Chapter 3

Early the next morning, Nina Moretti, the hotel manager, called to ask where I'd put last month's purchase invoices. I told her to ask Luca. There was a long silence before she said, "But Mr. Bellini said you always handled this."

"Not anymore."

I'd always kept separate books for the three hotels, warehouses, and underground gambling ring so the police couldn't trace everything at once. They were linked through an index system only Luca and I knew. I'd left the index, passwords, and instructions in the study. If Luca took the time to learn the system, he'd figure it out. But he was used to giving me a number and waiting for an answer. He couldn't even be bothered to check his own files.

Luca called three times. I didn't answer. Then he sent a voice message, using the same tone he always did when he expected me to clean up his mess. "Enough games. The South Docks can't function without you."

My mother set breakfast in front of me. "Still thinking about that bastard?"

"No." I turned off my phone. "I just realized that in seven years, none of them ever thought I might say no."

That morning, Matteo took me to the shipyard. Sparks flew across the huge dry dock as workers repaired a tugboat riddled with bullet holes. Matteo said a rival crew had ambushed it during a cargo escort the week before. The wounded had been taken care of, and whoever was responsible for the route would answer for the losses.

He didn't flaunt his power through violence. He simply made sure every consequence was handled.

As we passed the shipbuilding area, I saw a half-painted black cargo ship. For a moment, I thought of the Santa Lucia. Matteo noticed but said nothing. He led me to the shipyard's accounting office.

A pile of contracts covered the desk. "My mother told me you're good with books," he said. "I don't want to put you to work the first time we meet, but these are giving me a headache. If you're willing to help, I'll pay you our top consulting rate. If not, forget I asked."

"Aren't you afraid I'll steal the Riccis' secrets?"

"I am. That's why you won't have access to the confidential books." His answer was simple. "Trust is built over time. Pretty words mean nothing."

At lunch, Matteo asked if I'd ever loved someone. I answered honestly. "Yes, for seven years. But he never had room for me in his heart."

"That's his loss." Matteo grew serious. "In our world, loyalty isn't owed to the loudest man in the room. If a man expects a woman's loyalty but gives her neither a place nor respect, he can't even keep his own house in order."

I fell silent. Luca had always told me to understand, to be patient, to endure a little longer. Matteo was the first person to tell me that being let down wasn't my fault.

When I got home that afternoon, my mother said Luca had come by looking for port records "only Elena could understand." She hadn't let him in. "If he comes again, don't open the door," I said.

I still couldn't sleep that night. Luca had once promised me a ring everyone in Gray Harbor would recognize, so no one would ever look down on me again. Now, that ring was on Sophia's finger.

The next day, Matteo took me to a small gathering with his friends at a boxing gym owned by his family. There were ship captains, lawyers, and young men who ran errands for the Family. No one asked about my past or treated me like a woman Luca had cast aside.

I drank a little too much. On the way home, Matteo put his jacket around my shoulders. He walked me to the door and stopped there. I called after him, "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." He smiled. "Elena, you don't have to earn your place with me."