.
Amelia showed them Nina’s messages and explained that she had gone silent.
Adrian’s reaction was immediate. “I’ll find her.”
“No.”
“She may be in danger.”
“Or she may be afraid of you.”
“That fear does not make sense.”
“It makes perfect sense.”
“I have done nothing to her.”
“You don’t have to. Your family history does it before you arrive.”
He set down his sandwich.
“I cannot rewrite my last name.”
“No, but you can stop acting as if everyone else is irrational for reading it.”
Isabella looked between them. “You both enjoy this too much.”
Neither answered.
Adrian told Amelia that Carlo had denied any connection between Vell and the bracelet’s consignment. He had also urged the foundation board to issue a statement accusing Vanessa of exploiting Lucia’s memory.
“He wants Vanessa isolated,” Amelia said.
“She assaulted my mother.”
“He also wants everyone to stop asking where the bracelet came from.”
Adrian’s eyes sharpened. “You think Carlo arranged the consignment.”
“I think he knows more than he says.”
“You have one frightened employee and an inventory sheet.”
“And your mother’s bracelet appearing in a store connected to your foundation accountant.”
“My investigators are reviewing Vell’s finances.”
“Your investigators work for you.”
“They are competent.”
“That is not the same as independent.”
He pushed his chair back.
“What exactly do you want from me?”
The question came with more force than his usual controlled speech.
Amelia answered just as sharply. “Stop trying to solve every problem before anyone else can touch it.”
“And if delay gets someone hurt?”
“You cannot protect people by taking away every choice they have.”
Isabella looked down at her braced wrist.
The silence changed.
Adrian saw it too. His anger drained, leaving something more painful.
“Ma,” he said.
She did not look at him.
He stood and walked to the front window. Outside, one of his security men waited beneath the streetlamp. Adrian placed both hands in his pockets.
“When Lucia died,” he said, “everyone told me what I should have done sooner.”
Amelia’s reply softened despite herself. “This is not that night.”
“It never is until it is.”
He left without finishing his sandwich.
Isabella folded the wrapper around the onions he had not eaten.
“He has spent twelve years arriving early to disasters,” she said.
“And creating some?”
“Yes.”
The next morning, Detective Ortiz called. Nina had appeared with an attorney and given a formal statement.
She had also surrendered a flash drive containing sales spreadsheets copied over two years.
The records did not prove the bracelet had been stolen from the foundation, but they showed repeated consignments from Lenora Chase Estate Services at prices far below market. Several pieces were later sold for cash to buyers whose contact information was incomplete.
Martin Vell had received transfers from Vanessa’s personal account after each sale.
Ortiz warned Amelia not to discuss the evidence publicly.
By noon, Carlo Moretti entered Brooks Alterations alone.
He was shorter than Adrian, heavier through the middle, with silver at his temples and a pleasant face that seemed built for fundraisers. He wore no visible security and carried a garment bag.
“I need a suit altered,” he said.
“We are booked.”
“You have not looked at the suit.”
“I have looked at you.”
He smiled.
“Now I understand Adrian’s fascination.”
“There is no fascination.”
“Of course.”
Tasha moved closer to the shop phone.
Carlo noticed and placed the garment bag across the counter.
Inside was a dark suit jacket. From one pocket, he removed an envelope.
Amelia did not touch it.
“What is that?”
“A settlement proposal from Vanessa’s insurer.”
“You are representing Vanessa now?”
“No. I am preventing a family embarrassment.”
“The assault embarrassed your family?”
“The spectacle did.”
He glanced around the shop, taking in the aging machines, the water stain near the ceiling, the repair tape on one cutting table.
“The proposal covers medical costs, lost business, emotional distress, and a new long-term lease after our acquisition closes.”
“Our?”
“Adrian did not tell you I am part of the investment committee?”
“No.”
“He dislikes sharing useful details.”
Carlo slid the envelope forward.
“In exchange, you make no further public statements and acknowledge that you cannot verify the bracelet’s ownership.”
“I never claimed I could.”
“You have encouraged a boutique employee to make allegations.”
“I encouraged her to get a lawyer.”
“Words can be arranged many ways in court.”
Tasha picked up the phone.
Carlo raised one hand. “No threats. I came to offer peace.”
“Peace for whom?”
“For a woman whose business is failing. For an elderly mother who does not need her daughter’s death reopened. For my cousin, who has spent his adult life believing control can redeem him.”
Amelia watched his face.
“You loved Lucia?”
His smile changed. Not disappearing, exactly. Losing its public shape.
“She was difficult.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“She was family.”
“Did you give her the keys?”
Carlo’s eyes held hers.
“Adrian told you.”
“Is it true?”
“My cousin has carried one version of that night for a long time.”
“Did you give her the keys?”
May you like
Carlo put the envelope back into his coat.
“You should take the settlement when the insurer contacts you. Pride is expensive, Ms. Brooks. Usually the people praising it do not help pay the bill.”
