Chapter 16 - When Chicago Learned the Truth
Matteo arrived forty-five minutes later.
No jacket.
No tie.
His hair looked as though he had spent the drive running his hands through it.
Riley met him outside the conference room.
“What happened?”
He handed her a folder.
“Read.”
Inside was a partnership agreement dated 1999.
Salvatore Duca.
Richard Whitmore.
A planned riverfront development company.
Riley frowned.
“So?”
“Page eleven.”
She turned.
A clause granted Duca interests a right of first refusal on several parcels.
Including Morgan Towing.
Riley stared.
“This is still valid?”
“I don’t know.”
Thomas appeared behind them.
“I do.”
Everyone turned.
He read the document.
Then shook his head.
“No.”
Matteo exhaled.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes. The agreement was never funded. It expired after eighteen months.”
Riley looked at Matteo.
“You stopped a sixty-million-dollar closing for an expired contract?”
“I found it at four this morning.”
“You could have called Thomas.”
“I did.”
Thomas held up his phone.
“Fourteen missed calls.”
Riley stared at Matteo.
Thomas added, “My phone was on silent.”
Matteo glared at him.
“That is irresponsible.”
Riley started laughing.
Matteo looked offended.
“This isn’t funny.”
“It is a little funny.”
“You were about to sign a major property transaction.”
“And you panicked.”
“I verified.”
“You panicked responsibly.”
He looked at her.
Riley kissed his cheek.
“Thank you.”
“For nearly ruining closing?”
“For stopping it when you believed something was wrong.”
His expression softened.
They signed that afternoon.
Morgan Towing retained its historic parcel.
Duca Development acquired the surrounding sections at independently appraised value.
A trust protected the business.
Connor became operating partner.
Longtime employees received profit-sharing interests.
Patrick officially retired.
For approximately three days.
Then Riley caught him dispatching trucks.
“You’re banned from the radio.”
“I founded this company.”
“You retired.”
“I’m consulting.”
“Nobody hired you.”
“I’m affordable.”
“You work free.”
“Exactly.”
The federal case developed quickly.
Daniel Whitmore’s own records provided what investigators needed.
Victor Duca entered a plea agreement and agreed to testify.
Luca provided eight years of communications.
Several former bank executives were implicated.
Some crimes were too old to prosecute.
Others were not.
But the truth became public.
Salvatore Duca’s role changed too.
Newspapers that had once repeated rumors about him now reported that, near the end of his life, he had been trying to expose the fraud.
He was not transformed into a saint.
Matteo did not want that.
“My father made mistakes,” he told Riley one night.
They stood beside the river behind the tow yard.
“He hurt people.”
“Then let the truth include that.”
Matteo nodded.
“I spent years either defending him or resenting him.”
“You can do neither.”
“What?”
“You can know him.”
Matteo looked at her.
“Sometimes you say intelligent things.”
“Occasionally.”
“Then you ruin them.”
“Balance.”
Construction began six months later.
The first building was not a luxury tower.
It was the Morgan-Duca Technical Center.
Riley hated the name.
Sofia loved it.
The center trained young adults in diesel repair, towing safety, logistics, and automotive technology.
Scholarships were created in Ellen Morgan and Salvatore Duca’s names.
Patrick cried during the opening ceremony.
He denied it.
Connor had photographic evidence.
A reporter approached Riley afterward.
“Ms. Morgan, when you first towed Mr. Duca’s car, did you ever imagine you’d become business partners?”
“No.”
“Did you know who he was?”
“Yes.”
“Were you afraid?”
Riley looked toward Matteo.
He was speaking with students.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Loading zones are pretty clearly marked.”
The reporter laughed.
The clip went viral.
Again.
Matteo showed it to Riley that evening.
“One million views.”
“You’re welcome.”
“My public image is permanently tied to illegal parking.”
“You built character.”
“So you keep saying.”
Their relationship changed slowly.
Riley refused to move into his penthouse.
Matteo secretly seemed relieved.
He spent more time at her small house than his own.
He learned to make coffee in a machine that cost less than his shoes.
Riley learned that he snored slightly when exhausted.
Matteo discovered she watched terrible home renovation shows.
She threatened him when he mentioned it.
Everything might have become peaceful.
If not for one unfinished matter.
The anniversary of Ellen Morgan’s death arrived.
Riley visited the cemetery alone.
She brought flowers.
Sat beside the grave.
Told her mother everything.
The tunnel.
Salvatore.
Patrick.
Connor.
Matteo.
She laughed while crying.
“You would have liked him.”
A voice behind her said, “I hope so.”
Riley turned.
Matteo stood several yards away.
“You followed me?”
“No.”
He held flowers.
“I came to see my father.”
Salvatore’s grave was in the same cemetery.
Riley had forgotten.
They walked together.
Matteo placed flowers down.
For a while neither spoke.
Then Riley noticed a woman standing in the distance.
Older.
Watching them.
She approached slowly.
“Matteo Duca?”
“Yes.”
“My name is Helen Bell.”
Thomas’s sister.
Matteo recognized her.
“I remember you.”
She held a small package.
“Thomas asked me to give you this if everything was ever resolved.”
Riley frowned.
“Where is Thomas?”
Helen smiled sadly.
“He left for Europe yesterday. Says retirement finally sounds attractive.”
Matteo opened the package.
Inside was a letter and a small velvet box.
The letter read:
Salvatore gave me this the week before he died. He said someday you might meet someone who made you understand why a man would risk everything for a future he might never see.
I held it because you were too young.
Then because you were too angry.
Then because I was a coward.
I think you’re ready now.
—Thomas
Matteo opened the velvet box.
Inside was a simple ring.
Not extravagant.
Old.
Family.
Riley stared at it.
Matteo looked horrified.
“This is not how I wanted you to see that.”
Riley slowly turned toward him.
“You were planning something?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Yes.”
She began laughing.
“This is terrible.”
“I am aware.”
“At a cemetery?”
“I was not going to ask here.”
“I hope not.”
Matteo closed the box quickly.
“We’re forgetting this happened.”
“Impossible.”
“Riley.”
“I’m telling Sofia.”
“Absolutely not.”
Riley was still laughing when they reached the car.
For once, Matteo Duca looked genuinely afraid.
Not of rivals.
Not of losing millions.
Of a blonde tow-truck driver telling his sister he had accidentally revealed an engagement ring at a cemetery.
But what Matteo did not know was that Riley had already decided what her answer would be.
May you like
He just needed to ask properly.
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