Page 69 of Lorenzo

A tall lanky man wearing a chef’s uniform comes forward.

He’s a good-looking kid. A little younger than Emily.

“Gentlemen, this is Paul,” says Mike.

“A pleasure to meet you. May I serve the other two pizzas I’ve prepared?”

“Yes, please,” says Dante.

As soon as the kid goes back, Dante looks at me.

“What do you think, Lorenzo?”

“I like it,” I say. “But we should expand beyond the nightclub and casino crowd.”

Emily walks up to the image of our great-grandfather leaning against an easel.

“The restaurant will be called Salvatore in honor of your great-grandfather. His image and aura will replace anything a ‘celebrity chef’ could offer. We plan to have his name and his history tell his story in the media. I understand his own parents owned a humble trattoria in Palermo.”

I narrow my eyes at her. “How did you know?”

“I told them,” says Gina. “I told them about the box of Salvatore’s things you brought from the Long Island house. We all looked through the photographs. We plan to frame and mount the photographs near the entrance.”

“We’ll also offer Salvatore-themed merchandise via an online site and gift shop on property. Early projections suggest the merchandise could become a strong additional profit center.”

“Merchandise? Like what?” Dante asks.

“T-shirts, mugs, wine bottle openers,” says Gina. “We’ll have to brainstorm some great slogans.”

It’s hard to read Dante’s expression. His black eyes rarely show emotion. Even when he’s about to kill someone.

“I like it,” he says after a long hesitation.

“We must act fast,” I say. “The sooner we spring into motion, the sooner we’ll get our license.”

“So we have your blessing?”

Emily looks at Dante in a way that demands an answer.

“Can we go forward? Everything is in the packet. Mike’s proposed salary, the expenses we need to go ahead with the purchase of the tables and chairs, finishing of the floor. All the details right there. If you need a few days to look at it, that’s fine.”

Dante looks at Gina’s hopeful face.

Her fingertips are steepled together over the bump in her belly like she’s praying for him to say yes.

Though Emily’s made a solid business proposal, Dante is the type of man who works on his gut.

“Mike, bring on the second course,” Dante says after a moment’s hesitation. “Then we’ll clear the table and talk.”

I look at Emily with a curious sense of pride. She’s far from the uptight Bostonian schoolmarm I mistakenly thought her to be.

Standing in front of us now, she’s a ball-busting entrepreneur.

Emily meets my eyes and smiles.

We both know it’s a done deal.

CHAPTER 30