Chapter 16 - Blood Doesn't Make a Father.
For the first time since Sophia died, Lorenzo left the estate without ordering anyone to follow him.
He drove alone to the cemetery.
Hunter knew because Isabella told her.
The older woman sat in the nursery with her hands folded tightly in her lap.
“I thought Sophia was pulling him away from us,” Isabella said.
Hunter did not respond.
“I thought she wanted Lorenzo to sell everything and disappear.”
“Maybe she wanted her husband and child away from people who thought that was betrayal.”
Isabella flinched.
Hunter did not apologize.
Leo woke and began fussing.
Hunter prepared his bottle.
He had gained six ounces in four days.
The improvement felt miraculous, but no one trusted miracles anymore.
Every bottle was sealed, tested, and watched from preparation to feeding.
Gabriel entered while Leo drank.
“Marco contacted the family attorneys.”
Isabella looked up.
“For what?”
“He is claiming Lorenzo is medically and emotionally unfit to manage the Rossi holdings.”
Hunter stared at him.
“He is doing paperwork while everyone is looking for him?”
Gabriel gave a humorless smile.
“That is Marco.”
The attack was not about custody in the ordinary sense.
It was about control of trusts, companies, voting rights, and the legal machinery surrounding Leo’s inheritance.
Marco was trying to turn Lorenzo’s grief into evidence against him.
By afternoon, confidential medical records from Lorenzo’s hospitalization after the bombing had been leaked to business partners.
Stories spread that he was unstable.
That he had threatened doctors.
That he could not protect his own child.
Hunter watched television commentators discuss a man they had never met.
Lorenzo returned after dark.
He looked calmer than when he left.
That worried Gabriel.
Hunter recognized it differently.
Sometimes grief became quiet right before a person decided what they were willing to lose.
Lorenzo entered the nursery.
“How is he?”
“Hungry.”
Hunter handed him the bottle.
Lorenzo stared at it.
“He won’t take it from me.”
“Then we try.”
She guided his hand.
“Sit.”
He sat in the rocking chair awkwardly.
Hunter placed Leo in his arms.
The baby fussed.
Lorenzo’s face tightened with immediate fear.
“See?”
“Don’t rush him.”
Hunter adjusted Lorenzo’s arm beneath Leo’s head.
“Talk to him.”
“I do not know what to say.”
“You are his father.”
“That has not helped so far.”
Hunter looked directly at him.
“Blood made you his father.”
“What you do while he is scared is what makes you his dad.”
Lorenzo went still.
Then he looked down at Leo.
“Hey, little man.”
His voice cracked.
“It’s me.”
Leo turned toward the sound.
Lorenzo touched the bottle to his lip.
The baby hesitated.
Then he drank.
Lorenzo stopped breathing.
Hunter stepped backward.
He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
“He’s taking it.”
Hunter smiled.
“Yes.”
Outside the nursery, a phone began ringing.
Gabriel answered.
His face changed immediately.
“Lorenzo.”
May you like
He held out the phone.
“It’s Marco.”
