Chapter 5 - The Truth About the Sapphire Lounge
Two weeks later, Clara returned to the Sapphire Lounge.
Not as an employee.
Enzo had asked her to meet him before opening.
“You’re late,” he said.
“By three minutes.”
“I noticed.”
“That sounds like a personal problem.”
He smiled.
The club looked different.
New cameras.
New employee notices.
A payroll auditor speaking with staff.
Clara glanced around.
“You did all this?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you were right.”
She looked suspicious.
“People hate saying that to me.”
“I’m discovering why.”
He led her toward his old booth.
On the table sat the platinum watch.
Clara stared at it.
“You’re joking.”
“I thought it deserved closure.”
“The watch?”
“Us.”
“There is no us.”
“Potential us.”
She laughed.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Enzo became serious.
“I want to take you to dinner.”
“This is a restaurant.”
“Somewhere I don’t own.”
“That narrows Manhattan considerably.”
“Clara.”
She looked at him.
“No guards?”
“No guards at the table.”
“No private room.”
“Fine.”
“And if you order for me, I leave.”
“Understood.”
A voice came from behind them.
“She likes pasta.”
Clara closed her eyes.
“Dad.”
Alessandro stood near the entrance.
Enzo sighed.
“Do you just materialize?”
“I was invited.”
Clara turned toward Enzo.
“You invited my father?”
“He invited himself.”
Alessandro walked over.
“I came because I owe my daughter something.”
Clara’s annoyance faded.
“What?”
“An apology.”
She said nothing.
“I spent four years telling myself I was protecting you.”
Alessandro looked around the club.
“I never admitted that I was also protecting myself from losing someone else.”
Clara’s expression softened.
“Dad.”
“Your mother died. I couldn’t control that. So afterward I tried to control everything.”
He swallowed.
“Including you.”
Clara’s eyes filled, but she kept her voice steady.
“I didn’t leave because I hated you.”
“I know.”
“I left because I couldn’t breathe.”
“I know that now.”
Alessandro reached into his coat.
Enzo’s posture changed automatically.
Alessandro rolled his eyes.
“Relax, Moretti.”
He pulled out a small key.
Clara recognized it.
Her mother’s studio.
“You kept it?”
“Exactly as she left it.”
Clara took the key.
“Why give me this now?”
“Because it belongs to you.”
“No conditions?”
“No conditions.”
She hugged him.
Alessandro froze.
Then his arms closed around her.
Enzo quietly turned away.
Clara noticed.
When she stepped back, Alessandro looked at Enzo.
“She decides.”
Enzo raised an eyebrow.
“Excuse me?”
“My daughter.”
“I’m aware.”
“Where she lives. Who she sees. What she does.”
Clara folded her arms.
“Are you giving him instructions on respecting my independence?”
Alessandro frowned.
“I was trying to help.”
“You were doing great until then.”
Enzo laughed.
Alessandro glared at him.
“Something amusing?”
“A little.”
Clara stood between them.
“Dinner.”
Both men looked at her.
“I’m hungry.”
Alessandro asked, “With him?”
“With both of you.”
Enzo blinked.
Alessandro looked equally horrified.
Clara smiled.
“You two need practice behaving in public.”
Neither argued.
May you like
That alone felt like progress.
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