Chapter 20 - The Table She Chose
Six months later, Castellano's reopened under a new name.
The old doors were gone. The broken marble had been replaced. Table Nine remained, though Lily had insisted it be moved beside the windows where the afternoon sun came through.
The restaurant no longer served as a meeting place for men who believed fear was the same thing as respect. Victor had turned over the legitimate businesses to a management group and was cooperating with federal investigators. His past had not disappeared, and Lily never pretended it had.
But he had begun telling the truth.
That was a start.
Sofia managed the dining room. Marcus ran the floor. Eddie, after being told he was too intimidating to greet customers, had taken a job coordinating deliveries. Ruiz visited once a week and pretended she came only for the coffee.
Lily had kept the brass key.
She wore it on a chain beneath her uniform.
One quiet afternoon, a young server dropped a tray near Table Nine. A glass shattered. The girl froze, eyes wide.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered.
Lily crouched beside her.
"Don't touch the glass. I'll get the broom."
"I ruined the table."
"It's a table. We can fix a table."
The girl let out a shaky breath.
Lily smiled. "Take a minute. Then bring me two clean glasses."
When the girl left, Victor approached from the doorway.
"You still remember the first night?"
"I remember the wineglass."
"I remember the man on the floor."
"He was very rude."
Victor laughed softly. "You saved my life."
"You gave me a job."
"I gave you a chance."
Lily shook her head. "My mother gave me the courage. My father taught me how to fall. I just happened to be standing in the right place."
Victor looked toward the windows. "And what happens now?"
Lily glanced around the restaurant. At the staff who no longer flinched when the front door opened. At the customers who came for dinner instead of favors. At the empty chair she kept near the window for the mother she still missed.
"Now," she said, "we make this place worth coming back to."
The bell above the entrance rang.
A man in a dark coat stepped inside.
Lily's smile faded.
He was not as tall as Rourke. He carried no visible weapon. But he placed a small envelope on the host stand and asked for her by name.
Victor moved beside her.
"Who sent you?" Lily asked.
The man glanced at Victor, then back at her.
"Someone who says the harbor wasn't the only place your father left a secret."
He slid the envelope across the counter.
Inside was a photograph of Daniel Chen, alive and standing outside a train station dated three months after the night he was supposed to have died.
On the back, in handwriting Lily had not seen in nine years, were six words:
I'M SORRY. I HAD TO DISAPPEAR.
Lily looked up.
May you like
For the first time in six months, the past had found a new way to knock.
And this time, she intended to answer.
