CHAPTER 6 — THE FIRST WORD
Matteo doubled the guards around the nursery.
Liana hated it.
Men stood at both ends of the hallway. Cameras appeared above the doors. Every tray of food was inspected before reaching her room.
Nico became restless again.
“He needs normal sounds,” Liana told Matteo. “Not boots and radios outside his door.”
“He needs protection.”
“From whom?”
Matteo did not answer.
That frightened her more than any explanation could have.
Three days later, Liana discovered a small cut beneath Nico’s left arm.
Dr. Hale examined it.
“It looks like a needle mark.”
Matteo’s face became terrifyingly calm.
“When?”
“I don’t know,” the doctor said. “It could be from a medical procedure.”
“I haven’t authorized any procedure.”
Liana remembered the previous afternoon. Mrs. Bell had asked her to help choose linens downstairs. Nico had remained with a new nurse for eleven minutes.
The nurse was gone.
Her employment records were false.
Matteo sealed the estate.
No vehicles entered or left. Every employee was questioned.
Carlo arrived before sunset, furious.
“You cannot imprison half the household over a scratch.”
“Someone touched my son.”
“And you believe one of us arranged it?”
“I believe anyone is capable of betrayal.”
Carlo looked toward Liana.
“Anyone?”
Liana stepped closer to Matteo.
It was partly defiance.
Partly fear.
Carlo noticed both.
That night, thunder shook the windows.
Nico woke screaming.
Liana carried him through the nursery while Matteo stood nearby, helpless again.
“You’re safe,” she whispered. “No one will take you.”
Nico stared at her.
His tiny fingers touched her mouth.
“Mama.”
The word was soft and imperfect.
But unmistakable.
Liana stopped breathing.
Matteo froze.
Nico smiled.
“Mama.”
Pain struck Liana so suddenly that her knees weakened.
She placed him carefully in the crib and stumbled away.
“No.”
Nico’s smile vanished.
“Mama.”
“No, sweetheart.”
He began to cry.
Liana pressed both hands over her mouth.
Matteo lifted him, but Nico reached toward her.
“Mama!”
Liana fled the room.
She ran through the west hall and down the back staircase. She did not stop until she reached the empty greenhouse behind the mansion.
Matteo found her sitting on the floor between dead rosebushes.
“He doesn’t understand,” she said.
“I know.”
“I’m not his mother.”
“I know.”
“My baby never said that word.”
Matteo crouched several feet away.
Liana wiped her face angrily.
“I waited for it. Every day, I waited. Samuel made sounds, but he never…”
Her voice disappeared.
Matteo sat on the floor.
The feared ruler of Valecroft’s underworld sat in the dirt beside a grieving maid and said nothing.
After a long time, he spoke.
“Elena heard Nico cry once before she died.”
Liana looked at him.
“She was too weak to hold him. She made me promise that he would never grow up believing power was the same as love.”
“Did you keep that promise?”
“No.”
The honesty surprised her.
Matteo looked toward the dark mansion.
“But I want to.”
Liana closed her eyes.
From inside the house came the distant sound of Nico crying for her.
She stood.
“Then we should go back.”
Matteo rose beside her.
When they entered the nursery, Nico reached for Liana.
She held him close.
“I’m not your mama,” she whispered through her tears. “But I’m here.”
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Matteo watched them.
For the first time, he understood that being present might be the beginning of becoming the man his wife had believed he could be.
