Chapter 3 - Shadows of the Past
For the next week,
I was no longer a maid in the Rossi estate.
I was kept in a luxury suite adjacent to the nursery,
guarded by Lorenzo’s most trusted men.
Leo flourished,
his cheeks filling out and his eyes regaining their spark.
But while the baby was healing,
the world outside was burning.
Lorenzo was hunting for the person who had ordered the hit on his son.
He spent his nights in the basement,
and I didn't want to know what happened down there.
One evening,
he came to my room,
looking more tired than I had ever seen him.
He sat on the edge of the bed,
watching as I rocked Leo to sleep.
"Marco is dead,"
he said simply,
his eyes fixed on the floor.
I felt a wave of relief so strong I almost dropped the baby.
"And the others?"
I asked.
"The traitor was my own brother-in-law,"
Lorenzo admitted,
his voice thick with a mixture of rage and sorrow.
"He wanted the inheritance,
he thought Leo was an obstacle."
He looked up at me,
and for a moment,
the Mafia boss disappeared,
leaving only a man who had lost almost everything.
"Why did you do it?"
he asked.
"You knew the rules,
you knew what I was capable of."
I looked down at Leo,
then back at Lorenzo.
"I couldn't let another child die,"
I said softly.
"I lost my daughter because I was too weak to fight back."
"I won't let anyone hurt you again,"
Lorenzo promised,
his voice a low,
solemn vow.
He reached out,
his thumb brushing against my cheek,
catching a stray tear.
The connection between us was electric,
born of shared trauma and the fragile life we were both protecting.
But I knew the world he lived in was built on blood and secrets.
"You don't even know me,"
I reminded him.
"I know you are the reason my son is breathing,"
he countered.
"In my world,
loyalty like that is worth more than gold."
Suddenly,
the alarm system blared,
a high-pitched shriek that made the walls vibrate.
Lorenzo was on his feet in a second,
his gun drawn.
"They found us,"
he hissed,
grabbing a radio from his belt.
The brother-in-law hadn't acted alone;
he had backed himself with a rival cartel.
The mansion was being swarmed,
not by a few intruders,
but by an army.
"We have to go,"
Lorenzo said,
May you like
grabbing a tactical vest and throwing it over my head.
"Now!"
