บททั้งหมดของ The Don’s Mysterious Nanny : บทที่ 31 - บทที่ 40

I couldn't get her words out of my head.*If you knew who I was—*What the hell did that mean?I'd left the house at dawn, unable to stand being in the same space as her closed door.Unable to face the possibility that she might leave.Marco was waiting for me at the construction site, coffee in hand and a knowing look on his face."Rough night?""Don't start.""I'm just saying, you look like shit.""Thanks for the pep talk."He shrugged, handing me the coffee. "Want to talk about it?""No.""It's about the nanny, isn't it?"I shot him a look that could have killed."Right. None of my business."We walked through the burnt warehouse, surveying the damage. The renovation was going to take months.I didn't have months.But at least it was something to focus on. Something that didn't involve trying to figure out what Vanessa was hiding."We need to reinforce the entire south wall," the contractor was saying. "The fire damage went deeper than we thought."I nodded, pretending to listen.B

I drove home in a daze.Everything I thought I knew was a lie.Isabella was alive.Vanessa was a spy.Salvatore had tried to kill my wife.The woman I was falling in love with was betraying me.By the time I reached the house, rage had replaced shock.I parked in the driveway and sat there for a moment, trying to compose myself.Mrs. Ciro would be gone by now. It would just be Vanessa and Aria.Vanessa the spy.Vanessa the liar.Vanessa the woman who'd made me believe in love again.I got out of the car and walked to the front door.My hands were steady now. My mind is clear.I knew what I had to do.---The house was quiet when I entered.I could hear Aria's laughter coming from the living room.My daughter's voice, bright and happy.Innocent."Mama, up!"Mama.The word used to make me smile.Now it made me sick.I walked to the living room doorway and stopped.Vanessa was on the floor, building blocks with Aria.She looked up when she saw me, and her face lit up."You're home early.

The silence hit me the moment I opened my eyes.No soft humming from down the hall. No gentle footsteps on the hardwood floors. No warm laugh floating up from the kitchen.Just emptiness.I lay there momentarily, staring at the ceiling, trying to convince myself this was better. That having Vanessa—Agent Romano out of my house, out of my life, was the right choice.But the silence felt wrong.Like something vital had been ripped away.I rolled out of bed and grabbed my phone from the nightstand. Six-thirty in the morning. Aria would be waking up soon, and for the first time in three months, I'd get her ready for the day.The way it used to be.The way it should be.So why did it feel like I was missing a limb?I pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, running my hands through my hair as I walked down the hallway. Each step felt heavier than the last, like I was walking through quicksand.Aria's door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open and immediately saw her standing in her crib, her

The federal building looked like a tomb in the gray morning light.I sat in my car for ten minutes, staring at the entrance, trying to work up the courage to walk inside.Agent Sullivan was waiting for me in Conference Room B. The same room where this whole nightmare had started eighteen months ago.The same room where I'd agreed to become someone else.To become Vanessa Rodriguez, the naive nanny who'd fallen in love with her target.I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. Dark circles under my eyes. Hollow cheeks. I looked like I'd been living on coffee and regret for the past week.Which I had.My phone buzzed. A text from Sullivan: *Where are you?*I turned off the engine and forced myself to move.---Conference Room B was exactly as I remembered it—gray walls, fluorescent lighting, and a table that had seen too many broken dreams.Sullivan was already there, sitting at the head of the table with a stack of files in front of him. He looked up when I entered, his expressio

Aria's laughter echoed through the penthouse, but it felt hollow to me.She was sitting on the living room floor with Isabella, stacking colorful blocks into a tower that would inevitably fall. Isabella's voice was soft and musical as she counted each block, trying to teach Aria numbers she was still too young to understand."One, two, three," Isabella said patiently. "Can you say three, sweetheart?"Aria babbled something vaguely like the number, and Isabella's face lit up like she'd just solved world hunger.I watched from the doorway, coffee cup in hand, feeling like an outsider in my own home.This should be perfect. This should be everything I'd dreamed of during those dark months when I thought Isabella was dead.My wife. My daughter. My family.So why did it feel like I was watching someone else's life?"Alessandro?" Isabella looked up at me, her smile bright. "Come sit with us."I forced myself to move, settling onto the couch behind them. Close enough to be part of the scene,