Page 46 of Secret Baby of the Don

I couldn’t answer that honestly, but I did my best not to lie to my son. I didn’t want to ever lie to him again like I had for the past few years. “There’s a part of me that will always love him,” I said softly.

Then I heard someone clear their throat. When I turned around, Rocco stood in the doorway, leaning against the doorjamb. “I was wondering if school was over for today,” Rocco said.

I stood up, straightening the sundress I was wearing. “It is,” I said quietly.

“Can I come and sit with you, Matteo?” he asked, looking straight at our son and right past me. I couldn’t help but smile at the two of them.

Matteo nodded eagerly, taking his hand. “Let me show you my toys.”

Two hours later, I checked in on them and Matteo and Rocco were playing a video game, their backs to me, their heads tilted at the same angle. My heart ached. I couldn’t believe I’d kept this from both of them for so long. I hadn’t made the right choice, and they’d had to suffer the consequences. I walked out of the room, wanting to give them their privacy, and my father called me from his office. I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. “Ricardo Gallo will be here in two hours,” he said.

I gasped. “I didn’t want Matteo to be here. I’ll tell Alice to take him out somewhere,” I said, but my father shook his head.

“It’s too risky,” he said. “He might have men out and about, and he’ll see them leaving the house if he’s got people watching. We don’t want Matteo to be targeted. Hardly anyone even knows he exists.”

I cursed under my breath. “You’re right. We can’t risk it.”

“So we’ll keep him locked in his room,” Papa said. “It’s not ideal but it’s all we can do.”

I nodded, swallowing hard, feeling nervous. “Papa, I need you to tell me something.”

“What’s that,carissima?” he asked.

“I want you to tell me you’ll make it through this.”

He scoffed. “You think I’d let Ricardo Gallo get the drop on me?”

“He’s sneaky,” I insisted. “You might not see it coming.”

“These old eyes see a lot more than you think,carissima.” He paused. “Just like I see that you’re still connected to Rocco Moretti.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, my cheeks flushing.

My father raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you? I see the way you look at him.”

“And how is that?” I asked, exasperated. I didn’t like anyone telling me how I felt, and since my father hadn’t even known about Rocco until recently, I liked him telling me how I felt even less.

“Like you’re longing for him,” my father said simply, as if it was easy. “I know what that looks like.”

I thought of my mother, how she’d slowly faded away from the cancer that took her away from us, and tears burned behind my eyes. “It doesn’t matter,” I said, fighting back the emotions that were running through me. “It’s over.”

“It matters,” my father said. “But I won’t interfere.”

I smiled, grateful. My father had always been a little overprotective, and that was why I had been worried about telling him about Rocco, but other than that he didn’t mess about in my life. He let me make my own mistakes, and I was realizing that was how I wanted to raise Matteo.

I left my father’s office and went to my room, wanting to let Rocco and Matteo get to know each other. I laid down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. I must have been more tired than I thought, because I managed to drift off. When I woke, someone was knocking on the door. I called for them to come in, yawning, and it was Alberto. He smiled at me, gesturing out into the hallway. “It’s time?” I asked, and he nodded.

I walked out in the hallway with him until he disappeared into a guest room. Rocco stood at the end of the hall, staring at me with intense green eyes. “You sure he’s just a bodyguard?” he asked in a tight voice, and I had to fight back a laugh. I’d never been interested in Alberto in that way. How could I be, when I was still fighting my feelings for Rocco? I’d been fighting those feelings for ten years, and I was getting tired.

“Just a bodyguard, Rocco,” I said as we made our way into the room next to my father’s office. My head was still fuzzy with sleep and at first I was surprised at how small the room was. It’d seemed bigger when I was a girl. Rocco’s broad shoulders barely fit in the small space, and we were right up against each other. I swallowed hard. “Not a lot of room in here,” I said conversationally.

“We don’t need much,” Rocco said.

“Are you armed?” I asked him.

Rocco grinned. “Always,stellina.”

I fought back a shudder. Being in such close quarters with Rocco was affecting my body plenty, but I felt anxious about what was about to happen. “When do you think he’ll be here?” I said in a hushed whisper.

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