Chapter 2 - THE FIRST BABY WHO NEVER CAME HOME|
For several seconds, nobody in the dining room moved.
Leonardo Moretti stood beneath the enormous crystal chandelier, holding his dead brother's letter as though the paper itself might explode.
His former fiancée was crying beside the fireplace.
Her father stared at the floor.
And I sat in a chair with one hand covering my seven-months-pregnant stomach, trying to understand what Bianca had meant.
Tell him what happened to the first baby.
Those words kept repeating in my head.
"What first baby?" Leonardo asked.
His voice was quiet, but something about it frightened me more than shouting would have.
Richard Romano loosened his tie.
"Leonardo, there are things you don't understand about the medical business."
"Then explain them."
"It's complicated."
Leonardo took one step toward him.
"My brother is dead, his pregnant wife has been threatened, and your daughter has spent five months lying to me."
He held up Matteo's letter.
"You're running out of complicated explanations."
Bianca wiped her cheeks with trembling fingers.
"Dad, please tell him."
Richard looked at her with an expression I couldn't understand.
It wasn't anger.
It was fear.
"Not another word, Bianca."
Leonardo turned toward Anthony, his attorney.
"Call the police and have the evidence secured."
Richard's head snapped up.
"You're making an enormous mistake."
"No," Leonardo answered.
"I made my mistake when I trusted you."
The room became terribly still.
I suddenly felt a tightening beneath my ribs.
It wasn't unbearable, but it was enough to make me grip the edge of the table.
Leonardo noticed immediately.
"Emma?"
"I'm okay."
He crouched beside me.
"You're pale."
"I'm just scared."
His expression softened.
"Has anybody checked on you since Bianca grabbed you?"
I shook my head.
He looked toward Anthony.
"Find an obstetrician who has no connection to the Romanos, and arrange an examination."
Then he turned back to me.
"You're not going anywhere alone tonight."
For a moment, I almost thanked him.
But the words wouldn't come.
Because eight months earlier, Matteo had promised me the same thing.
And eight months earlier, he'd left our apartment carrying a folder he said would keep people safe.
He never came home.
"Mr. Moretti," I whispered.
"Leonardo," he corrected gently.
I swallowed.
"Matteo was afraid of someone before he died."
His eyes narrowed.
"What do you remember?"
"He started checking the locks twice."
I stared down at my wedding ring.
"He asked me to stop taking the same train home every evening."
"Did he explain why?"
"No."
I swallowed hard.
"But once, he came home with blood on his shirt."
Leonardo went still.
"Matteo was injured?"
"He said he'd helped someone after an accident."
I shook my head.
"I believed him."
"Do you remember when?"
"About a week before he died."
Leonardo looked at Anthony.
"Write that down."
Richard suddenly spoke.
"Matteo was getting involved with unstable people."
Leonardo turned so sharply that Richard stepped backward.
"Don't talk about my brother."
"I'm trying to explain why he became paranoid."
"Then explain the payments to Emma's clinic."
Richard hesitated.
And that hesitation told me more than his words.
Bianca stared at her father.
"Tell him about Claire."
Richard closed his eyes.
I felt the room tilt.
"Who's Claire?"
Bianca looked at me.
For the first time since I'd entered the Moretti mansion, there was no cruelty in her expression.
Only shame.
"Claire Bennett was a patient at the clinic."
I tried to speak, but she continued.
"She was twenty-four, pregnant, and alone."
Leonardo watched her carefully.
"What happened?"
Bianca's lips trembled.
"She went into labor early."
"Was the baby born?"
Bianca nodded.
"A girl."
My hand tightened around my stomach.
"Then what?"
Richard grabbed his daughter's shoulder.
"Enough."
Leonardo moved between them.
"Take your hand off her."
Richard released Bianca immediately.
She looked at her father, then back at Leonardo.
"The doctors told Claire her daughter died."
A horrible silence followed.
I stared at her.
"That's awful."
Bianca shook her head.
"No, Emma."
Her voice broke.
"That's not the worst part."
She took a breath that sounded painful.
"Three weeks later, I saw a transfer document."
"What transfer?" Anthony asked.
Bianca looked toward him.
"A private placement."
Nobody spoke.
She continued.
"The document listed Claire's daughter as alive."
I felt something cold move through my entire body.
"Alive?"
Bianca nodded.
"The baby had been transferred to another family."
My mouth fell open.
"But her mother thought she'd died?"
Bianca started crying harder.
"Yes."
Leonardo looked at Richard.
"Tell me she's lying."
Richard said nothing.
"Richard."
The older man finally lifted his eyes.
"That document doesn't prove what she thinks it proves."
"Then what does it prove?"
"Medical transfers involve complicated legal arrangements."
Anthony stepped forward.
"Not when a mother has been told her child is dead."
Richard's face hardened.
"You have no idea what you're discussing."
Leonardo held out his hand.
"Give Anthony the name of every person involved."
Richard laughed bitterly.
"Do you think everyone involved is going to tell you the truth?"
"No," Leonardo answered.
"That's why there will be investigators."
My heart was pounding.
I remembered the clinic.
The quiet hallways.
The unusually expensive furniture.
The receptionist who always insisted that I leave my phone in a locked drawer before an examination.
And the doctor who had asked me whether my husband had any living relatives.
I had told her no.
Because Bianca had warned me not to mention Leonardo.
I suddenly felt sick.
"Leonardo?"
He turned.
"Yes?"
"The clinic asked me to sign papers."
Anthony looked up.
"What kind of papers?"
"I don't know."
I pressed my lips together.
"They said it was routine prenatal paperwork."
"Do you have copies?"
"No."
My voice began shaking.
"They never gave me any."
Leonardo crouched in front of me again.
"Emma, look at me."
I did.
"Did anyone ever tell you that signing those documents meant giving up your baby?"
"No."
"Did you ever agree to let anyone else take custody of your child?"
I shook my head so violently that tears spilled down my face.
"Never."
Leonardo's jaw tightened.
"Then nobody has your permission."
Bianca suddenly covered her mouth.
Leonardo looked toward her.
"What?"
She was staring at my stomach.
"Emma's appointment."
I frowned.
"What appointment?"
"The one scheduled for Friday."
My breath caught.
Bianca had told me it was an extended prenatal examination.
She'd insisted the doctor needed to check the baby's growth.
She'd even promised to personally drive me.
"What about Friday?" Leonardo demanded.
Bianca looked at her father.
Richard had gone completely white.
Then she whispered something I will never forget.
"They weren't planning to let Emma come home with her baby."
Leonardo didn't move.
Neither did I.
I could hear the clock above the fireplace ticking.
One second.
Then another.
Finally, Leonardo turned toward Anthony.
"Make sure the police hear that statement."
Richard pushed his chair backward.
"Bianca, you've lost your mind."
She stood straighter.
"No, Dad."
For the first time that evening, she looked him directly in the eyes.
"I think I'm finally using it."
But before anyone could respond, a sharp pain tightened across my lower stomach.
I gasped.
Leonardo turned immediately.
"Emma?"
I gripped the arm of the chair.
Something wasn't right.
The pain disappeared after several seconds, but my hands wouldn't stop trembling.
"Please," I whispered.
He took my hand.
"What do you need?"
I began crying.
"Don't let them take my baby."
His expression changed.
He knelt in front of me and held my eyes.
"They won't."
"Matteo promised he'd protect us."
"I know."
My voice broke.
"And now he's gone."
Leonardo looked down at the wedding ring his brother had chosen.
When he spoke again, his voice was thick with emotion.
"Then I'm going to keep the promise he couldn't."
At that moment, Anthony's phone rang.
He listened for several seconds.
Then his expression became serious.
"Leonardo, the medical office has confirmed that an emergency transfer was entered under Emma's name this afternoon."
I froze.
"What transfer?"
Anthony hesitated.
Then answered carefully.
"An authorization for an early delivery at a private surgical facility."
Leonardo stared at him.
"Emma didn't request that."
"I know."
Anthony looked at the screen again.
"The paperwork lists a date."
I could barely breathe.
"When?"
He swallowed.
"Tomorrow morning."
And suddenly I understood.
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Bianca hadn't simply wanted to humiliate me at the engagement dinner.
Someone had already made plans for what would happen to my baby after the guests went home.
