Chapter 4
Lorenzo turned slightly away from Matteo before speaking to his men.
Not enough that the boy could not hear everything.
Enough to soften the words.
“Check the south path and the cart vendor. Quietly.”
Two security men moved at once.
They did not run.
They disappeared through the crowd with the terrifying calm of men trained not to create panic.
The third stayed behind, watching Maya.
She did not like him.
He had not touched her, not threatened her, not said anything beyond the first command. But his stillness made her feel measured.
Lorenzo saw her looking at him.
“Adrian,” he said.
The guard looked at him.
“Step back.”
Adrian obeyed, though he clearly disliked it.
Maya looked at Lorenzo.
“You always talk and people move?”
He adjusted Matteo in his arms.
“Not always.”
“That was not convincing.”
This time, the almost-smile reached one corner of his mouth before vanishing.
Matteo lifted his head.
“Maya helped.”
“I know,” Lorenzo said.
“No,” Matteo insisted, upset again. “She stayed.”
The word changed Lorenzo’s face.
Stayed.
Maya felt the child’s fingers clutch hers with desperate sincerity.
She crouched again so Matteo could see her clearly.
“I promised I wouldn’t leave until your father came.”
Matteo nodded.
“You said in Italian.”
“I did.”
“My mom used to say Italian when I was scared.”
Lorenzo’s expression closed slightly.
Maya noticed.
A small door shutting.
Not anger.
Grief.
Or memory.
She did not ask.
Central Park sounds returned around them in cautious fragments. A bicycle bell. A dog barking. A street musician trying to continue a song no one was listening to anymore. People stared from a respectful distance, pretending they were not staring.
Lorenzo looked down at Maya’s hand still held by Matteo.
“You can let go now,” he said, but he said it to his son, not to her.
Matteo shook his head.
“No.”
Lorenzo inhaled slowly.
Maya felt trapped between politeness and the child’s fear.
“I can stay for another minute,” she said.
Lorenzo’s eyes returned to her.
“Why?”
Maya blinked.
“Because he asked me to.”
“That is enough for you?”
“It should be enough for anyone.”
For a moment, the powerful man in the black suit had no answer.
Then his phone vibrated.
He did not look at it immediately.
Adrian did.
That told Maya the call mattered.
Lorenzo finally checked the screen.
His face became unreadable.
May you like
Maya felt Matteo’s fingers tighten again.
Read Chapter 5 👉 Because the call on Lorenzo’s phone did not explain who he was, but it proved Matteo’s disappearance had consequences beyond the park.
