Chapter 6
Adrian stepped closer again.
“Sir, we need to secure the vehicle route.”
Maya looked past him toward the crowd.
“Vehicle route?”
Adrian ignored her.
Lorenzo did not.
“We may need to leave.”
Matteo’s hand clamped around Maya’s.
“No.”
The refusal was immediate.
Raw.
Lorenzo’s face tightened.
“Matteo.”
“No! Maya comes.”
Maya froze.
Lorenzo looked at her.
Adrian’s posture changed in an instant, all tension and objection.
Maya lifted her free hand before anyone spoke.
“No.”
Lorenzo’s eyebrows lowered.
Maya clarified, “I am not going anywhere with you.”
Matteo began to cry again.
“Maya—”
She crouched quickly.
“Hey. Hey, look at me.”
He did, though tears blurred his eyes.
“You found your father. That was the promise. I stayed until he came.”
“But you said you help.”
“I did help.”
“More.”
The word broke her heart.
Lorenzo held him closer.
“Matteo, she has her own life.”
The child shook his head hard.
Maya saw panic rising again.
She had to be careful now.
A frightened child can attach to the first safe person, and pulling away too sharply can feel like abandonment even when it is necessary.
She looked at Lorenzo.
“You need to slow down.”
Adrian said, “Ma’am—”
Lorenzo cut him off.
“She is right.”
Adrian stopped.
Maya was not sure whether that made her safer or more uncomfortable.
Lorenzo shifted Matteo so he could see his face.
“We are not leaving this second.”
Matteo sniffed.
“Maya too?”
Lorenzo did not promise.
Good.
Maya respected that.
Instead, he said, “Maya is here right now.”
Maya nodded.
“That’s true.”
Matteo breathed shakily.
The moment settled by an inch.
Not resolved.
Never resolved.
Just held.
A woman nearby murmured, “Is that Lorenzo Vitale?”
Another person shushed her.
Maya heard the name spoken with recognition and fear braided together.
Vitale.
She knew the surname from somewhere.
Business headlines?
Court rumors?
Charity photos?
She could not place it.
Lorenzo heard the whisper too.
His face closed again.
Maya understood then that whatever world Lorenzo belonged to, it was one where names created reactions before introductions did.
He looked at her as if wondering whether she had recognized it.
She had not.
Not fully.
May you like
But she knew enough to become wary.
Read Chapter 7 👉 Because the name Vitale moved through the crowd like a warning, and Maya realized helping Matteo had pulled her close to a dangerous family.
