Flavio doesn’t get it. He has no idea how, without the income this place generates, I will have to do triage the next time payroll comes around. How thinking about the invoices in my inbox makes my lungs lock up and my heart pound and my vision go dark around the edges. He doesn’t know about last week’s trip to the emergency room because I thought I was having a heart attack. I haven’t told anyone about that, not even Jade. Especially not her.

At the thought of Jade, my heart double taps, and I suddenly can’t catch a breath. “What time is the insurance guy coming?”

“I’m waiting on him to provide an ETA. When I talked to him earlier, he was more concerned about the short in the wiring. He called it peculiar for a building this new. That’s the word he used, peculiar.”

I stand perfectly still despite the emotion cramping my gut. Peculiar means the inspector suspects foul play. Peculiar means attorneys and legal battles and months-long delays before I get my hands on that money.

I think about the second mortgage I just took out on the house, the price tag for Mom’s condo fees, Westmore Music Academy and the kids’ private school that costs as much as tuition for an out-of-state college, the new SUV we’ve spent the past two weekends shopping for because Jade’s out-of-warranty BMW is too expensive to keep. With my best revenue source going up in literal smoke, I am going to need the insurance money fast, or the next few months are going to be a master class in money juggling.

“Kitchen and waitstaff are going to jump ship, you know,” Flavio says. “Hostesses, too. There are a couple of folks we may want to move over to another shop so as not to lose them, but we’re going to have to replace most of the staff.”

Anybody who’s paid by the hour, which is 98 percent of my employees. They’ll leave, and hell, who can blame them? They’ve got bills to pay, too, and Lasky employees are the best trained in town. Another area restaurant will snap them up before the end of the week.

“Let ’em go. It’s probably a win-win anyway.”

Flavio frowns. “How so?”

“Come on, Flavio. This place is a disaster, and you said it yourself. We won’t be filling tables anytime soon. Better to tell the staff to find another job. And as much as I hate to say it, you might want to make a few calls yourself.”

“That seems awfully extreme. I can hang on a week or two until the insurance money bridges the gap. And Abernathy’s already called. They said they’ll work with us on the lease.”