Chapter 8
Adrian listened for three seconds, then ended the call.
He moved close to Lorenzo, but Lorenzo lifted one hand.
“Say it where she can hear.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
Maya blinked.
She had not expected that.
The security man looked at her, then back to Lorenzo.
“The nanny is accounted for.”
Matteo’s face tightened at the word nanny.
Lorenzo’s arms firmed around him.
“Where?”
“Near the west drive. Frightened. Says she lost him during the street performer crowd.”
Maya watched Lorenzo carefully.
His face did not show relief.
That told her something.
Lorenzo asked, “Injured?”
“No.”
“Alone?”
A pause.
“Yes.”
Lorenzo’s eyes darkened.
Matteo whispered, “She let go.”
Maya looked at him.
The child’s voice was small but clear.
Lorenzo immediately shifted his attention to his son.
“What did you say?”
Matteo pressed closer.
“She let go when the loud drums came. Then the gray man said he knew you.”
Every adult around them became still.
Maya felt the air leave her lungs.
She looked toward Lorenzo.
His expression did not change much.
Only his eyes.
They went cold in a way that made the sunny park seem suddenly too bright.
Maya kept her voice gentle.
“Matteo, did you go with the gray man?”
He shook his head.
“No. I hid. Then Maya.”
Lorenzo closed his eyes for one brief second.
When he opened them, the father was still there.
So was something else.
Something controlled and dangerous.
Maya slowly released a breath.
“You need to report that.”
Lorenzo looked at her.
“I will handle it.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“No,” he said. “It is not.”
They held eye contact.
Matteo looked between them, sensing conflict.
Maya softened first for the child’s sake.
“Your papa knows now,” she said.
Lorenzo looked at her with unreadable intensity.
Again, she had not lied.
She had not said everything would be fine.
She had not said the danger was gone.
She had simply marked the truth that mattered to Matteo.
Your father knows now.
Lorenzo repeated quietly, “I know now.”
Matteo nodded and finally loosened his grip on Maya’s hand by the smallest amount.
Not letting go.
May you like
Just breathing.
Read Chapter 9 👉 Because Matteo’s memory changed everything, and Lorenzo realized Maya had heard enough to become more than a stranger.
