Page 59 of The Mafioso’s Bride

"My wife asked you a direct question," Luca says.

"That sounded more like an order," Mattia says.

"It was," I say.

Dario's mouth moves at one corner. Mattia collects the copies and leaves the originals in front of me.

"You'll have them within the hour, Mrs. DiCenzo."

"Thank you."

Dario rises. His finger stops near Luca's lapel, far enough away that he does not touch the pin. "Still wearing that."

"My wife gave it to me."

"You told me," Dario says.

"You asked again."

Dario leaves with Mattia. The door closes behind them.

I add a yellow tab to the early transfer. The work satisfies a part of my mind nothing else reaches. Columns remain where I put them. Numbers do not hide an insult inside a compliment. When a sequence breaks, the break has a cause, even if I have not located it yet.

Luca pushes a cup toward me. Earl Grey. Two sugars. The tea has cooled enough to drink.

The conference-room door opens. Polina enters carrying two paper bags. She sets one beside my files and keeps the other.

"Lunch," she says. "The pasta is plain. The vegetables are separate."

"Did you bring the lemon biscuits?" I ask.

"Two packages. One for your house and one for mine, so you have a reason to visit me."

"I already visit you." I open the nearest container.

"Then I get more biscuits."

I move the financial records away from the bag. Polina sits across from us and takes out three containers. She no longer waits for Luca to arrange our lunches or asks him what I prefer. She asks me. Last week I told her the restaurant changed its pasta, and she agreed the new kind was inferior.

"Are you coming on Thursday?" she asks.

"Yes. I chose two films. You may reject one."

"Only one?" Polina asks.

"You rejected both last time."

"They were documentaries about microscopic animals."

"They were different species."

Polina passes me a fork. "One rejection. I agree."

Luca rises. "I have been dismissed from my own conference room."

"This is not your conference room," I say. "It belongs to the organization."

"A vital distinction."