Chương 4 - The Distance Between Their Two Worlds

The threat in the alley changed Belladonna in ways no one could pretend not to see.

A camera appeared above the service entrance.

Not one of Raina’s men.

A licensed security company installed it after Martin filed a report documenting the intimidation attempt. Raina insisted the contract list Belladonna as the client, not DeLuca Holdings, and that the restaurant could cancel it whenever the staff chose.

Leo read the agreement twice.

“You really had lawyers write boundaries into a camera contract.”

Raina was standing beside the hostess desk while the installer tested the feed.

“You told me you like boundaries.”

“I didn’t know you’d weaponize them.”

“That is a strange use of the word.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I usually do.”

The warmth between them had become easier to recognize and harder to ignore.

Raina still came twice a week, sometimes three times. She no longer took calls at the table unless they were urgent. Leo no longer pretended her arrival was an inconvenience.

The staff noticed before either of them admitted anything.

Priya began assigning Leo to Raina’s section even on nights when sections had already been divided.

Marisol started sending small dishes “for the table” when Raina was alone.

Tomas once placed two espresso cups beside her dessert before Leo had ordered anything.

Leo glared toward the kitchen.

Marisol disappeared behind the door.

Raina picked up one of the cups.

“Your staff seems optimistic.”

“They’re bored.”

“Dangerous condition.”

“Extremely.”

She handed him the second espresso.

He took it.

For ten minutes, between tables, he drank coffee standing beside her rather than in the service station.

It felt more intimate than either of them expected.

Outside the restaurant, the audit widened.

Three bars, a bakery, two garages, and a small grocery store had made recurring payments to intermediaries linked to Dominic’s office. Some owners called the money security fees. Others called it insurance. Two refused to speak at all.

Raina refused to let Marcus question them.

Instead, Martin hired an independent forensic firm and arranged confidential interviews through outside counsel.

Dominic heard about that.

He arrived at Raina’s office without an appointment.

“You’re paying strangers to investigate family.”

Raina continued signing a freight contract.

“I’m paying accountants to investigate money.”

“Same thing.”

“No.”

He shut the office door.

Raina looked up.

Dominic had always been good at occupying space. When they were children, he had stood between her and older boys who mocked her father’s accent. When they were teenagers, he had taught her which relatives lied at cards and which lied about everything.

That history was part of what made him dangerous now.

“You’re embarrassing us,” he said.

“You embarrassed us when you extorted businesses.”

“Don’t use that word.”

“What word would you prefer?”

“Collections.”

“Collections follow debts.”

“They owed for protection.”

“Protection from whom?”

Dominic’s jaw tightened.

Raina set down the pen.

“If the answer is us, then it isn’t protection.”

“You’ve become philosophical.”

“No. Specific.”

He laughed once.

“Because of the waiter.”

“This has nothing to do with Leo.”

“Then stop saying his name like it matters.”

Raina’s face went still.

Dominic noticed.

His expression changed from anger to recognition.

“Oh.”

“Careful.”

“You like him.”

“Leave.”

“Raina.”

“Leave.”

Dominic did.

The damage stayed.

That evening, Raina did not go to Belladonna.

She went the next evening instead.

Leo knew something was wrong before she removed her coat.

“Bad day?”

“Bad relative.”

“Those exist in every income bracket.”

She looked at him.

“My cousin knows about you.”

Leo paused with the water bottle in his hand.

“That sounds ominous.”

“He thinks you are influencing me.”

“Am I?”

“Yes.”

The answer came without hesitation.

Leo stopped.

Raina continued before he could misunderstand.

“You are influencing how I think about problems. That is not the same as controlling what I do.”

“Does he know the difference?”

“No.”

“Do you?”

Raina looked down at the table.

“More than I did a month ago.”

Leo poured the water.

“You want dinner?”

“Yes.”

“Food dinner or avoid-your-family dinner?”

“Can’t it be both?”

“It can.”

He brought her the special.

Later, after the final customers left, Raina stayed while Leo helped reset tables.

No guards were inside. Marcus waited in the car across the street.

Leo carried a stack of folded napkins toward Table Twelve.

Raina followed with two clean glasses.

“You don’t have to help.”

“You’re the one who complains my presence blocks the aisle.”

“That is not an invitation to work.”

“I own the restaurant.”

He looked at her.

She corrected herself.

“I currently own the restaurant.”

“Better.”

They set the glasses down.

Table Twelve was empty beneath the soft amber pendant light.

Leo adjusted a fork.

“Why did you buy this place?”

Raina leaned against the neighboring chair.

“It was supposed to be simple.”

“That is not an answer.”

“You sound like me.”

“Terrible, isn’t it?”

She smiled.

Then her expression settled.

“My father liked Belladonna.”

“I thought your family went to private clubs.”

“We did. He hated them.”

Leo waited.

“He brought my mother here on their twentieth anniversary. They fought through the entire appetizer.”

“That’s romantic.”

“She threw a bread roll at him.”

“More romantic.”

Raina laughed.

“He bought her flowers afterward from a corner shop. Carnations.”

Leo looked at the vase that usually sat on Twelve.

“That why you didn’t fight harder for the table?”

“No.”

“Why, then?”

“Because you said no.”

He leaned back slightly.

“That usually makes people want things more.”

“It usually makes me want to know why.”

“And when you found out?”

“I decided their anniversary was a better reason than my ownership.”

Leo’s expression softened.

Raina added, “Do not look pleased.”

“I’m trying not to.”

“You’re failing.”

“So are you.”

She realized she was smiling.

The room became quiet.

Not empty-restaurant quiet.

The kind of quiet that changed what was possible.

Leo looked at her mouth.

Raina saw him do it.

Neither moved.

Then the kitchen door opened and Marisol stepped out carrying her bag.

She stopped.

“Oh.”

Leo closed his eyes.

Marisol looked at Raina. “Good night.”

“Good night.”

She looked at Leo. “Very good night.”

“Go home, Marisol.”

The door closed behind her.

Raina laughed softly.

Leo rubbed a hand over his face.

“This is humiliating.”

“I disagree.”

“You would.”

They finished resetting the table without discussing what almost happened.

Two days later, Belladonna hosted a neighborhood fundraiser it had run every spring before the previous owner began cutting expenses.

Leo expected Raina to appear as a sponsor.

She arrived wearing a plain black blouse, no entourage in the dining room, and asked Marisol where she was needed.

Marisol handed her a stack of plates.

Raina stared at them.

“You want me to carry these?”

“Yes.”

“I own freight terminals.”

“Then logistics should be easy.”

Leo nearly dropped a tray.

For three hours, Raina carried plates, refilled water, and discovered that balancing four dessert dishes required more skill than negotiating a warehouse lease.

She was bad at it.

Not disastrously.

Just enough that Leo enjoyed himself.

“Thumb under the plate,” he told her.

“I know how plates work.”

“You’re holding it like evidence.”

“I am preventing gravity.”

“Gravity does not care who you are.”

“That seems disrespectful.”

He laughed.

She did too.

Across the room, neighborhood families filled nearly every table. An older man told Raina that Belladonna had hosted his daughter’s graduation dinner twenty years earlier. A teacher thanked Leo for keeping the fundraiser alive. A child asked Raina if she worked there.

Raina looked at Leo.

“Apparently.”

At the end of the night, they stood outside beneath the awning while rain misted the street.

Marcus’s car waited half a block away.

“You were terrible,” Leo said.

“At what?”

“Service.”

“I carried thirty-seven plates.”

“You counted?”

“I like metrics.”

“You gave Table Five the wrong dessert.”

“They ate it.”

“That is not the standard.”

Raina folded her arms.

Leo smiled.

The smile faded slowly.

“Thank you for tonight.”

“You said not to make you grateful.”

“This isn’t that.”

“What is it?”

“You showed up without turning it into your event.”

Raina looked through the window at the staff cleaning inside.

“I’m trying to learn the difference.”

Leo took one step closer.

“So am I.”

This time, there was no kitchen door to interrupt them.

Raina kissed him first.

Briefly.

Carefully.

Leo’s hand touched her elbow and stopped there, as if asking a question.

She kissed him again.

Longer.

When they separated, both of them were quiet.

Then Leo said, “You’re still not getting Table Twelve.”

Raina stared at him.

He smiled.

She started laughing.

Across the street, Marcus looked very deliberately in the opposite direction.

Leo’s smile faded into something more serious.

“One thing,” he said.

“What?”

“If this becomes something, I don’t want a job promotion because of it.”

Raina nodded.

“No apartment. No tuition for Naomi. No car.”

“I had not offered any of those.”

“You thought about at least one.”

Raina said nothing.

Leo laughed softly. “Exactly.”

She stepped back beneath the awning.

“Then you tell me when I cross a line.”

“I already do.”

“I’ve noticed.”

“And you listen?”

“Not always.”

“That is also true.”

Raina looked at him for a long moment.

“But I’m trying.”

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Leo’s expression softened again. “That matters more.”

For once, Raina did not care who saw.