Chapter 2 - The Bottle No One Touched.
By sunrise, the pale blue bottle sat inside a sealed evidence bag on Lorenzo’s desk.
No one called it evidence aloud, but everyone understood what the bag meant.
Lorenzo had ordered the entire third floor locked down before Leo had even fallen asleep.
Hunter stood near the study fireplace wearing a borrowed cardigan over her maid uniform because milk had soaked through the front of her dress during the night.
The humiliation should have bothered her.
Instead, she could only think about Leo’s tiny hand gripping her finger after he finished eating.
Dr. Halloran paced beside the desk.
“The bottle needs to go to an independent lab.”
“It goes to three,” Lorenzo said.
Halloran stopped.
“Three?”
“One in Manhattan, one in Boston, and one that does not know my name.”
Hunter realized then that Lorenzo trusted money more than people because money at least admitted what it wanted.
A knock sounded at the door.
A broad-shouldered man entered without waiting for permission.
He had dark hair, a gray suit, and the same sharp eyes as Lorenzo.
“This is Marco Rossi,” Lorenzo said.
“My younger brother.”
Marco studied Hunter for a second too long.
“So this is the miracle maid.”
Hunter disliked the phrase immediately.
“I fed a hungry baby.”
Marco gave a thin smile.
“Twenty specialists apparently forgot how.”
Lorenzo ignored him.
“Hunter stays on the third floor until I say otherwise.”
Hunter looked at Lorenzo.
“I was hired to clean.”
“You were hired to work in this house.”
“I’m not a nurse.”
“No.”
Lorenzo’s voice softened slightly.
“You are the only person my son has eaten for.”
Hunter looked away.
Those words touched the most damaged place inside her.
She hated how badly she wanted them to mean something.
Marco walked to the evidence bag.
“Where was this found?”
“On the warmer,” Hunter said.
“Convenient.”
The word landed like a slap.
Hunter faced him.
“What are you suggesting?”
Marco raised both hands.
“Nothing.”
But his eyes suggested everything.
Lorenzo moved between them.
“My son gained almost two ounces after two feedings with her.”
Marco’s expression remained pleasant.
“That makes her useful.”
Hunter felt her jaw tighten.
“I’m standing right here.”
Marco smiled again.
“I know.”
An hour later, Hunter returned to the nursery under guard.
Leo woke when she touched his blanket.
His mouth opened in a weak searching motion.
Hunter prepared a fresh bottle from sealed supplies Halloran had personally checked.
She sat down and began the same slow routine.
Hold him first.
Let him settle.
Touch the bottle to his lower lip.
Wait.
Leo drank.
Lorenzo watched from the doorway without speaking.
After several minutes, he asked the question Hunter had been dreading.
“Why do you know how to do this?”
Her hands stopped for half a second.
“My daughter.”
Lorenzo’s eyes changed.
“Where is she?”
Hunter stared at Leo.
“She died three weeks ago.”
The room became quiet except for the baby swallowing.
Lorenzo looked as if someone had struck him.
“I’m sorry.”
Hunter almost laughed because apologies felt useless against graves.
“She was stillborn.”
Lorenzo lowered his head.
For the first time, neither of them had to explain grief to the other.
A guard appeared at the door.
“Mr. Rossi.”
Lorenzo turned.
“We checked the security system.”
“And?”
The guard’s face was tense.
“Someone deleted forty-seven minutes of nursery footage from last night.”
May you like
Hunter felt the bottle tremble in her hand.
The missing footage ended exactly six minutes before she entered the room.
