Chapter 10 - THE EMPLOYEES WHO REFUSED TO LEAVE
The Bellini Grand had never experienced a staff meeting like the one held the following Monday.
More than three hundred employees gathered in the ballroom.
Roman stood at the front.
No security officers lined the walls.
No executives sat above the staff.
Emily stood near Samuel.
Walter held his repaired jacket.
Luis carried a folder of medical bills.
Henry had brought his pension statements.
Roman looked at the room.
“For years, some of you were underpaid.”
Silence.
“Some of you were denied benefits you earned.”
A woman began crying.
“Some were threatened for asking questions.”
Roman paused.
“I was responsible for overseeing this hotel. I failed to identify what was happening.”
He looked toward Emily.
Then back at the employees.
“I cannot undo that failure. But I can make sure the investigation is independent, the money is returned, and the people responsible face consequences.”
Samuel raised his hand.
Roman nodded.
“Yes?”
“Will you still be here when the lawyers leave?”
The question struck harder than any accusation.
Roman answered carefully.
“Yes.”
Samuel studied him.
“Then come downstairs sometimes.”
A few people laughed.
Roman smiled faintly.
“I will.”
***
The employee committee was formed that afternoon.
Representatives from housekeeping, laundry, maintenance, food service, security, and guest relations were elected.
Emily refused to chair it.
Roman was surprised.
“Why?”
“Because it shouldn't belong to me.”
“You started this.”
“No.”
She looked at Samuel.
“Margaret started it. Nora started it. Every person who asked where their money went started it.”
Roman nodded.
Emily continued.
“I'll help. But the employees should choose their own representatives.”
They did.
Samuel became the first chair.
Luis represented food service.
Walter represented porters.
Henry represented retirement and benefits concerns.
Emily served as an adviser while continuing her regular work.
For the first time in decades, employees had a formal voice independent of management.
***
That evening, Gabriel received a call.
Victor had been located.
He was staying at a private estate outside Lake Geneva.
But he wasn't alone.
Several former Bellini associates had joined him.
Men who had profited from the old gambling operations.
Men who believed Roman was betraying the family.
Gabriel looked at Roman.
“This could get ugly.”
Roman nodded.
“I know.”
“Victor wants a meeting.”
“Where?”
“The old estate.”
Roman stared.
The house where he had grown up.
The place his father taught him that power meant never allowing anyone to question you.
Roman looked toward the employee committee minutes on his desk.
Then said:
“Tell Victor I'll meet him with counsel present, at a neutral location.”
Gabriel almost smiled.
“Your father would hate that.”
Roman looked up.
May you like
“Good.”
---
