Chapter 4

Luca’s fever kept climbing.

He curled against me, his forehead burning while his cold fingers clutched my sleeve.

“Mommy, am I going to die?”

Terror closed around my chest, but I forced it down. Luca had no one else, and I could not fall apart in front of him.

I held him tighter and kept my voice steady.

“No. I’m getting you out.”

The chapel had no signal, and the door was locked from outside. No one answered. I dragged a brass candlestick from the altar and smashed the narrow glass panel in the side door. Glass cut my wrist, but I reached through, found the latch, and unlocked it.

Luca could no longer walk.

I carried him through the servants’ corridor on the east side of the estate. Most of the staff had gone to the security compound. The guards who remained saw the blood on my sleeve and Luca’s flushed face, then stepped aside.

Marco was waiting by the service gate.

He had worked for me for years and was the only person on the estate who knew I planned to leave. The moment he saw Luca, he opened the rear door.

“Nearest private emergency clinic.”

He drove away before I finished fastening Luca’s seat belt.

Dawn had barely broken when we reached the clinic. Luca’s breathing had grown fast and shallow. I held his cold hand and kept saying his name until the doctors took him from me.

Medication and fluids slowly brought the fever down. After examining him, the doctor remained serious.

“A few more hours could have caused a seizure. He started running a fever last night. Why was he not brought in sooner?”

I had no answer that would make sense outside the Vitale estate.

Luca woke while a nurse adjusted the IV line. His eyes moved around the room before settling on me.

“Did Daddy come?”

Before I could answer, several black cars stopped outside. The clinic stood near the Vitale security compound, and the demonstration had just ended.

Luca tried to sit up.

“Is that Daddy?”

I supported him and followed his gaze through the window.

Dante stood beside one of the cars with Lucia and Nico. Nico wore a new training jacket, and a fresh range badge gleamed on his chest.

“Uncle Dante, can I come again next time?”

Dante bent down and straightened the badge himself.

“Of course. Whenever you want to come, I’ll bring you.”

Nico hugged his neck. Dante steadied him and reminded him not to knock the badge loose.

Luca watched without crying.

“He told me the range wasn’t a place for birthday games. He said I had to learn discipline first.”

I reached to block his view, but he caught my hand and kept looking outside.

Dante had never believed the training area was unsuitable for children. Those rules had only existed when Luca asked.

Luca pulled the birthday card from his pocket. The gold target had faded, and the word Daddy had been smudged by his grip.

He studied it, then placed it in the trash beside the bed.

“I don’t want the card anymore.”

After a pause, he leaned against me.

“I don’t want Daddy either.”

I kissed his hair and did not ask him to take the words back.

Marco finished the discharge paperwork, and we left through the rear entrance. As our car passed the compound road, Dante turned toward the tinted window as if he had sensed something.

Luca pressed closer to me.

A training blast sounded in the distance. Nico startled and grabbed Dante’s arm.

“Uncle Dante, I’m scared.”

Dante looked away from our car and drew Nico close.

“Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Lucia checked the time.

“It’s getting late. She and Luca are still in the chapel.”

Dante frowned.

“She loses control whenever Luca is involved. Let her calm down. Have someone pick up a cake before we go back. I’ll speak to them tonight.”

He still believed a cake, a few comforting words, and another promise would keep us there.

I raised the privacy screen.

Marco drove straight to the private airport. Our passports, luggage, and medical records were waiting in the hangar. The family doctor from Sicily was already aboard.

Luca’s fever had eased, but he stayed wrapped in a blanket against my chest.

Before boarding, he looked back at New York.

“Mommy, are we coming back?”

I held his hand.

“No.”

He nodded and buried his face against my shoulder.

The cabin door closed. The plane moved onto the runway and rose into the morning light.

The seven day countdown was over.

I held Luca and did not look back.