Chapter 10 - VINCENT TOOK MAGGIE TO COFFEE IN A PLACE HE DID NOT OWN, AND SHE MADE HIM ANSWER WHETHER HE WAS STILL A MAFIA BOSS BEFORE SHE LET HIM CALL IT A DATE
The café was in Evanston.
Maggie chose it.
A small place with crooked wooden tables and no valet.
Vincent arrived alone.
Mostly.
Calvin sat in car a block away.
Maggie found out later and said that counted as mostly.
Vincent wore a dark sweater instead of suit.
It did not make him look less dangerous.
Just more suspiciously expensive.
Maggie was already there.
Coffee.
Notebook? No green notebook.
That surprised him.
“You’re early.”
“So are you.”
“I was outside ten minutes.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t want arrive first.”
She stared.
“You run criminal organization but fear coffee etiquette?”
“Former criminal organization is complicated phrase.”
There.
Maggie folded arms.
“Let’s do that.”
“What?”
“You called yourself former?”
Vincent looked toward window.
“I inherited organization.”
“You know.”
“I shut down things.”
“I know newspapers.”
“What still exists?”
Direct.
He respected.
“Some relationships.”
“Security network.”
“Old debts.”
“People who worked for family and still expect favors.”
“Illegal operations?”
“Some were ended.”
“Some people around us committed crimes I did not report years ago.”
“Current?”
He paused.
“There are areas counsel is unwinding.”
Maggie’s expression changed.
“That is not no.”
“No.”
“Then why should I date you?”
He could say protection.
Money.
Change.
Instead:
“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
She stared.
“Terrible sales pitch.”
“I’m not selling.”
“Good.”
Vincent continued.
“I spent ten years making organization more legitimate.”
“Sometimes I told myself progress meant past did not count.”
“Roseland corrected that.”
“I still have family relationships people reasonably fear.”
“I still have security because threats real.”
“I still know men who solve things illegally.”
“I do not ask them to.”
“But history remains.”
Maggie nodded.
“Any murder?”
He did not flinch.
“My father’s organization was violent.”
“You?”
“I have hurt people.”
“How?”
He looked.
“Do you want detail?”
“Yes.”
So he told enough.
When younger, he participated in intimidation.
Physical assaults.
Debt collection.
He had ordered threats.
Did he order killing?
He said:
“I never ordered murder.”
“Have people died because decisions?”
“Possibly.”
“Roseland obviously.”
“Yes.”
“Criminal world?”
“Yes.”
No romanticizing.
Maggie sat.
“Why tell?”
“You asked.”
“That simple?”
“Trying.”
She drank coffee.
Then:
“I don’t need saint.”
“Convenient.”
“I do need safe.”
He nodded.
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Learning.”
She smiled slightly.
They talked ninety minutes.
Not forty-five.
About Maggie.
She hated olives.
Loved old detective novels.
Wanted finish bachelor’s eventually.
Her brother Ethan thought Chicago stole common sense.
She had one serious relationship after fire; ended because boyfriend treated disability like either tragedy or inspiration.
“I am neither.”
Vincent said:
“Obviously.”
“Careful.”
He smiled.
She asked about Vincent’s mother.
Died when he was fourteen.
Father raised him in organization.
Marco became uncle/father substitute.
Betrayal complicated.
“Do you miss him?”
“Marco?”
“Yes.”
“Yes.”
“Even after?”
“Yes.”
“People inconvenient.”
“Very.”
At end Vincent paid for his coffee only because Maggie had already paid hers.
He looked offended.
“Forty-five dollars in a hotel costs nothing to me.”
“That’s problem.”
“Four-dollar coffee?”
“Also nothing.”
“Still.”
She smiled.
“Next time you can.”
He stopped.
“Next time?”
Maggie stood.
“You answer questions reasonably.”
“That is compliment?”
“Don’t ruin.”
They dated.
Slow.
Public restaurants.
Walks.
Museum.
Maggie refused cars unless weather terrible.
Vincent learned trains? He knew but rarely.
He stood on CTA platform looking like kidnapping target.
Maggie laughed.
“You’re ridiculous.”
“I’m evaluating security.”
“You’re taking Red Line.”
“Exactly.”
Calvin hated everything.
Good.
No gifts first six months beyond books/flowers modest.
Maggie set.
Vincent followed.
When her prosthetic needed repair, he did not offer money.
He asked:
“Need ride?”
“No.”
“Okay.”
That restraint mattered more than jewelry.
At same time legal cases advanced.
Marco’s current fraud case.
Roy cooperation.
Charles.
Procurement.
Vincent testified before grand jury / deposition as required.
No mob silence.
Some old associates stopped speaking.
He lost business.
Good.
Moretti Hospitality sold remaining minority interests in businesses still connected to questionable family associates after legal review.
Not instant purification.
Transition.
Board reduced family control.
Vincent supported.
He eventually stepped down chairman, remained shareholder/director? After two years, became non-executive director, then left board later.
Elena CEO.
Company stronger.
Maggie watched from outside.
One evening six months into dating, Vincent said:
“I may leave board.”
“Do you want?”
“I think company needs.”
“That isn’t same.”
He smiled.
“You always.”
“Yes.”
“What do I want?”
He thought.
“I want to stop being person everything routes through.”
“Why?”
“Because if I’m wrong, everyone bends.”
She looked.
“My father would like answer.”
Vincent’s eyes changed.
“Do you still hate me for him?”
Maggie considered.
“No.”
He did not breathe.
Then she continued.
“I’m still angry.”
“Different.”
“Yes.”
“Can both?”
“Yes.”
He nodded.
No request forgiveness.
Then biggest current case outcome:
Marco convicted/pleaded on procurement fraud and records tampering/witness intimidation. We can state after trial, jury convicted on current counts; historical Roseland claims resolved civilly, not criminal due age/causation.
Charles pled to fraud/records offenses after cooperation.
Roy too.
Elaine no criminal role, employment consequences.
Moretti Hospitality recovered funds, paid remediation, consent agreements.
Vincent faced no criminal charge for Roseland; independent civil settlement acknowledged governance failure. He personally contributed to company legacy fund? Could, but not as buying absolution. He did through shareholder distributions maybe.
Maggie did not attend sentencing.
She had work.
Good.
Then reporter asked her:
“Are you dating Vincent Moretti?”
Public.
She said:
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t that undermine claims?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because evidence does not become false when people’s relationships change.”
“Did he buy prosthetic?”
“No.”
“Did he promote you?”
“No.”
“He was owner when interim role.”
“Independent team.”
Then:
“Do you forgive?”
Maggie smiled.
“That is not public property.”
Excellent.
Vincent read quote.
Texted:
Good answer.
Maggie:
You’re public property unfortunately.
He laughed.
May you like
Their romance did not erase father.
That was the line they protected.
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