Chapter 7 - More Than Ten SUVs
Six months later, Dawson & Page had become one of the busiest independent cafés in the neighborhood.
Claire hired four former employees from Martin’s café.
The staff completed disability-awareness training before their first shift.
Menus were available in accessible digital formats.
A clear walkway ran from the entrance to every major section.
And no decorative plants blocked anything important.
Elena visited every Tuesday.
Roman visited far more often than he admitted.
Claire was behind the counter one evening when he entered.
“Usual?”
Roman removed his coat.
“You say that like I’m predictable.”
“Black coffee. No sugar.”
“I could change.”
“You won’t.”
She prepared his cup.
Roman glanced around.
“You’re busy.”
“We’re closing.”
“I meant generally.”
Claire smiled.
“We’re profitable.”
“You say that as if you’re surprised.”
“I’m a small-business owner. I’m suspicious of happiness.”
Roman accepted the coffee.
Claire leaned against the counter.
“You know the original investment will be repaid next month.”
“I know.”
“Then your percentage drops.”
“I read contracts too.”
“And after ten years, you’re out completely.”
Roman nodded.
Claire studied him.
“You don’t seem upset.”
“Should I?”
“You’re losing control.”
“I never had control here.”
Claire smiled.
“Good answer.”
Elena entered with a young woman beside her.
Claire recognized the woman immediately.
Vanessa.
Her online following was smaller now.
Her content was different too.
Less performance.
More interviews.
A recent series about accessibility had been produced with disability advocates rather than about them.
Vanessa approached the counter.
“Please tell me you still charge Roman.”
“Double.”
Roman looked offended.
Elena smiled.
“As you should.”
They sat together after closing.
No cameras.
No security inside.
Just four people around a wooden table.
Elena turned toward Claire.
“Do you remember what you said outside the café?”
Claire thought for a moment.
“That you didn’t need rescuing?”
“The next part.”
Claire smiled.
“You needed one person to stop pretending nothing was happening.”
Elena nodded.
“That changed more than you know.”
Claire looked around Dawson & Page.
“It changed quite a lot for me too.”
Roman took a drink of coffee.
“You still haven’t accepted my original reward.”
“No.”
“I could increase it.”
“No.”
“Double?”
“No.”
Elena sighed.
“He’s been trying this for six months.”
Vanessa looked between Claire and Roman.
“You two realize everyone can see what’s happening, right?”
Claire frowned.
“What’s happening?”
Roman said simultaneously, “Nothing.”
Vanessa laughed.
Elena leaned back.
“Hopeless.”
Claire looked at Roman.
He looked unusually uncomfortable.
That alone was entertaining.
“What are they talking about?”
“Absolutely nothing.”
“Roman.”
He set down his cup.
“For a woman who once faced ten SUVs without blinking, you ask dangerous questions.”
Claire smiled.
“For a mafia boss, you avoid simple answers.”
Vanessa’s eyes widened.
Elena covered a laugh.
Roman looked toward Claire.
Then finally said, “Dinner.”
Claire blinked.
“What?”
“I’m asking you to dinner.”
“You own restaurants.”
“I know.”
“So this is business?”
“No.”
“Investment?”
“No.”
“Security consultation?”
Roman stared at her.
“Claire.”
She smiled.
“Just checking.”
Roman waited.
Claire pretended to think longer than necessary.
“One condition.”
“Of course.”
“No ten SUVs.”
Roman leaned back.
“Five?”
“One.”
“Three.”
“One.”
“Two.”
Claire held out her hand.
“One.”
Roman shook it.
“One.”
Elena laughed.
“You negotiated a date like a property contract.”
Claire looked at Roman.
“It works for us.”
A week later, Roman arrived outside Dawson & Page at seven.
One black SUV waited by the curb.
Claire stepped outside wearing a simple dark green dress.
Roman looked at her.
“You look beautiful.”
Claire raised an eyebrow.
“No dramatic mafia speech?”
“I prepared one.”
“Please don’t.”
He smiled and opened the door.
Before Claire got inside, she looked back at the café.
The lights were warm behind the windows.
Her grandmother’s photograph hung above the counter.
A customer near the bookshelves was reading.
Another was laughing over coffee.
Six months earlier, Claire had walked out of a job terrified that doing the right thing might cost her everything.
Instead, it had led her here.
Not because Roman De Luca rescued her.
Not because money solved her life.
And not because ten black SUVs appeared outside a café.
It happened because one woman refused to accept humiliation quietly.
Another refused to look away.
And eventually, even people who had chosen badly were given the chance to choose better.
Roman waited beside the open door.
“You coming?”
Claire smiled.
“Only if you promise your security chief isn’t following us with nine more cars.”
Roman hesitated.
Claire narrowed her eyes.
“Roman.”
He pulled out his phone.
“Fine.”
He typed one message.
Several blocks away, nine parked SUVs quietly turned around.
Claire stared at him.
“You’re unbelievable.”
Roman smiled.
“You agreed to dinner.”
“I’m reconsidering.”
“No, you’re not.”
Claire got into the car.
“You sound very confident.”
Roman sat beside her.
“I’m learning.”
The SUV pulled away from Dawson & Page.
Behind them, Elena stood inside the café beside the window, listening to the fading engine.
Vanessa joined her.
“Think it’ll work?”
Elena smiled.
“My brother arrived with ten SUVs.”
She tapped her cane lightly against the floor.
“Claire made him leave with one.”
Vanessa laughed.
Outside, the city lights reflected across the glass.
And for once, nobody needed rescuing.
May you like
They simply needed someone willing to stand beside them.
THE END
