Mr.
Lynn hesitated.
“The reassignment authorization covered the move.”
“Show me.”
“I don’t have that paperwork in front of me.”
“Then get it.”
“Mr.
Falcone, this is an administrative issue.
There’s no reason your move needs to stop.
We can handle Elena separately.”
Mateo’s eyes lifted.
That sentence was Mr.
Lynn’s mistake.
Maybe he thought Mateo only cared about getting the apartment.
Maybe he thought money made people indifferent to what happened around them.
Maybe, until that moment, he had been right.
Mateo stepped back into the hallway.
“You represented 4B as available for immediate occupancy.”
“It is available.”
“There is an existing tenant standing in front of me holding a lease that says otherwise unless specific conditions are met.”
Mr.
Lynn exhaled heavily.
“Her lease was modified.”
“Where is her signed modification?”
Another silence.
I looked at Mateo.
That part was new to me too.
Mr.
Lynn finally said, “The transfer clause gives management authority—”
“Authority to reassign under stated conditions,” Mateo interrupted.
“Not authority to pretend those conditions don’t exist.”
His eyes moved toward Luca.
“Photograph the condition of 4C.”
Luca immediately reached for his phone.
“No readable documents,” Mateo added, glancing at my folder.
“Just the room and damaged property.”
I blinked.
It was the first thing anyone had done that evening that resembled protecting me instead of managing me.
Mr.
Lynn heard him.
“What are you doing?”
“Documenting the condition in which Ms.
Cruz’s property was delivered.”
“There’s no need for that.”
“Then you won’t mind.”
Luca began taking photographs.
Mr.
Lynn’s tone changed.
The defensiveness gave way to something closer to alarm.
“Mr.
Falcone, I think we should discuss this privately.”
“No.”
Mateo leaned against the wall outside 4B.
“You created the situation in front of Ms.
Cruz.
We can resolve it in front of her.”
