Chapter 3 - The Threat and the Miracle
"Put the boy down," Lorenzo said, his voice dropping into a register that made the windowpanes vibrate. "Put him down slowly, or I will put a bullet through your skull before you can take another breath."
From the armchair, Nurse Gable woke with a violent start, her wine glass tipping over and shattering against the hardwood floor. She took one look at Lorenzo’s gun, let out a muffled whimper, and scrambled backward into the corner of the room, her hands over her head.
Hunter didn't move. She didn't drop the baby, and she didn't scream. The cold barrel of the gun was less than six feet from her face, but the absolute terror that should have paralyzed her was replaced by something far more powerful: the fierce, protective rage of a mother.
"If I move him right now, he will choke," Hunter said, her voice remarkably steady, her gaze locking onto Lorenzo's dark, bloodshot eyes. "He is swallowing. Look at him, Mr. Rossi. Look at your son."
Lorenzo’s finger tightened on the trigger. He had spent the last forty-eight hours ordering executions, tearing the city apart looking for the people who had brought his family to ruin, but inside this room, his authority meant nothing to the girl on the ottoman.
"I told you to—" Lorenzo started, but the words died in his throat.
The room was silent except for the rhythmic, wet sound of Leo sucking.
Gulp. Gulp.
Lorenzo’s gaze dropped from Hunter’s eyes to his son’s face. The baby’s translucent cheeks were flushed with a faint, warm pink. His tiny jaws were working with an energy Lorenzo had not seen since the night Sophia died. The heart monitor was singing a steady, healthy song, the numbers on the digital display rising from a dangerous sixty beats per minute to a beautiful, safe one hundred and twenty.
The gun in Lorenzo’s hand began to tremble. A man who had never shaken in the face of a dozen rival hitmen felt his wrist go weak.
"He’s... he’s taking it," Lorenzo whispered, his voice cracking, the terrifying mafia don disappearing, leaving behind a desperate, broken father.
"He’s starving," Hunter said softly, her fingers gently stroking Leo’s dark, damp hair. "He doesn't want plastic tubes or chemical formula from a lab, Mr. Rossi. He wants what his mother was supposed to give him. He wants to live."
Lorenzo slowly lowered the gun, his arm falling limply to his side. He stepped into the room, his heavy leather shoes crunching against the broken glass of the wine bottle, but he didn't seem to notice. He stopped two feet from Hunter, staring down at the scene with a mixture of awe and profound shame.
"Who are you?" Lorenzo asked, his eyes tracking the black-and-white maid's uniform, the stained linen bandages, and the raw, unadulterated grief that mirrored his own. "You are not one of the medical staff. You are the girl from the kitchen."
"My name is Hunter," she said, keeping her eyes fixed on his face, refusing to show him the fear he expected from everyone in his world. "I was hired to clean your house. But I lost my baby three weeks ago, Mr. Rossi. My body doesn't know she's gone. Your son knows. That's all that matters."
Lorenzo closed his eyes, a single, heavy sigh escaping his lips. He looked at Nurse Gable, who was still trembling in the corner.
"Get out," Lorenzo told the nurse, his voice flat. "Leave your bags. If I see your face on this property in the next five minutes, I will have my men toss you into the sound."
Nurse Gable didn't wait for a second warning. She scrambled to her feet and fled into the night, the sound of her frantic footsteps fading down the corridor.
Lorenzo looked back at Hunter. He slowly sank onto his knees on the Persian rug, his expensive trousers soaking up the spilled wine, his hands resting flat against his thighs. He looked at his son’s small hand, which was now resting against Hunter’s bare skin.
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"The doctors said he would die by tomorrow night," Lorenzo whispered, his head bowing as the first tear of the evening fell onto his shirt. "They told me there was no hope."
"There is always hope, Mr. Rossi," Hunter said, her voice softening as she watched the powerful man break down at her feet. "But from now on, things are going to change in this nursery."
