Page 7 of Hidden Rocco
“Don’t stay too long.”
Mica, phone to her ear, slid her slippers on, checked that her sleeping baby was snug, and made her way out of her bedroom, past the tapestries she’d hung in the hotel, and headed down the stairs to ensure the entire fifty-two room, eight-suite chalet would be warm in the morning. Every room had a gas fireplace and balcony to enjoy the views of the Rocky Mountains.
The thermostat was in the back room, behind the empty space meant for a restaurant, that no guests ever saw. It was very dark inside the hotel.
“I’ll see you soon,” she said. “I just want to watch out for my son and bond with him, alone.”
Raphael asked, “What if Ali’s family does look for you?”
She’d prepared for that. No one knew exactly where she was, except the mountain she intended to build on but only certain people had that intel. Her family had. Her investors didn’t. She didn’t check in online for social media, though she posted travel pics as if she was in some far-flung place with her baby halfway across the world rather than a mountain chalet outside Aspen.
Mica’s helicopter was fueled; her guns were locked away but loaded. The bottom step of the staircase creaked, but she was getting used to the chalet’s noises. She entered into the grand room with a huge gas fireplace and lifted her chin. “I can take care of myself.”
“I know you can, sis,” Raphael said.
The confidence he had in her twisted her up. She had to take care of herself and Jacob first. Mica knew she’d never find a partner that she could trust.
Her heart hurt and she pressed her hand to her chest.
She’d need her medicine soon.
A moment later the pain subsided, and she continued without mentioning the pangs, “You bet I can. Remember when I flew my helicopter in to save you and your now wife Kimberly?”
“I owe you,” Raphael said as she found the thermostat and turned the dial up. “We both remember, and you were so weak. I’m glad you’re giving yourself time.”
She said, “The doctors said I’ll make a full recovery.”
Ifshe gave herself time to heal, without any added stress in her life.
She took one of the prepared bottles of formula from the refrigerator, the open door lighting the otherwise dark kitchen. Everything was quiet. Too late for birds to chirp, and all of nature’s creatures were probably hiding from the upcoming storm. She’d been watching the warning on the news, before her brother had called.
Mica headed back to the suite she’d taken for herself and Jacob as his nursery. Raphael said, “If you don’t push yourself.”
The quiet was exactly why she was here. Mica climbed the stairs. “I’ll be running down the streets of New York in terror if I have to actually live near Mom and Dad.”
Raphael laughed and the sound calmed her nerves. Dark clouds rolled in front of the moon. Tomorrow the storm would be here. “Keep your phone on at all times and call me if you need anything.”
As she made it to the top step she heard her baby cry, and rushed toward her room. “Jacob’s awake, I have to go. Goodbye.”
“Goodbye, Mica.”
She hung up the phone and tossed it on the dresser near her door as she hurried to the crib.
Jacob’s beautiful chubby baby hands reached for his bottle like he might hold it firm as she put it in his mouth.
Soon he’d be strong and big and able to hold anything, but for now he still needed her assistance. She held his bottle as she stood over him while he ate without crying.
She took off her slippers and stared at the moon that was now full in the night sky. No snow yet, but it was coming. She’d parked her car in the garage under the hotel so the storm wouldn’t hurt her vehicle.
She changed into her night clothes, happy with the solitude.
Silence was nice. Silence was why she was here. She picked up her baby and rocked him in her arms.
Her body wrung in pain. This one came on fast, which hadn’t happened in a while. Raphael’s concern had been sweet but stressful. She breathed through it.
Drat, she’d forgotten her medicine. It suppressed these attacks.
Mica continued to smile at her baby boy while a sharp, stabbing pain rocked her insides—she wouldn’t scare him. She placed him back in the crib as she sat on the bed, afraid to drop him.
