Chapter 15 - TERESA’S VOTE
The emergency board meeting happened the next morning.
Teresa wore the same brown coat she had worn to the engagement dinner.
I offered to find her something else.
She refused.
“They hated this coat the first time.”
“They didn’t hate your coat.”
“They looked at it.”
“That’s different.”
“Not really.”
She also carried her wooden spoon.
“Why?”
“Confidence.”
I stopped asking questions.
News about Malcolm’s arrest had already leaked.
So had David Bellini’s.
The boardroom was full.
Lawyers.
Directors.
Auditors.
Daniel sat beside Luca.
Patrick near the end.
Vanessa was not permitted to attend because of her own legal exposure.
Teresa walked in.
Every conversation stopped.
The retired judge on the board recognized her.
“Mrs. Caruso?”
“Yes.”
Daniel introduced her formally as successor trustee of Caruso Community Foundation.
Some directors looked confused.
Others looked terrified.
Luca remained expressionless.
The vote concerned two matters.
First: whether Luca would remain CEO during the investigation.
Second: whether the foundation would exercise its twenty-eight-percent voting block to support a restructuring that stripped Luca of unilateral family-trust authority.
Teresa looked at Luca.
“You knew about this second part?”
“Yes.”
“And you agreed?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because my mother was right.”
Silence.
He continued.
“No person should control this much simply because of a last name.”
One director whispered to another.
Teresa heard.
“You.”
The man froze.
“What did you say?”
“Nothing.”
“Good.”
She turned back to Luca.
“What happens if I vote against you?”
“I leave.”
“CEO?”
“Yes.”
“And you won’t fight it?”
“No.”
She studied him.
“You really mean that.”
“Yes.”
“Your father would have hated this.”
Luca smiled faintly.
“My mother would have loved it.”
Teresa smiled too.
Then voted.
She supported the restructuring.
But she also voted for Luca to remain CEO.
The result:
Luca kept his position.
Lost several unilateral powers.
The board gained independent oversight.
The community foundation received permanent representation.
Moretti Holdings survived.
Different.
Smaller in ego before it ever became smaller in assets.
After the meeting, reporters waited downstairs.
Teresa refused the private exit.
She walked through the lobby.
Microphones appeared.
“Mrs. Caruso, did Luca Moretti pressure you to vote for him?”
“No.”
“Did he offer you financial incentives?”
She stopped.
Looked directly at the reporter.
“The last person who tried offering me money ended up under investigation.”
Half the lobby laughed.
Teresa continued.
“I voted for the man I saw tell the truth when lying would have been easier.”
Then she walked away.
The sentence went viral before lunch.
Luca pretended not to care.
He saved the video.
I saw.
That evening, I found him alone in the mansion kitchen.
No jacket.
Sleeves rolled.
He was trying to make ravioli.
Badly.
I stared.
“What happened here?”
“Teresa said I need humility.”
“That dough looks humiliated.”
He glared at me.
I laughed.
Then helped.
For ten minutes, we did not talk about murder.
Trusts.
Fathers.
Vanessa.
Debt.
Just flour.
Eggs.
Too much water.
Then Luca said:
“I thought you were dead today.”
My hands stopped.
“At the warehouse?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were shot.”
“I know.”
Silence.
He looked at me.
“I don’t know what to do with that.”
“With what?”
“How much that scared me.”
My heart started pounding.
“Luca.”
“You work for the foundation now.”
“What?”
“Technically.”
“Teresa hired me this afternoon.”
“She did?”
“She said if I keep paying you from the mansion after this, she’ll hit me with the spoon.”
I laughed.
Then understood why he was telling me.
The employer line.
He was removing it.
Carefully.
Respectfully.
Not assuming.
He stepped closer.
“This is still complicated.”
“Yes.”
“You can say no.”
“Yes.”
“I need you to actually hear that.”
“I do.”
He looked at me.
Then kissed me.
Softly.
No dramatic music.
No perfect cinematic moment.
His hands smelled like flour.
Mine probably did too.
When we separated, Teresa’s voice came from the doorway.
“I knew it.”
I jumped.
Luca closed his eyes.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough.”
“You have no boundaries.”
“I own twenty-eight percent of your company.”
“That does not give you kitchen surveillance rights.”
“It should.”
I laughed so hard I had to lean against the counter.
For the first time in weeks, we were happy.
Then Vanessa appeared behind Teresa.
Security beside her.
No one laughed anymore.
She held an envelope.
“Luca.”
His face hardened.
“What are you doing here?”
“My attorney arranged this.”
“For what?”
She looked at me.
Then at Teresa.
Then Luca.
“My father wants to confess.”
Silence.
“Carlo?”
“Yes.”
“To what?”
Vanessa’s face looked gray.
“To helping David cover up Elena’s death.”
Luca stared.
“And?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“He says there is one person nobody has talked about.”
“Who?”
May you like
She held out the envelope.
“Your mother’s doctor.”
