Lorenzo moved first.
He shoved the nursery door shut.
“Lock it.”
Another gunshot echoed downstairs.
Leo startled.
I grabbed him immediately.
“What’s happening?”
“Stay here.”
“No.”
Lorenzo turned.
“Hunter.”
“If your cousin knows we found him, he knows about Leo.”
His expression changed.
I saw the calculation.
Then he looked at Marco.
“Two guards outside. Nobody enters.”
Marco nodded.
Lorenzo left.
I locked the door.
My hands shook.
Leo began crying.
“It’s okay.”
I held him tighter.
“You’re okay.”
I wasn’t sure if I was speaking to him or myself.
Minutes passed.
Then silence.
Too much silence.
Finally, someone knocked.
“Hunter.”
Lorenzo.
I opened the door.
His shirt sleeve was torn.
A thin line of blood marked his cheek.
“You’re hurt.”
“Not mine.”
I didn’t ask.
“Anthony?”
“Gone.”
“Dead?”
“Gone.”
That answer frightened me more.
“What happened?”
“He knew we found the transfer.”
“Where is he?”
“Escaped through the east service road.”
“How?”
“Someone helped him.”
“Who?”
Lorenzo looked toward the hallway.
“Vivian.”
I stared.
“She’s here?”
“She has been.”
“What?”
“She returned to Long Island four days ago under another name.”
“Why?”
“We’re finding out.”
The next twelve hours revealed the shape of the betrayal.
Anthony DeLuca had spent years positioning himself beside Lorenzo.
He had helped manage businesses.
Security.
Family decisions.
He had also resented Sophia.
According to recovered messages, Anthony believed Sophia’s influence made Lorenzo weak.
He feared that once their son was born, Lorenzo would shift legitimate assets into a trust that Anthony could never touch.
So he made a plan.
The bombing was meant to kill Lorenzo.
When Sophia died instead, Anthony improvised.
He paid Celeste and Evelyn to make Lorenzo’s heir disappear.
My child became the replacement.
Anthony assumed the substituted baby would die quickly because he had been premature.
Then Lorenzo would bury the wrong child.
No heir.
No suspicion.
No future complication.
But Leo survived.
And Anthony had not expected one thing.
Me.
A grieving maid with milk her body refused to stop producing.
By feeding Leo, I had accidentally wrecked a conspiracy worth millions.
But we still didn’t know where Sophia’s son was.
Then Vivian called.
Lorenzo put the call on speaker.
Her voice sounded calm.
Too calm.
“You always were stubborn.”
Lorenzo’s expression remained ice.
“Where is my son?”
“Alive.”
He closed his eyes briefly.
“Where?”
“Safe.”
“Vivian.”
“I cared about Sophia.”
“You sold her child.”
“I saved him.”
Lorenzo slammed his palm against the table.
“From what?”
“From you.”
The room went silent.
Vivian continued.
“You think Anthony was the only threat around that baby?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your enemies knew Sophia was pregnant. They knew an heir was coming.”
“So you kidnapped him?”
“I removed him.”
“For six million dollars.”
“That money wasn’t payment.”
“What was it?”
“Funding.”
“For what?”
She hesitated.
Then spoke.
“A new identity.”
My heart raced.
Lorenzo’s voice lowered.
“Where is he?”
“I’ll tell you under one condition.”
“No conditions.”
“Then you’ll never find him.”
I watched Lorenzo’s jaw tighten.
“What?”
“You let Hunter leave with her son.”
I froze.
Lorenzo looked at me.
Vivian continued.
“No guards. No Rossi name. No connection.”
“Why do you care about Hunter?”
“Because this started with her family long before Sophia.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?”
Vivian heard me.
“You’re there.”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Everyone keeps saying that.”
“I tried to protect you too.”
“You stole my child.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then who did?”
“My aunt switched the babies. Anthony ordered it.”
“And you knew?”
“Afterward.”
“Why didn’t you come to me?”
“Because Anthony would have killed you.”
I looked at Lorenzo.
He didn’t interrupt.
Vivian continued.
“Daniel Cole discovered something years ago. A ledger documenting money stolen from the Rossi organization.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“He was killed because of it.”
“By whom?”
“Anthony’s father.”
Lorenzo stiffened.
Vivian kept speaking.
“The DeLuca family has been bleeding the Rossi organization for decades.”
Lorenzo’s face darkened.
“My father suspected.”
“He never proved it.”
“Daniel could.”
My hands shook.
“So they killed him.”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
“She ran.”
I sat down.
Everything I thought I knew about my childhood shifted.
“Why choose my baby?”
“Anthony knew who you were. He thought it was funny.”
My stomach turned.
“Funny?”
“To replace the Rossi heir with the grandchild of the man his father killed.”
Lorenzo’s expression became lethal.
Vivian continued.
“He thought it would destroy two families with one move.”
I looked toward the nursery.
Leo had nearly died because somebody wanted revenge against ghosts.
“Where is Sophia’s son?”
Vivian went silent.
Lorenzo spoke.
“Please.”
Everyone looked at him.
I had never heard Lorenzo Rossi say that word.
Vivian’s voice cracked.
“Canada.”
“Where?”
“Prince Edward Island.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes.
“With whom?”
“A couple Sophia trusted.”
He stared at the phone.
“Sophia knew?”
“No.”
“Then why would they take him?”
“Because I told them Sophia had arranged it before her death.”
“You forged her instructions.”
“Yes.”
“Name.”
Vivian gave it.
Lorenzo wrote it down.
“Is he healthy?”
“Yes.”
“Are you certain?”
“I’ve received photographs every week.”
“Send them.”
A message arrived moments later.
Lorenzo opened it.
A baby.
Chubby cheeks.
Dark hair.
Wrapped in a blue blanket.
Lorenzo’s hand trembled.
“That’s him.”
“How do you know?” I whispered.
He touched the screen.
“He has Sophia’s eyes.”
I almost cried.
Vivian spoke again.
“I never sold him, Lorenzo.”
“You kidnapped him.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Anthony planned to kill him.”
Lorenzo stared at the phone.
“I couldn’t let that happen.”
“You could have told me.”
“You trusted Anthony more than anyone.”
He had no answer.
“So you hid my son from me.”
“I kept him alive.”
The call ended after Vivian provided the address.
Lorenzo stood quietly for a long time.
Then he looked at me.
“I’m going to Canada.”
“I’m coming.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“This isn’t your fight.”
I laughed.
“Your family stole my baby, lied about my father, and almost killed my son.”
He considered that.
“Fair point.”
We left the next morning.
Leo traveled with us under medical supervision.
For the first time since entering the Rossi mansion, I passed through the gates not as a maid.
I sat beside Lorenzo in the back seat.
Leo slept between us.
Somewhere ahead was another baby.
Lorenzo’s child.
And somewhere behind us, Anthony DeLuca was still free.
As the car approached the airport, Lorenzo’s phone rang.
Marco answered from the front seat.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He looked back.
“Anthony knows where we’re going.”
Lorenzo’s eyes hardened.
“How?”
“We have a leak.”
The car suddenly swerved.
A black SUV appeared behind us.
Then another.
Marco reached beneath his jacket.
“Hold the baby down.”
My heart stopped.
The SUV behind us accelerated.
Lorenzo grabbed Leo’s car seat and pushed it lower.
“Hunter!”
Glass shattered behind us.
I covered Leo with my body.
And somewhere beneath the fear, one thought became perfectly clear.
Anthony wasn’t running anymore.
He was trying to finish what he had started.