Chapter 5 - RICO ASKED CLARA TO MOVE IN
He asked on the fourth day.
“No.”
He blinked.
“You haven’t heard the offer.”
“No.”
“Leo is calmer around you.”
“I know.”
“He spoke again this morning.”
“I know.”
“He asked for you.”
“I know.”
Rico’s voice tightened.
“Then why are you saying no?”
“Because your son needing me does not make me your employee.”
“I’ll pay you.”
“No.”
“More than the restaurant.”
“No.”
“A private apartment on the property.”
“No.”
Dante turned away to hide a smile.
Rico stared.
“What do you want?”
Clara paused.
That was different.
Not:
What price?
What do you want?
“I want to go back to school.”
Rico said nothing.
“Speech pathology?”
“Yes.”
“I had one year left.”
“What happened?”
“My brother got sick.”
“Then Dad died.”
“Then debt.”
Rico’s instinctive answer appeared immediately.
“I’ll pay—”
Clara raised one finger.
He stopped.
“Not like that.”
“How?”
“If you want to help, connect me with a scholarship program that already exists.”
He looked offended by bureaucracy.
“Why?”
“Because then you can’t decide later that I owe you.”
His face changed.
“You think I would?”
“I think powerful people often don’t notice when gratitude becomes a leash.”
Silence.
Then Rico nodded.
“I’ll find a program.”
“Someone else finds it.”
“You apply.”
“Correct.”
He almost smiled.
That evening Clara returned to Il Destino.
Marco was horrified.
“You’re coming back?”
“Yes.”
“After talking to Moretti?”
“I still need rent.”
Rico heard about it.
He called.
“You’re working tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because employment.”
“I can cover your rent.”
“No.”
“Clara.”
“Goodbye, Rico.”
She hung up.
May you like
Dante later told her Rico stared at his phone for thirty seconds as though it had committed treason.
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