Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

ALEXI’S POV

My footsteps echoed across the polished floors of my company as I walked down the corridor, holding my tablet in my left hand. I was relaxed, wearing a black business suit that I had carefully chosen to make sure I looked good. The definition of good when it came to my appearance was almost perfect, or at least that’s what people said. Apparently, I looked effortlessly beautiful in whatever I wore, something I wasn’t particularly proud of. I cared more about what was inside my head than being called beautiful.

I reached into my jacket pocket to take out my phone and put it on silent mode, but I stopped when I saw the screen.

Twenty missed calls. Ten unread messages.

I paused for a moment. This was my personal number, and every missed call and text message came from my son’s nanny. My heart immediately began to race. I hadn’t noticed the calls because I had been busy reviewing the final details of the distribution proposal with Derrick earlier, before the Vantage International representatives arrived at my building.

I quickly tapped the nanny’s name while continuing to walk down the corridor.

“Hello? Nanny Nena, what happened?” I whispered, my voice filled with concern for my son.

“Miss Alexandra! Thank goodness you finally answered!” The nanny was already crying on the other end. “I’ve been trying to call you for so long. It’s Aiden, Ma’am. He won’t stop crying. His favorite robot toy broke, the white one. He won’t listen to me, so I asked Mang Carding to bring him to your office!”

“What?” I leaned against the wall. “Nena, I’m at the office, but I have an important meeting right now! Where are they?”

“Oh, Ma’am, they might already be there. They left a while ago.”

“Okay, Nena.”

I ended the call and quickened my pace toward the enormous double doors of the boardroom. I could already see the room because its walls and doors were made entirely of glass, but I suddenly stopped when I noticed the door was open.

My son was inside.

“It’s broken. The arm won’t move anymore,” he sobbed.

How did he get in there without me noticing?

I was about to enter the room and take him away when something else caught my attention. Standing in front of him was a tall man with his back turned toward me. He immediately caught my attention, and I found myself curious to see his face. He was towering, and just looking at his build reminded me of someone.

No. That couldn’t be possible.

He was wearing an expensive gray Armani suit that fitted perfectly across his broad shoulders. He moved slightly, allowing me to see his profile.

My eyes widened, and a sudden chill spread throughout my body when he finally turned around to take the toy from Aiden.

Gideon.

Oh, God!

I quickly stepped back from the doorway and hid behind the wall. He couldn’t see me. He couldn’t find out that I was Aiden’s mother.

Aiden looked like him. Or perhaps I was just imagining things because they seemed like identical copies of each other. But I knew my son didn’t look like me. I could hear my heartbeat pounding so hard that it felt like it was about to burst out of my chest.

Why was he here?

I thought I was only going to meet his representatives for today’s meeting.

I peeked again, carefully holding my breath so I wouldn’t make a sound.

Gideon sat down beside my son in the small space near the boardroom table. The ruthless and feared mafia boss was now holding a toy robot inside my company’s boardroom. His long fingers gently held the little toy as he examined it.

I swallowed hard.

It was terribly inappropriate to think something stupid while looking at his fingers.

“Look, buddy,” Gideon’s deep, baritone voice said. “The gear just popped out. See this small pin? It just needs to go back inside.”

Aiden stared at him, wiping the tears from his face with his little hands.

“Can you fix it, Mister?”

He smiled, and my jaw dropped.

That smile could make a thousand angels sing. Who would ever suspect that this man was a demon?

“I can fix anything,” Gideon replied.

I heard a faint clicking sound as the plastic piece returned to its proper position.

“There. It moves now.”

“Wow! Thank you!” my son exclaimed, his face filled with excitement as he raised the toy.

Gideon smiled again. It was a small, rare smile that I had never seen in any newspaper photograph, but it was immediately replaced by a scrutinizing look as he stared at Aiden’s face. It seemed as though he was searching for something familiar in the child’s eyes and facial features.

Aiden’s gray eyes and black hair were an exact copy of his father’s.

I felt my knees trembling.

Gideon placed his hand on Aiden’s shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be wandering around an office alone, little boss. Where is your mother?”

“She’s here. Grandpa Carding is in the car. I ran because I wanted to find Mommy to fix this,” Aiden answered.

I silently prayed that he wouldn’t mention me.

I had a feeling Gideon was beginning to notice the similarities between himself and my son.

Gideon stared more intently at Aiden. My heartbeat sounded like the ticking of a time bomb.

“Your mommy…” Gideon said seriously, his voice filled with curiosity and authority. “Who is your mommy, kiddo?”

I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut behind the wall. My fingers tightened around the tablet I was holding.

One wrong answer from my son, and every secret I had spent six years protecting would be completely destroyed right in front of the mafia boss.

“My mommy? Her name is—”