Chapter 2 - THE BABY ON THE BLOODSTAINED RUG
“Mateo.”
The name left Silana Moretti’s mouth so softly that Bella almost convinced herself she had imagined it.
Then the bourbon glass slipped from his hand.
It struck the edge of the mahogany desk and shattered.
Dominic moved instinctively, but Silana didn’t even look at the broken glass.
His eyes remained fixed on Leo.
Bella stood frozen in the doorway.
Every instinct inside her screamed to run forward and grab her son, but there were armed men in the room, a bleeding traitor on the carpet, and the most feared man in Chicago staring at her baby as though the dead had crawled back into his life.
Leo, completely unaware of the danger surrounding him, slapped both palms against the rug.
“Bubba!”
Silana’s jaw trembled.
He took one step.
Then another.
Dominic lowered his pistol.
“Boss?”
Silana ignored him.
Leo looked up, fascinated by the enormous man approaching him. Instead of crying, he grinned.
That smile destroyed whatever remained of Silana Moretti’s composure.
He dropped to one knee.
The room went silent.
Bella had seen Silana make grown men shake simply by entering a room. She had watched servants scatter when his footsteps echoed down a hallway.
She had never seen him kneel.
His hand moved toward Leo, then stopped several inches away.
He could not make himself touch the child.
“Mr. Moretti.”
Bella’s voice broke.
Silana finally looked at her.
The grief vanished from his face so quickly it frightened her.
“What is a baby doing in my office?”
Bella swallowed.
“He’s mine.”
Dominic turned sharply.
Lorenzo, still kneeling near the fireplace, lifted his bloody face.
Silana slowly stood.
“Yours?”
“Yes.”
“How long has he been in this house?”
Bella could barely breathe.
“Three months.”
Dominic muttered something under his breath.
Silana’s expression hardened.
“You brought a child into my home for three months?”
“I didn’t have anyone to watch him.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I know.”
Silana’s gaze dropped to Leo again.
The baby had discovered one of the expensive cuff links Lorenzo had lost on the rug and was attempting to put it in his mouth.
Silana moved faster than Bella expected.
He bent, removed it from Leo’s hand, and replaced it with the wooden letter opener from his desk.
“No.”
Leo blinked.
Silana stared back.
Then the baby laughed.
Something strange passed through Dominic’s expression.
Perhaps disbelief.
Perhaps pain.
Bella rushed forward.
“I’m sorry. I’ll take him downstairs.”
She reached for Leo.
Silana caught her wrist.
Not hard.
But firmly enough to stop her.
Bella’s blood went cold.
Silana noticed her reaction and immediately released her.
“What’s his name?”
“Leo.”
“Leo what?”
“Leo Jenkins.”
The answer seemed to settle something inside him.
He stepped backward.
“Dominic, remove Lorenzo.”
Lorenzo jerked upright.
“Silana, wait—”
“Not here.”
Two guards entered.
Lorenzo was dragged away protesting.
Bella looked toward the hallway.
Silana noticed.
“You’re not leaving.”
Her stomach dropped.
“Mr. Moretti—”
“Close the door.”
Dominic obeyed.
Bella clutched Leo against her chest.
The baby buried his face in her uniform.
Silana walked behind his desk, opened a drawer, and pulled out a framed photograph.
He stared at it for several seconds before turning it around.
Bella’s breath caught.
The photograph showed a beautiful dark-haired woman sitting on a garden wall.
In her arms was a newborn boy.
Even Bella could see it.
Leo had the same thick dark curls.
The same wide brown eyes.
The same round cheeks.
Silana tapped the frame.
“My wife, Isabella.”
Bella said nothing.
“My son, Matteo.”
“I’m sorry.”
Silana’s eyes hardened.
“Do not say that unless you understand what you’re apologizing for.”
Bella flinched.
He looked away immediately.
Three years of grief had apparently not made the wound smaller.
Only quieter.
“The explosion was twenty-seven minutes after they left this house,” Silana said. “Isabella was taking Matteo to his pediatrician.”
Dominic stared at the floor.
“They died because someone wanted me dead.”
Bella tightened her arms around Leo.
Silana looked at him.
“For one second, I thought…”
He stopped.
Nobody finished the sentence.
Leo reached toward him.
Silana didn’t move.
Bella whispered, “He likes people.”
“Then he has terrible judgment.”
Dominic actually coughed to hide what might have been a laugh.
Silana shot him a look.
The room became serious again.
Then Silana turned back to Bella.
“Why are you here?”
“I work here.”
“Not what I asked.”
Bella’s heart began pounding again.
He knew.
Or suspected.
Silana came around the desk.
“A twenty-three-year-old woman with nursing-school records, no domestic-service experience, a forged employment reference, and an infant hidden in a linen closet does not accidentally become a maid in my house.”
Bella felt the floor tilt beneath her.
“You checked me?”
“I check everyone.”
She looked toward Dominic.
His face revealed nothing.
Silana continued.
“Your reference listed Mrs. Peterson of Lakeshore Domestic Staffing.”
Bella remained silent.
“She died four years ago.”
Bella closed her eyes.
It was over.
Every nightmare she had lived with for months had finally arrived.
Silana leaned against his desk.
“I will ask again.”
His voice was calm.
“Why are you in my house?”
Leo began playing with Bella’s collar.
Bella stared at him.
She could lie.
Silana would know.
She could run.
She wouldn’t make it to the front gate.
So she told the truth.
“Because of David.”
Silana’s face changed.
Dominic straightened.
“What David?” Silana asked.
Bella’s voice dropped.
“David Miller.”
For the first time since she had entered the office, Silana looked genuinely shocked.
Dominic stepped forward.
“Boss.”
Silana raised one hand.
His eyes never left Bella.
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know.”
“Wrong answer.”
“It’s the truth.”
“David Miller stole fifty thousand dollars from me.”
“I know.”
Silana pushed away from the desk.
“You know?”
“He told me after it happened.”
“And you still helped him?”
“No!”
Leo startled at her shout.
Bella immediately lowered her voice.
“No. He disappeared before I knew anything.”
“When?”
“Eight months ago.”
Silana’s eyes shifted slowly toward the baby.
Eight months.
Leo was eight months old.
Bella saw the calculation happen.
Silana asked the next question carefully.
“David Miller is Leo’s father?”
Bella wished she could disappear.
“Yes.”
Dominic swore.
Silana went very still.
Then he opened another drawer and removed a thin black folder.
He tossed it onto the desk.
A surveillance photograph slid free.
Bella looked down.
Her lungs stopped working.
David stood outside a warehouse.
But he wasn’t alone.
Beside him was Lorenzo.
The traitor who had just been dragged from the room.
Bella grabbed the edge of the desk.
“No.”
Silana watched her.
“The picture was taken six weeks before David stole my money.”
Bella shook her head.
“He said he worked in logistics.”
“He did.”
Silana flipped to another photograph.
David shaking hands with a man Bella didn’t recognize.
“Who is that?”
“Anthony Castellano.”
The surname hit her like ice water.
The family currently at war with the Morettis.
Bella stared at David’s familiar face.
The same smile.
The same hands that had once rested on her pregnant belly.
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” Silana said.
His gaze lowered to Leo.
“But suddenly I have questions.”
Bella’s fear sharpened.
“About my son?”
“About his father.”
Leo reached across the desk and grabbed the corner of David’s photograph.
He slapped it against the wood.
Silana stared at the child.
Then Dominic’s phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed instantly.
“What?”
Silana looked over.
Dominic listened for three seconds.
Then lowered the phone.
“The gate disturbance was a distraction.”
Silana’s eyes narrowed.
Dominic continued.
“Someone accessed the servants’ wing.”
Bella’s stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?”
Dominic looked at her.
“Your room was searched.”
Bella went pale.
“There’s nothing there.”
“That isn’t all.”
Dominic looked at Silana.
“Security found a message written on the nursery wall.”
“What message?” Bella whispered.
Dominic hesitated.
Then spoke.
“DAVID WANTS HIS SON.”
May you like
Bella stopped breathing.
And somewhere deep inside the Moretti estate, an alarm began to scream.
