Chapter 8 - Nora’s ChoiceSpring arrived slowly in upstate New York.
The snow melted from the cliffs.
The gardens returned.
And for the first time since Nora had entered the Moretti estate, Room 4B smelled like flowers instead of medicine.
Giovanni had moved downstairs into a bright suite overlooking the gardens.
He attended physical therapy every morning.
Nora usually watched.
Sometimes she helped.
Not because she was still employed as a maid.
She wasn’t.
Three days after Victor’s arrest, Lorenzo had summoned her to his study.
Nora entered expecting some complicated conversation about security.
Instead, he placed an envelope in front of her.
“What’s this?”
“Back pay.”
“I’ve been paid.”
“Not correctly.”
She opened it.
Her eyes widened.
“Lorenzo.”
“Mrs. Gable violated labor laws, falsified hours, and withheld overtime.”
“This is too much.”
“It is exactly what you were owed.”
Nora closed the envelope.
“I’ll take what I earned.”
“That’s what it is.”
She looked at him suspiciously.
“And nothing else?”
“Nothing else.”
She accepted.
Then he placed another folder beside it.
Nora groaned.
“What now?”
“A job offer.”
“I’m eight months pregnant.”
“You wouldn’t start until you choose.”
“What job?”
“Director of resident care.”
She stared.
“For what?”
“The Moretti Foundation.”
Nora opened the folder.
Lorenzo had begun building a charitable program designed to improve elder care in long-term facilities.
It would fund inspections, caregiver training, patient advocacy, and emergency intervention for neglected elderly people.
Nora looked up.
“You created this?”
“My father did.”
She turned.
Giovanni sat by the window.
He smiled.
“For you,” he said.
Nora’s eyes filled.
“I don’t have a college degree for this.”
“You have experience,” Lorenzo said.
“Three months feeding your father soup does not make me a director.”
Giovanni lifted one finger.
“Heart.”
Nora laughed through tears.
“That also isn’t a credential.”
“It should be,” Lorenzo said.
She accepted only after insisting on training, formal education, and supervision from qualified professionals.
Lorenzo agreed to everything.
Their relationship moved more slowly.
That surprised Nora.
She expected a man like Lorenzo to pursue what he wanted aggressively.
Instead, he waited.
He walked with her in the gardens.
Brought her herbal tea.
Drove her to prenatal appointments.
Never entered her room without permission.
Never touched her stomach without asking.
One afternoon Lily kicked while Lorenzo was sitting beside Nora on a garden bench.
Nora smiled.
“Give me your hand.”
He froze.
“What?”
“Your hand.”
She placed his palm against her stomach.
Lily kicked.
Lorenzo’s face changed.
Nora had seen him stare down armed men without blinking.
A baby foot apparently terrified him.
“She kicked me.”
“That tends to happen when there’s a baby.”
“Does it hurt?”
“Sometimes.”
He kept his hand there.
Lily kicked again.
A smile appeared.
Nora watched him.
Dangerous mistake.
Because she realized she was falling in love.
Not with the feared Moretti.
With the man who brought his father coffee every morning and pretended Giovanni’s terrible jokes were funny.
With the man who researched pregnancy-safe foods because Nora once complained about heartburn.
With the man who quietly paid every estate employee their stolen wages after Mrs. Gable’s records were examined.
Still, Nora hesitated.
Lorenzo’s world frightened her.
One evening she found him in the greenhouse.
“I need to ask you something.”
He put down his phone.
“Anything.”
“If I stay…”
He understood immediately.
“You want to know what kind of life this is.”
“Yes.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“I’ve been selling off every illegal operation we can legally dismantle and shutting down the rest.”
“That sounds complicated.”
“It is.”
“Dangerous?”
“Sometimes.”
“Will Lily be safe?”
His answer took longer.
“I will never lie to you and say there is no risk.”
Nora appreciated that.
“But I can promise this: I want out. Completely.”
“For me?”
“No.”
She blinked.
“For myself. For my father. I started before you arrived.”
He stepped closer.
“But meeting you made me want to finish faster.”
Nora looked down.
“I don’t need a rescuer.”
“I know.”
“I don’t need your money.”
“I know.”
“I don’t want Lily growing up believing power means frightening people.”
Lorenzo nodded.
“Neither do I.”
Nora raised her eyes.
“What does power mean to you?”
He thought about it.
“Being able to protect someone without owning them.”
That answer stayed with her.
Two weeks later, Nora woke before dawn to sharp pain.
She sat up.
Another pain followed.
Then warmth soaked the bed.
“Oh.”
A guard outside heard her.
Within thirty seconds, the estate descended into chaos.
Lorenzo appeared wearing sweatpants and no shoes.
“What happened?”
“My water broke.”
His face lost all color.
“Now?”
Nora laughed despite another contraction.
“That’s generally how labor works.”
Lorenzo grabbed his phone.
“Car. Doctor. Hospital. Marco!”
Nora doubled over.
“Stop yelling.”
“I’m not yelling.”
“You’re absolutely yelling.”
Giovanni rolled into the hallway.
“Baby?”
Nora nodded.
His face lit up.
The drive to the hospital took forty minutes.
Lorenzo sat beside Nora the entire way.
At the emergency entrance, nurses placed her in a wheelchair.
“Partner?” one asked.
Nora and Lorenzo looked at each other.
Nora reached for his hand.
“Yes.”
Lorenzo followed.
Labor lasted fourteen hours.
Nora cursed him twice even though he had nothing to do with her pregnancy.
He accepted both accusations without argument.
At 7:18 p.m., Lily Grace Bennett was born.
Six pounds, nine ounces.
Healthy.
Perfect.
When the nurse placed Lily against Nora’s chest, Nora cried.
Lorenzo stood beside the bed.
His eyes were wet.
“You want to hold her?”
He looked terrified again.
“I don’t want to drop her.”
“You won’t.”
He accepted Lily carefully.
The baby immediately wrapped tiny fingers around his thumb.
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
Nora smiled.
“Looks like she has you.”
He looked at Nora.
“I think both of you do.”
Nora’s heart tightened.
But before she could answer, the hospital door opened.
A police detective entered.
“I’m sorry to disturb you.”
Lorenzo stiffened.
“What happened?”
The detective looked at Nora.
“It’s about Brody Wells.”
Nora’s stomach dropped.
“He escaped custody during a hospital transfer.”
Lorenzo immediately handed Lily back.
“Where?”
May you like
The detective hesitated.
“We believe he may be heading here.”
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