Chapter 2
Dominic’s office looked different from the last time Rocco had visited.
The furniture was newer.
The walls were darker.
Two old photographs of Rocco’s brother—Dominic’s father—had been removed.
In their place hung architectural renderings of a renovated Castellano Club.
Glass frontage.
Private valet entrance.
Expanded wine room.
Rooftop lounge.
No bakery trucks.
No neighborhood storefronts.
No children.
Rocco remained standing.
“Why did you terminate Vance Bakery?”
Dominic sat behind his desk.
“I told you. Performance.”
“Show me.”
Dominic opened a computer folder.
Four late-delivery reports.
Two quality complaints.
A sanitation concern.
Rocco read them.
The reports looked official.
That bothered him.
“Who signed these?”
“My receiving manager.”
“Where is he?”
“Quit last month.”
“Convenient.”
Dominic exhaled.
“You came here disguised as a homeless cripple to catch me being rude. Fine. You caught me.”
Rocco said nothing.
“You want an apology?”
“No.”
“You want me to reinstate the bakery?”
“No.”
Dominic looked surprised.
Rocco placed the reports on the desk.
“I want to know whether these are true.”
“They are.”
“If they’re true, the bakery stays out.”
Dominic leaned back.
That answer relaxed him slightly.
Rocco noticed.
“And if they aren’t?”
Dominic’s eyes changed.
Rocco continued.
“Then what happened in that lobby becomes the smaller problem.”
He left before Dominic could respond.
Rocco assigned the review to Grace Holloway, the club’s outside controller.
Not a cousin.
Not a capo.
Not someone who owed Dominic favors.
Grace had spent fifteen years auditing hospitality companies before Rocco hired her.
Her first discovery came that afternoon.
Vance Bakery was not the only longtime vendor removed.
Nine small local suppliers had lost club business during Dominic’s eleven months as acting manager.
A butcher.
A florist.
A produce company.
Two cleaning contractors.
A linen service.
A family-owned wine distributor.
A bakery.
A maintenance company.
Every replacement vendor was larger.
More expensive.
And headquartered outside the neighborhood.
Rocco studied the list.
“Were the replacements better?”
“Some are.”
“Cheaper?”
“No.”
“How much more are we spending?”
Grace turned her laptop.
“About twenty-one percent.”
Rocco frowned.
Dominic had spent his entire adult life complaining about waste.
He would not voluntarily pay twenty-one percent more without a reason.
Grace pointed to another column.
“There’s something else.”
Each terminated vendor had been classified internally as a legacy neighborhood account.
Rocco recognized the term.
Years earlier, the club had created a community program prioritizing locally owned businesses whenever quality and price were reasonably competitive.
Dominic had always hated it.
He called it charity disguised as procurement.
“Who approved ending the program?”
Grace shook her head.
“Nobody.”
“Then why does the system show it inactive?”
“That’s what I’m trying to find out.”
The first clue was small enough to dismiss.
Dominic had not merely replaced Vance Bakery.
May you like
He had systematically removed nearly every local business the club once promised to support.
And he was willing to spend more money to do it.
