Chapter 1
Woman Comforts A Lost Boy In Italian Before His Feared Father Arrives With A Team Of Bodyguards.
Maya Bennett was kneeling on the Central Park walkway when the little boy finally stopped screaming long enough to look at her.
His name was Matteo.
At least, that was the only word he had managed to say through tears.
He was five years old, dressed in a perfectly tailored navy suit and white shirt, the kind of clothing no child wore to a park by accident. His curls were damp with sweat, his cheeks wet, his breathing shallow from panic.
Maya kept both hands gently on his arms.
Not gripping.
Anchoring.
“Va tutto bene, Matteo. Ti aiuterò a trovare tuo padre.”
Everything is okay, Matteo. I’ll help you find your father.
The child froze at the sound of Italian.
His frightened eyes locked on hers.
Then movement rippled through the crowd behind them.
Three men in black suits pushed through pedestrians with disciplined precision, scanning faces, exits, benches, trees, every possible threat.
One reached them first.
He raised a firm hand toward Maya.
“Step away from the boy.”
Maya shifted immediately, placing herself between Matteo and the stranger.
“No.”
The security man’s jaw tightened.
He did not touch her.
But the space around them changed.
Pedestrians slowed. Phones lifted. A woman nearby pulled her child closer.
Then another man broke through the ring of onlookers.
Black suit.
White shirt.
Black tie.
Dark hair.
A face so controlled it should have looked cold, except the moment he saw Matteo, everything human in him rushed to the surface.
Matteo saw him too.
“Papa!”
The boy tore free from Maya and ran.
Lorenzo Vitale dropped to one knee and caught his son with both arms, holding him so tightly his eyes closed for one breath.
Then he checked Matteo’s face, arms, shoulders, every inch.
Still holding his son, Lorenzo rose and looked at Maya.
“Who are you?”
Matteo reached back from his father’s arms and grabbed Maya’s hand.
Maya met Lorenzo’s gaze.
“Maya Bennett. He was alone.”
Lorenzo looked down at Matteo’s fingers locked around hers.
And the suspicion in his face became something far more dangerous.
May you like
Curiosity.
Read Chapter 2 👉 Because Maya had only meant to help a lost child, but Matteo’s grip told Lorenzo she had already become part of the moment.
