Chapter 10 - Unraveling Truths
The heavy rain began to beat against the glass windows of the estate as dawn broke over Long Island.
In the upstairs suite, Hunter stood by the window, holding Leo securely against her shoulder. The baby was warm, satisfied, his small hand resting against her neck. She couldn't sleep. Every time she closed her eyes, she feared she would wake up and find out this was all a cruel dream.
The door clicked open. Lorenzo walked into the room.
His shirt was wrinkled, his dark hair slightly messier than usual, but his posture was rigid, imposing, and cold.
Hunter turned to face him, her heart beating frantically. "What happened downstairs? What did Dr. Cole say?"
Lorenzo walked over and stood beside her, looking down at the baby in her arms. His expression was unreadable, a storm of dark emotions swirling behind his eyes.
"Nathan confessed," Lorenzo said slowly.
Hunter’s breath hitched. "About what?"
"Eight weeks ago, my wife Isabella suffered a massive brain aneurysm during her seventh month of pregnancy," Lorenzo revealed, his voice devoid of emotion. "The doctors managed to keep her alive on life support long enough to deliver the child. But when the baby was delivered... he was severely underdeveloped. He died twenty minutes after birth."
Hunter gasped, her hands trembling as she held Leo tighter.
"My rival, Don Carmine Moretti, knew that if I lost my wife and my only heir on the same night, my syndicate would fracture," Lorenzo continued, his voice lowering into a deadly pitch. "He bribed Nathan with ten million dollars to cover up the baby's death. Nathan needed a replacement baby—a boy born on the exact same night, in the exact same hospital—to hand to me so I wouldn't go to war."
Hunter felt the world spinning around her. Tears spilled down her cheeks as she looked down at the baby in her arms.
"You..." Hunter whispered, her voice cracking. "You were delivered in the emergency ward that night. Your baby was healthy, perfectly strong. Nathan stole you from my arms, lied to me that you were stillborn, and placed you in the VIP nursery as Lorenzo Rossi’s heir."
Lorenzo looked at Hunter, his dark eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that made her shiver.
"Leo isn't my son," Lorenzo said softly. "He is yours."
Hunter broke down, sobbing quietly as she buried her face in the soft fabric of the baby's blanket. She kissed the top of Leo's tiny head over and over again, holding her blood, her child, the baby she thought she had lost forever.
"So... what happens now?" Hunter choked out, terror suddenly rising in her chest as she looked up at the feared Mafia boss. "Are you going to take him from me?"
Lorenzo stepped closer, his dark gaze lingering on Hunter's tear-streaked face, then shifting to the child resting peacefully in her arms. A slow, dangerous smile crept onto the corners of his lips.
"Take him from you?" Lorenzo whispered, his voice dark and smooth. "No, Hunter. You are his mother. And as long as Moretti and his men think this baby is a Rossi, your son has a target on his back."
He reached out, his long, tattooed fingers gently brushing a stray tear from her cheek.
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"Starting today, you don't work in this house as a maid," Lorenzo declared, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You stay in this mansion. You live as my wife, and you raise your son under my protection. And together, we are going to burn down everyone who tried to tear your family apart."
Hunter looked into Lorenzo's fierce, unyielding eyes, realizing that her fight was far from over—and the deadliest war on Long Island was just about to begin.
