Chapter 1 - Table 7
"Table 7 is here."
Three words silenced the kitchen at Il Canto.
The chef stopped shouting.
A dishwasher stopped stacking plates.
Even Marco, the manager, lowered his voice.
"Who's taking it?"
Chloe Bennett reached for her tray.
"I am."
Marco stared at her.
"You worked eleven hours."
"I noticed."
"And Costello brought family tonight."
Chloe adjusted her apron.
"Family still eats."
Marco caught her arm.
"Chloe."
She looked at him.
"Don't be funny in there."
"I'm never funny."
"You're funny when you're nervous."
"Then pray I'm relaxed."
She pushed through the mahogany doors.
At the head of the private table sat Gabriel Costello.
Thirty-nine.
Dark suit.
Broad shoulders.
A face built for saying no without repeating himself.
Six men surrounded him.
Beside him sat a tiny white-haired woman in pearls.
Beatrice Costello.
Chloe began pouring water.
"Shipment arrives at midnight," one man said.
Gabriel opened a folder.
"Any problems?"
"Union representative complained."
"And?"
"He stopped complaining."
Chloe kept moving.
Then Beatrice raised her hands.
Chloe nearly missed the glass.
ASL.
Where is the bread?
Gabriel wasn't looking.
Beatrice tapped the table.
He glanced over.
"Not now, Ma."
She signed again.
I don't want bread. I want wine.
"Bread's coming."
Chloe stared.
He did not understand her.
His own mother.
Dinner continued.
Beatrice tried again when Chloe collected the appetizers.
I hate the veal. I want seafood risotto.
Gabriel sighed.
"Ma, please."
He turned to Chloe.
"She'll have the veal."
Beatrice's hands dropped.
Something in her expression hit Chloe harder than it should have.
Her younger brother Leo had worn that expression at school, restaurants, doctor's offices.
The look deaf people wore when hearing people decided understanding them was too inconvenient.
Leo had died two years earlier in a drunk-driving crash.
Chloe had not signed since his funeral.
Not once.
Gabriel noticed her standing there.
"Problem?"
Five men looked at her.
Chloe had seventy dollars in her bank account.
Rent was due.
Walk away.
Instead, she put down the plates.
She faced Beatrice.
And raised her hands.
Hello. My name is Chloe.
Beatrice's eyes widened.
The veal really is terrible, Chloe signed. You made the right choice.
Beatrice stared.
Then smiled.
You know sign language?
My brother was deaf.
A chair moved behind Chloe.
"What are you doing?"
Gabriel.
Chloe continued.
Beatrice answered quickly.
Seafood risotto. Red wine.
Gabriel stood.
"I asked you a question."
His hand closed around Chloe's shoulder.
Chloe turned.
"She doesn't want veal."
Gabriel stared.
"She wants seafood risotto. And she asked for wine twenty minutes ago. You kept ordering bread."
Silence.
"You understood all of that?"
"Yes."
His grip remained on her shoulder.
Chloe looked down at it.
"If you're going to break my collarbone, could you wait until after I put her order in? The kitchen closes soon."
One lieutenant almost laughed.
Beatrice slapped Gabriel's wrist.
He released Chloe.
His mother signed furiously.
Chloe watched.
"She says your manners are atrocious."
Someone coughed.
Beatrice continued.
"And she wants you to stop treating her like she's stupid just because she's deaf."
Gabriel's face changed.
Only slightly.
He looked at his mother.
Beatrice looked away.
"Risotto," Gabriel said.
Chloe blinked.
"What?"
"Bring her the seafood risotto."
He glanced at the empty glass.
"And Barolo."
Chloe signed the order.
Beatrice brightened.
She caught Chloe's wrist.
Thank you.
Then:
My son is an idiot, but he tips well.
Chloe laughed.
Gabriel's eyes narrowed.
"What did she say?"
"Confidential communication."
For the first time in years, Beatrice laughed at Gabriel Costello's table.
Chloe turned toward the door.
Then Beatrice grabbed her hand again.
Hard.
The old woman's smile vanished.
Her fingers moved fast.
Chloe stopped breathing.
"Wait."
Gabriel looked up.
"What now?"
Chloe looked at the man sitting on Gabriel's right.
Dominic Serra.
Gabriel's consigliere.
His oldest friend.
The man who had reportedly stood beside him at his father's funeral.
Dominic wore silver cuff links shaped like wolves.
Beatrice signed again.
Chloe felt every person at the table watching her.
Gabriel said, "Translate."
Chloe swallowed.
"She says..."
Beatrice pointed directly at Dominic.
Then signed one more sentence.
Chloe's voice came out quieter.
"She says, 'That man made you believe your father wanted you to become this.'"
Gabriel did not move.
Dominic smiled.
"What exactly does that mean?"
Beatrice's hands rose again.
This time Chloe did not hesitate.
"She says your father tried to end it."
Gabriel's eyes hardened.
"End what?"
Beatrice looked around the table.
Then at the folder in front of her son.
Everything.
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