CHAPTER 1: THE WOMAN LEO CHOSE
Matteo Duca had seen grown men beg.
He had seen traitors tremble, businessmen fold, and enemies lose their courage before he even spoke.
But he had never seen his son sleep peacefully in anyone’s arms.
Until Cameron Jenkins.
Leo’s small face was pressed against her shoulder, one damp cheek resting on the faded gray fabric of her maid uniform. His tiny fingers clutched the collar as if she might disappear if he let go.
Matteo stood in the study doorway, silent.
Behind him, Mrs. Bell, the longtime housekeeper, watched with a strange stiffness in her jaw.
“She should put him down,” Mrs. Bell said quietly. “The boy doesn’t attach well. It will make things worse.”
Cameron looked up.
Not frightened.
Not rude.
Just steady.
“He’s not attaching,” she said softly. “He’s exhausted.”
Matteo’s eyes moved from Cameron to Mrs. Bell.
Something about the older woman’s face changed too quickly.
A flicker.
A warning.
Then it vanished.
“Leave us,” Matteo ordered.
Mrs. Bell lowered her head.
“Yes, sir.”
But as she turned away, Leo stirred in Cameron’s arms and whispered one word in his sleep.
“Don’t.”
Everyone froze.
Cameron looked down at him.
“Don’t what, sweetheart?”
Leo’s eyes opened halfway.
His voice was barely there.
“Don’t let Bell take me.”
The hallway went silent.
Mrs. Bell stopped walking.
Matteo’s face lost every trace of warmth.
Slowly, he turned toward the woman who had worked in his home for eleven years.
“What did my son just say?”
Mrs. Bell smiled, but the smile did not reach her eyes.
“Children have nightmares, Mr. Duca.”
Cameron held Leo closer.
But Leo was awake now.
And shaking.
“No medicine,” he whispered.
Matteo stepped forward.
“What medicine?”
Mrs. Bell’s expression finally cracked.
And Cameron understood.
May you like
Leo had never been impossible.
He had been trying to survive.
