Chapter 3 - A MOTHER'S MILK, A FATHER'S SECRET
By sunrise, the Rossi mansion had transformed into a private medical facility.
A pediatric critical-care team arrived from Manhattan. Portable equipment filled the nursery. A hospital transfer vehicle waited near the east entrance in case Leo deteriorated.
Hunter sat in a small examination room while a nurse drew blood from her arm.
She had barely slept.
Her breasts ached again.
But her greatest fear was not physical.
She was afraid Lorenzo would send her away.
At seven thirty, Dr. Amelia Bennett entered.
Unlike Halloran, she spoke without looking over her shoulder for permission.
"I'm a pediatric nutrition specialist," she explained. "Mr. Rossi asked me to evaluate Leo independently."
Hunter straightened.
"Is he okay?"
"He's stable for the moment. We're arranging a higher level of monitoring and investigating why his previous feedings failed."
"Can I see him?"
"Possibly. First, I need to ask you some questions."
Hunter answered everything.
Her pregnancy.
Lily's death.
Her hospital treatment.
Her medications.
Her current health.
When she finished, Bennett closed the file gently.
"I'm sorry about your daughter."
Hunter looked toward the window.
"Everyone says that."
"I know."
"It doesn't change anything."
"No," Bennett replied. "It doesn't."
For the first time that morning, Hunter felt someone understood.
Bennett continued.
"Your milk may be helpful, but we need to complete screening before establishing a feeding plan. Leo's medical condition is complicated, and we cannot assume that milk alone explains his improvement."
Hunter nodded.
"I understand."
"There's something else."
Bennett lowered her voice.
"His records don't match."
Hunter frowned.
"What do you mean?"
"The weight measurements, feeding logs, and laboratory results have inconsistencies. Some entries appear to have been changed after they were recorded."
"By who?"
"That's what I intend to find out."
A knock interrupted them.
Lorenzo entered.
He had changed into a charcoal sweater and dark trousers.
Without the gun and tailored jacket, he looked almost ordinary.
Almost.
"How is she?" he asked Bennett.
"Physically recovering. We'll have screening results soon."
Lorenzo looked at Hunter.
"Did they hurt you?"
She blinked.
"What?"
"The tests."
"No."
He nodded once.
Then he placed a thick envelope on the table.
Hunter stared at it.
"What's that?"
"Compensation."
"For what?"
"For helping my son."
She didn't touch it.
"I didn't do it for money."
"I know."
"Then why are you paying me?"
Lorenzo studied her.
"Because you've already given him something I couldn't."
Hunter lowered her eyes.
"I don't want your money."
"Everyone wants money."
"Not everyone."
Something flickered in his expression.
It might have been irritation.
Or shame.
"Then tell me what you want."
Hunter hesitated.
She thought about her apartment.
The landlord.
Tommy.
The men who had begun waiting outside her building.
Then she looked at Lorenzo.
"I want Leo to live."
He remained silent.
"And I want whoever was supposed to be watching him to actually watch him."
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
"The nurse has been dismissed."
"Good."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Bennett cleared her throat.
"Mr. Rossi, I need access to the original feeding supplies and unaltered medical records."
"You'll have everything."
"That includes security footage."
Lorenzo looked at her sharply.
"Why?"
"Because someone changed his records."
The room went quiet.
Hunter watched Lorenzo's expression darken.
"Are you telling me someone deliberately harmed my son?"
"I'm telling you the documentation raises serious questions."
Lorenzo took out his phone.
"Marco."
A voice answered immediately.
"Boss?"
"Lock down the medical wing. Preserve every recording, medication, and feeding supply. Nobody destroys anything."
"Understood."
"And Marco?"
"Yes?"
"Find out who has been entering the nursery."
Lorenzo ended the call.
Hunter looked at him.
"You're frightening everyone."
"Good."
"That's not always helpful."
He turned toward her.
"Excuse me?"
"People tell you what they think you want to hear because they're afraid."
For several seconds, he stared at her.
Then he asked quietly, "And you aren't?"
Hunter thought of Lily.
Of the hospital.
Of waking each morning in a world where her daughter did not exist.
"I've already lost the thing I loved most."
Lorenzo's expression changed.
She continued.
"You can't frighten me more than that."
He looked away.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that the young woman standing before him was not brave because she had never known terror.
She was brave because she knew exactly what terror cost.
That afternoon, Hunter was allowed to visit Leo under Bennett's supervision.
The baby lay in a hospital-grade bassinet with a feeding tube secured in place as a precaution.
His skin looked slightly less gray.
When Hunter approached, his eyes opened.
"Hello, little fighter."
Leo moved his hands.
Lorenzo stood beside the window.
He watched as Hunter gently stroked the baby's forehead.
"He's different with you," he said.
"Babies know when someone is calm."
"Are you calm?"
Hunter smiled sadly.
"Not even a little."
Lorenzo surprised her by laughing.
It was a brief sound.
Rusty.
As though he had forgotten how.
Then Hunter noticed a photograph on the bedside table.
Sophia Rossi.
Beautiful.
Dark-haired.
Smiling.
Holding a tiny pair of blue baby shoes.
Hunter lifted the frame.
"She was beautiful."
"She was."
"You loved her."
Lorenzo's face closed.
"More than anything."
Hunter replaced the photograph.
"I'm sorry."
He said nothing.
But that evening, when he returned to his study, Lorenzo opened a locked drawer he had avoided since the funeral.
Inside was Sophia's phone.
Its screen was cracked from the explosion.
The technicians had recovered several files.
One remained unopened.
A voice recording made forty-three minutes before the bombing.
Lorenzo pressed play.
Sophia's voice filled the room.
"Lorenzo, if you're hearing this, something has gone terribly wrong."
He stopped breathing.
May you like
Then she said something that made the world tilt beneath him.
"Please don't trust Julian Halloran."
