Chapter 11 - The Last Secret of Vincent Russo
Three months passed.
Winter reached New York.
Avery returned to Rosa’s.
Not because she needed the job.
Technically, Avery Russo would soon control voting rights in a foundation worth more money than she could comfortably imagine.
But wealth did not change the fact that Mrs. Kaplan liked two lemon slices.
Mr. Donovan still needed diagonal toast.
And Rosa still yelled whenever anyone stored onions on the wrong refrigerator shelf.
Some things were worth keeping.
Cameron stopped coming.
That was what Avery asked for.
No security men where she could see them.
No expensive black sedan.
No Dom in booth nine.
She hated every morning.
At first, she told herself it was adjustment.
Then habit.
Then anger.
By the sixth week, Rosa had stopped pretending.
“You’re miserable.”
“I’m fine.”
“You put salt in Mr. Donovan’s coffee.”
Avery looked toward his table.
“He didn’t complain.”
“He’s ninety.”
“So?”
“He fought in Korea. He’s too proud.”
Avery sighed.
Rosa leaned on the counter.
“Call him.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked for space.”
“You’ve had three months.”
“I need to know I can build a life that isn’t based on Cameron rescuing me.”
Rosa nodded.
“Good.”
Avery blinked.
“That’s it?”
“What?”
“No argument?”
“Oh, you absolutely need that.”
Avery frowned.
Rosa smiled.
“But independence and loneliness aren’t the same thing.”
Then the diner door opened.
Avery’s heart jumped.
Not Cameron.
Bradley Hayes entered.
He looked different.
No thousand-dollar suit.
No arrogance.
He wore jeans, a wool coat, and an expression suggesting he would rather negotiate with prosecutors than enter Rosa’s.
Avery folded her arms.
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything.”
“You’re going to.”
He approached carefully.
“Can we talk?”
“You have sixty seconds.”
Bradley sat at the counter.
Rosa placed coffee in front of him.
He reached for it.
Rosa pulled it away.
“Apologize first.”
Bradley looked at Avery.
“I’m sorry.”
She said nothing.
“What I said to you was disgusting.”
“Yes.”
“I was cruel because I thought cruelty made me powerful.”
“Yes.”
“I embarrassed you.”
“Yes.”
“I’m not expecting forgiveness.”
“Good.”
He nodded.
Then Avery sighed.
“You can have the coffee.”
Rosa slid it over.
Bradley almost smiled.
“I brought something.”
He placed a small box on the counter.
Inside was a cassette tape.
Avery frowned.
“What is that?”
“Your father gave it to me.”
She went still.
“When?”
“The night we met.”
“Why?”
“He told me if he died, I should give it to Cameron.”
Avery’s anger returned instantly.
“You waited eight years?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of Salvatore?”
“My father.”
“Thomas.”
Bradley nodded.
“I thought he killed Vincent.”
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
Avery wanted to hate him.
Part of her did.
But the man sitting in front of her no longer looked like the stranger who had mocked her three months earlier.
He looked ashamed.
That did not erase anything.
But shame could be a beginning.
“Why now?”
“Because I found it after federal agents searched my father’s old storage unit.”
Avery held the cassette.
“What’s on it?”
“I don’t know.”
She called Elena.
Then Rosa.
Then, after ten minutes of staring at her phone, Cameron.
He answered on the first ring.
“Avery?”
One word.
She nearly cried.
“Hi.”
Silence.
Then:
“Hi.”
“I have something.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Your mother?”
“Fine.”
“Rosa?”
“Standing three feet away pretending not to listen.”
Rosa turned around theatrically.
Avery smiled.
“Bradley found a tape from my father.”
Cameron became silent.
“Where are you?”
“Diner.”
“I’ll be there.”
He arrived eleven minutes later.
Avery tried not to notice.
She failed.
Cameron stepped through the door in a dark overcoat.
His eyes found her immediately.
Three months disappeared in one look.
He did not touch her.
Did not hug her.
He respected the distance she requested.
That somehow made her want to cross it herself.
Rosa found an ancient cassette player in the office.
They gathered around a table.
Avery pressed play.
Static.
Then Vincent’s voice.
“Cameron.”
Everyone became still.
“If Bradley actually gave you this, maybe there’s hope for the kid.”
Bradley looked down.
Vincent continued.
“I found out what Salvatore is doing.”
A pause.
“I also know you blame yourself for Lorenzo.”
Cameron stiffened.
Avery looked at him.
Vincent said:
“Don’t.”
Cameron closed his eyes.
“Your father knew what could happen when he created that foundation.”
The tape crackled.
“He chose you to finish it.”
Avery’s eyes filled.
“And Cameron, there’s something else.”
A longer pause.
“My daughter thinks nobody sees her.”
Avery stopped breathing.
“She came home crying last week because some idiot boy at school made a joke about her weight.”
Avery remembered.
Daniel Morris.
Cafeteria.
Sixteen years old.
She had told her father she slipped in the bathroom because she didn’t want him to know she was crying.
Vincent had known anyway.
“She thinks being soft means she needs to become hard.”
Avery wiped her cheek.
“I hope life never teaches her that.”
Cameron looked at her.
Vincent continued.
“If you ever become part of her life, don’t protect Avery by making her smaller.”
Cameron’s eyes closed.
“Let her choose.”
Avery started crying.
That had been Cameron’s mistake.
Every secret.
Every hidden guard.
Every decision made for her.
He had protected her by making choices on her behalf.
And when she finally demanded space…
He had let her choose.
Vincent’s voice softened.
“And if she chooses you someday…”
Avery looked at Cameron.
“…then you’d better understand you’re the lucky one.”
The recording clicked off.
Nobody spoke.
Rosa cried openly.
Elena smiled through tears.
Bradley stared at the table.
Cameron looked at Avery.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For every time I confused protecting you with deciding for you.”
Avery nodded.
“Good.”
He looked surprised.
“Good?”
“You finally understand.”
“I think so.”
She stood.
“So let’s test it.”
He frowned.
“How?”
Avery put on her coat.
“I’m going for a walk.”
“Okay.”
“You can come.”
Something changed in his face.
Hope.
He stood.
“Is that your choice?”
“Yes.”
They stepped outside.
Snow had begun falling.
Neither spoke for half a block.
Then Avery slipped her hand into his.
Cameron stopped walking.
She looked up.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You look confused.”
“I’m trying very hard not to make assumptions.”
Avery laughed.
Then she stepped closer.
“Here’s one assumption you can make.”
“What?”
She kissed him.
Soft.
Brief.
Certain.
When she pulled away, Cameron stared at her.
Avery smiled.
“That was my choice too.”
He touched her cheek.
“Can I kiss you?”
“See? Learning already.”
He kissed her again.
Across the street, Rosa watched through the diner window.
Elena stood beside her.
Bradley approached.
Rosa pointed at him.
“Don’t ruin this.”
“I wasn’t.”
“You have that face.”
“What face?”
“The billionaire-who-ruins-things face.”
Bradley sighed.
“I’m not a billionaire anymore.”
Rosa smiled.
“Progress.”
Outside, Avery rested her forehead against Cameron’s.
“Tomorrow morning,” she said.
“Yes?”
“Seven.”
His mouth curved.
“Booth nine?”
“Booth nine.”
Cameron hesitated.
“Black coffee?”
Avery smiled.
“No.”
He looked alarmed.
“We’re making changes.”
May you like
And for the first time, Cameron Moretti looked genuinely frightened.
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