Chapter 18 - No More Family Deals
The meeting took place in a plain conference room at a neutral office building. Giorgio sat beside his attorney; Vincent sat beside his. Karen and the prospective buyer waited at the far end. Alessandro had brought counsel of his own.
"One signature," Giorgio said, sliding an amended agreement across the table. "You stop cooperating with outsiders, return to the business, and our families restore their old arrangements."
"There is no engagement," Alessandro said.
"Then make a public reconciliation. You need not actually marry the girl."
"You still think people exist to decorate your bargains."
Vincent leaned forward. "You don't understand how much you stand to lose."
"I'm beginning to."
Alessandro placed a letter from his attorney on the table. It confirmed that he had begun a lawful, advised process of providing records and his own account of past decisions to investigators. The lawyer had made no promise that he would escape liability.
"I signed things I should have questioned," Alessandro said. "I let people frighten employees and called it business. I'm not signing my way out of the truth."
Giorgio looked at the letter as if it were a declaration of war. "You would testify against your father?"
"I'll answer for myself. So should you."
Karen cleared her throat. "The carrier's offer remains open through Monday. It isn't perfect. It protects more jobs than allowing the warehouses to fail. The board has a duty to evaluate it on its merits."
For the next hour nobody shouted. Lawyers reviewed conditions. Vincent's representatives withdrew the threat to interfere with the new carrier's access to ordinary freight services, subject to written commercial terms. Giorgio, facing a worsening financial position and scrutiny from the company's other stakeholders, agreed to submit the sale for approval.
When they finished, Alessandro rose without shaking his father's hand.
"I gave you a life," Giorgio said.
"You did. But what I do with it belongs to me."
Outside, Rosa was waiting by the sidewalk. Not because he had summoned her, but because she had asked how the meeting might affect Lily's safety and had chosen to come.
"Did you get what you wanted?" she asked.
"Not all of it. The company may survive under someone else. Some workers still have difficult months ahead."
"And you?"
"I may have a difficult few years."
May you like
She looked into his face. "Then don't start making promises you can only keep if nothing gets hard."
He nodded. "Saturday. Eleven. Library. I'll be there."
