Chapter 6
Dominic finally agreed to speak face-to-face.
Attorneys attended.
No bodyguards.
Rocco did not want fear contaminating the answers.
Dominic entered wearing a plain suit without the manager badge.
The absence made him look younger.
Not innocent.
Just less decorated.
Rocco slid the Harbor Bridge timeline across the table.
“Explain it.”
Dominic barely looked.
“Small businesses borrow money.”
“After you stop paying them.”
“I managed cash flow.”
“You increased orders first.”
“Volume gave us leverage.”
“To do what?”
“Force better terms.”
Rocco watched him.
There was conviction behind the answer.
Not embarrassment.
Dominic truly believed some version of what he was saying.
“You think Carter Bakery charges too much?”
“Yes.”
“The man has supplied us fourteen years.”
“That doesn’t make him efficient.”
“Then renegotiate honestly.”
“I tried.”
“No. You withheld money already owed.”
Dominic leaned forward.
“You let these people treat the club like a pension plan. Their fathers knew your father, so suddenly nobody can replace them.”
There it was.
The motive beginning to show.
Dominic thought Rocco’s loyalty to legacy vendors made the club weak.
Rocco could even understand the criticism.
Some contracts probably were outdated.
Some vendors probably did rely too heavily on family relationships.
None of that justified what followed.
“North Harbor.”
Dominic’s expression changed slightly.
Rocco saw it.
“What about them?” Dominic asked.
“Why do they appear after your payment holds?”
“They buy distressed businesses.”
“Why do you award those businesses new club contracts afterward?”
“Because new ownership makes them better.”
“Are you paid by North Harbor?”
“No.”
“Do you own North Harbor?”
“No.”
The answer came fast.
Rocco held his eyes.
Dominic did not look away.
His attorney finally interrupted.
“We’re done with ownership questions unless you have evidence.”
Rocco sat back.
“Fine.”
As Dominic stood, he said something that sounded almost like an accusation.
“You’re going to destroy this club because a child gave you a pastry.”
Rocco looked at him.
“No.”
He thought of Maeve on the marble floor.
“I’m looking because a child had to.”
Dominic left.
Samuel called forty minutes later.
He had found another common thread.
Every distressed vendor acquired by North Harbor had signed updated club contracts months before its financial trouble.
Those contracts contained a new clause.
If ownership changed, the club could automatically review—and potentially terminate—the vendor relationship.
Yet Dominic did the opposite.
He renewed every one immediately.
Rocco read the clause.
If Dominic truly cared only about better vendors, he had been given the perfect opportunity to replace them.
May you like
Instead, he kept the same businesses.
Only the owners changed.
