Chapter 12 - A Place at the Table
The next morning Michael went to his support meeting before he returned any calls. I waited outside the center with two paper cups of coffee. He came out looking tired but less lost.
"I told them I almost drank without knowing it," he said. "One guy told me a bad night doesn't erase the days before it."
"He's right."
Michael studied my face. The swelling from Vanessa's slap had faded, but I could still feel it when I smiled. "Why are you still helping?"
"Because someone tried to take away your choice. And because I saw it."
"People will say you're doing it for Luca's money."
"People said you drank when you didn't. We can't build our lives around what they say."
He touched the worn graduation photo in his phone case. "Luca didn't excuse what I did when I drank. But he kept my chair at dinner."
At the estate, Luca was confronting a different kind of memory. He admitted he'd allowed Carlo to choose shipping subcontractors for years without asking enough about their finances. Some freight contracts were legitimate. Others had been arranged through men he now wished he'd never met.
"I looked away when it was convenient," Luca said. "I won't ask Michael to pay for that with his reputation."
He authorized an outside compliance review of the family's companies as well as Harbor Steps. It could cost him business, allies and perhaps more. He signed anyway.
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Minutes later Carlo's attorney emailed the foundation board, asking it to vote on Michael's removal before the outside audit could begin.
The vote was moved up to eight the next morning.
