He smiled. “I know. I spent months trying to talk my lawyers out of writing an agreement I might regret. They talked me into keeping my word. I think they're better lawyers than I deserve.”
She folded her napkin. “Do you regret it?”
He said it without drama, and she believed him.
They ordered soup. Dante's came with bread he did not want; he put it on the plate between them. It reminded Selene of something absurdly ordinary her father used to do at breakfast, giving her the crispest part of the toast because he knew she preferred it.
“Are you going to tell me everything is fixed now?” she asked.
“Not even close.”
The audit had identified widespread irregularities in the Pier Nine fund: loans to related companies, inflated management fees, and properties transferred under disputed authority. It had also found legitimate payments and repairs made over the years. The full accounting was complicated, and the beneficiaries' lawyers were still contesting valuations. Emergency assistance had resumed, but restitution would take time.
Carmine's lawyers had refused the demand for disclosure. Investigators were reviewing the records and interviewing witnesses. Professor Kessler had agreed to a voluntary interview in the United Kingdom, but Selene had been warned that a disciplinary reopening was not a criminal judgment. The official review of her own case continued.
“Some of my partners want to sell the disputed buildings quickly,” Dante said. “Their argument is that a sale would put cash into the trust.”
“Without tenants involved?”
“They didn't ask.”
“Then you know what I'll say.”
“I do. That's why we rejected the proposal and asked the residents' council to review the alternatives.”
She looked at him over the soup bowl. “You sound as if you're becoming a different man.”
“I'm trying to become a man who reads what he signs.”
“That's a very low romantic standard.”
“It's a beginning.”
They both laughed. Selene liked him most when he let a joke exist without treating it as a challenge.
Then Dante grew serious.
“I've handed over operating control of the holding companies that were mixing criminal money with legitimate assets. Livia is overseeing a restructuring with court-supervised review where required. People who worked for me are worried about jobs. Some have done nothing wrong.”
“What about the ones who have?”
“They'll have to answer for it. I may have to answer for things I've done. I'm not asking you to wait for a clean certificate.”
Selene set down her spoon. This was the part that mattered more than gifts or promises. Dante had built his authority in a world where fear was business currency. To change his life, he would have to surrender powers that once made him feel invulnerable. A romance could not do that work for him.
“I care about you,” she said carefully. “But I won't become the excuse you use to tell yourself you've changed.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“Nor will I hide crimes because I love someone who committed them.”
“I wouldn't ask you to.”
“You once threatened to cut a translator's tongue out.”
His face tightened. “I remember.”
“That man went home believing he might die for being unable to read a piece of paper.”
“I sent an apology through his attorney.”
“Good. Did he accept it?”
“Then you have to live with that.”
She took a breath. “You have made changes I can see. I don't yet know what it means for us.”
“Neither do I.”
It was an unexpectedly honest answer. They finished lunch without resolving their relationship. On the walk outside, he held her coat while she put it on. She thanked him. He did not turn the moment into a declaration.