Chapter 87: Tying loose ends

By the time the authorities officially took over everything connected to Matteo Mercer’s case, Giovanni had only two conversations left that he felt responsible for handling himself.

The first was with Gerald.

He didn’t summon him to Mercer Group this time. No need for another interrogation disguised as a meeting, and after everything Gerald had unknowingly been pulled into, Giovanni thought the man deserved something considerably less intimidating.

So he called.

Gerald answered with understandable caution.

"Hello?"

"It’s me."

There was a pause.

"That somehow doesn’t make me feel better anymore."

Despite himself, Giovanni smiled.

"I’m calling to tell you it’s over."

Another pause followed, longer this time.

"The investigation?"

"Our part of it."

Gerald exhaled audibly. "And Martin?"

"With the authorities, along with his father. Anything else that needs to be established will be handled through the proper channels."

"And me?"

"You’re not under investigation, Gerald."

"That’s nice to hear after being invited into your office and asked whether I helped conceal the circumstances surrounding your father’s death."

"I never accused you of helping conceal it."

"You have a very accusatory face."

"I have one face."

"Exactly."

That almost sounded like the Gerald he’d known in college.

Giovanni leaned back in his chair.

"Your records helped establish how Martin got into Mercer. You cooperated when we asked. Unless the authorities need clarification from you later, there’s nothing else you need to do."

Gerald went quiet.

Then, more seriously, he said, "I’m sorry, Gio."

"For what?"

"For recommending him."

"You thought the recommendation was legitimate."

"Do you already know who called me?"

"Yes, it was Calderon’s Operations manager and Martin’s father who placed the call."

"How did he know about the drowning incident?"

"You became popular and landed the news."

"That sucks."

Giovanni understood that better than Gerald probably realized.

Plenty of decisions in his own life looked different once he knew how everything turned out.

"Then stop trying to make yourself guilty retroactively."

Gerald laughed softly. "You really did become a CEO."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"You managed to make forgiveness sound like an order."

"Then follow it."

"Yes, sir."

Giovanni shook his head.

Before ending the call, Gerald hesitated.

"Are we all right?"

The question caught him slightly off guard.

Not because he didn’t know the answer, but because he realized Gerald wasn’t asking about Mercer Group.

They had once been college friends. Somewhere between graduation, business, Matteo’s death, and the years that followed, that friendship had become something occasionally remembered rather than actively maintained.

"We’re fine."

"That’s not particularly enthusiastic."

"What do you want? A friendship certificate?"

"Maybe lunch."

Giovanni considered it.

"That I can do."

"Good. Preferably somewhere I don’t get interrogated."

"I own restaurants."

"That’s exactly what worries me."

This time Giovanni actually laughed.

"I sent you a cake, compliments of Matteo’s cafe."

"Goodbye, Gerald."

"See you around, Gio."

It was a surprisingly ordinary way to end something that had started with a question about a man using three different names.

Giovanni found he preferred it that way.

Elias was different.

Technically, Alexander could’ve handled that conversation without him.

Elias was his employee.

The threats had been directed at him.

His probationary period with Vance Holdings had nothing to do with Mercer Group.

Still, Giovanni wanted to speak with him before they all moved on.

So when Elias drove Alexander to Mercer Group later that afternoon, Giovanni met them downstairs.

Elias looked between the two CEOs and immediately became wary.

"Did I do something?"

Alexander stopped beside him.

"Why is that your first assumption?"

"Experience, sir."

Giovanni couldn’t fault the answer.

"No. You’re not in trouble."

Elias visibly relaxed, although not completely.

"The messages were Martin’s," Giovanni continued. "All of them. The photographs, the warnings about Maribel, the pictures of the Vance vehicles."

Elias stared at him.

"They confirmed it?"

"Yes."

For several seconds, Elias said nothing.

Then his shoulders seemed to drop by half an inch.

It was such a small movement that Giovanni might’ve missed it had he not been watching.

"Maribel?"

"There’s no indication she was involved."

That seemed to matter.

Elias looked down briefly before nodding.

"Thank you."

Alexander crossed his arms.

"There’s something else."

The relief disappeared so quickly that Giovanni almost felt sorry for him.

"What, sir?"

Alexander let that answer sit between them.

He wasn’t angry. At least not in the way Elias seemed to expect.

But he was Alexander Vance, and Giovanni knew well enough by now that Alex considered risk something to identify before it had the chance to grow teeth.

"Next time," Alexander said, "if anything else threatens you, let me know."

"Next time?"

"Preferably there won’t be one."

"No, I mean..."

Elias hesitated.

"My job?"

Alexander looked at him.

"What about it?"

"I thought after all this, you might decide I’m more trouble than I’m worth."

"Did you send the messages?"

"No."

"Did you falsify your background check?"

"No."

"Have you driven me into anything?"

Elias almost looked offended.

"No, sir."

"Then your probation continues."

The driver’s expression changed.

"You’re keeping me?"

"You still have several months to prove I shouldn’t."

That sounded far more like Alex.

Elias smiled for the first time.

"Understood."

Giovanni glanced toward him. "One condition."

Elias looked alarmed again.

Alexander raised a brow. "He’s my employee."

"I know."

"Then why are you adding conditions?"

"Because I can."

Alex glared at him.

Elias’s gaze moved between them.

Giovanni ignored Alexander.

"If someone sends you another anonymous message involving either of us, you tell him immediately."

Alexander nodded.

"That one’s acceptable."

"Glad I have your approval."

"You didn’t."

Elias wisely said nothing.

Still, a suspicious twitch tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Alexander caught it.

"Don’t encourage him."

"Yes, sir."

That settled it.

Elias remained Alexander’s driver, with his five-month probation unchanged. He’d made a serious error in judgment by keeping the messages to himself, but once everything came to light, he’d cooperated fully and provided information that ultimately helped them uncover what had happened to Matteo.

That was enough.

He didn’t need to become another permanent part of the mystery. He could go back to doing the job he’d actually been hired to do.

And when Elias finally called his children that night, he had considerably more to tell them than he’d expected when he left his home that morning.

His daughter answered first.

"So?"

Elias leaned back in his chair.

"So what?"

"Dad."

He smiled.

"I still have the job."

A scream was so loud that he had to pull the phone away from his ear.

Apparently, both his grown children had been waiting for the call.

Elias laughed.

After everything that had happened, that was probably the sound he needed most.