Chapter 2 - THE VIPER IN THE NURSERYBy sunrise, the impossible had happened.
Little Leo Rossi had consumed three ounces of wet-nurse milk, retained every drop, and fallen into a deep, natural sleep. The red warning lights on the heart monitor were dark. For the first time in two months, the third floor of the Rossi estate was filled not with the sound of dying gasps, but with the quiet, rhythmic breathing of a thriving child.
Downstairs in the grand kitchen, the atmosphere was suffocating.
Hunter sat at the long stainless-steel island, wrapped in a heavy silk robe Lorenzo had ordered his staff to bring her. She looked out of place among the copper pots and Italian marble, still wearing her scuffed work shoes.
Dr. Julian Halloran stormed into the kitchen, his face red with a mixture of embarrassment and suppressed fury. He was followed by two private nurses who had been on duty the previous night.
"This is an outrage! An absolute violation of medical protocol!" Halloran shouted, slamming a leather clipboard onto the counter. "You allowed an unscreened, unsterilized domestic worker to breastfeed the heir to the Rossi estate? Do you have any idea what pathogens, what bacteria she could have introduced into that child's fragile immune system?"
Hunter didn't flinch. She picked up a porcelain cup of black coffee and took a slow sip. "The only thing I introduced to him was life, Doctor. Something your three-thousand-dollar-a-day IV lines failed to do."
"You arrogant little trash," Halloran snarled, stepping into her space. "You think because you produced a few drops of milk you're indispensable? I am the chief of pediatric medicine at St. Jude’s! I will have you arrested for practicing medicine without a license!"
"He won't be arresting anyone," a smooth, ice-cold voice echoed from the doorway.
Lorenzo entered the kitchen. He had changed into a crisp white shirt and dark trousers, though he had not shaved. His dark eyes locked onto Dr. Halloran with lethal intensity.
"Mr. Rossi," Halloran stammered, his posture immediately collapsing into submission. "I am simply thinking of the boy's safety. We don't know this woman's medical history. She could be carrying—"
"She saved my son while you were prepping me to buy his tiny coffin," Lorenzo said smoothly, walking up to the doctor. He stood six-foot-three, towering over the physician. "You told me forty-eight hours until organ failure. She fixed him in forty-eight minutes."
"It... it could be a temporary spike in glucose!" Halloran stammered, sweat breaking out on his forehead. "A fluke!"
"Gianni," Lorenzo said casually.
Gianni stepped out from the pantry shadows. "Yes, Boss?"
"Dr. Halloran’s services are no longer required. Pay him his full fee for the month. Then escort him to his car. Make sure he understands that if a single word about what happened in this house leaves his lips, his medical license will be the least of his concerns. His tongue will be the first thing to go."
Halloran turned pale, grabbed his clipboard, and practically ran from the kitchen, flanked by Gianni.
Lorenzo turned his attention to Hunter. He pulled out a barstool across from her and sat down.
"You're not a maid anymore, Hunter," Lorenzo said calmly. "Starting today, you are Leo’s wet nurse and personal guardian. You will live on the third floor, in the suite connected to the nursery. You will have a personal budget, five security guards assigned to your shadow, and whatever luxury you desire."
"I told you, I don't want luxury," Hunter replied quietly. "I just want my daughter's murderer brought to justice."
Lorenzo reached into his inner jacket pocket and pulled out a manila envelope. He slid it across the island toward her.
Hunter opened it with trembling fingers. Inside were high-resolution photographs of Tommy Vance. He was sitting in a dingy sports bar in Queens, drinking a beer, laughing with two men Hunter recognized as low-level enforcers for the Moretti syndicate.
"Tommy Vance thinks he’s safe because he's hiding under the umbrella of the Moretti remnant," Lorenzo explained, his voice dipping into a dangerous whisper. "He thinks because he owes them twenty grand, they own him. He doesn't know that I’ve bought the building he’s sitting in. He doesn't know that his landlord, his bartender, and his loan shark now answer to me."
Hunter stared at the photograph of the man who had destroyed her life. A cold, dark satisfaction settled into her chest. "What are you going to do to him?"
"Whatever you want," Lorenzo said simply. "You saved my legacy. In return, I will give you his life. But first, we have a bigger problem."
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"What problem?"
Lorenzo leaned closer. "My wife’s death wasn't an accident, Hunter. And the Morettis didn't plant that bomb alone. Someone inside this house gave them the security codes to our car. Someone in this estate wants the Rossi bloodline extinct. And last night, by saving Leo, you put a target directly on your own back."
