chapter 6
1384 Words
It's been days since the incident with Alba calling the woman her mother.
I still can't wrap my head around how fast she could accept a total stranger and call her mummy like it was the most natural thing in the world, like she has been here all along, like she belonged.
Alba hadn't spoken in three years.
Three years of silence.
Therapist, doctor, child specialist.
Mention it.
I have tried everything to know the reason behind her silence.
Name it-I tried it.
Nothing worked.
Nothing.
And then this woman appears out of nowhere, in the middle of the storm, bleeding and begging for help in front of my car… and suddenly my daughter can talk, like she has never gone silent.
I leaned back in my chair, fingers absently tapping slowly against the mahogany desk. The office felt quiet.
Too quiet for the thought going on in my head.
My patience was wearing thin.
I sat up the moment Luca stepped into the office.
“Any news?”. I asked.
Luca closed the door behind him before speaking.
“I looked into her. Like you asked”.
I waited.
Luca rarely heasitated. Which means whatever he found wasn't good news.
“Well?”.
“All we found is a birth certificate”.
My brows pulled together
“Just that?”.
“Name;Tanya McLean. born April 2000 in Boston. Mother listed as Celine McLean”.
Silence filled the room.
“Nothing else,” Luca continued. “No high school records. No home address. No work history. Nothing.”
I leaned forward. Trying really hard not to throw a punch in his direction.
“So, what you are telling me right now is that the woman staying under my roof. Has no history, no trail. No records”.
Luca watched me. While putting a good amount of distance between us.
“People don't just appear like that,Enzo.” he said quietly.
I knew that.
In my world, when someone doesn't have any records like this.
It meant. They where hiding from someone.
Or someone had erased them.
Neither seats well with me. Not when my daughter is involved.
I leaned back in my chair again, finger steepling beneath my chin as I thought
“Run it again”. I said.
Luca frowned.”we already ran every database we_”
“Run it again”. I repeated calmly.
My tone gave no room for argument.
Luca nodded.
“Alright”.
Tanya's pov
“We are having French toast and waffles for breakfast”.
Alba happily informed me the moment I stepped out of the bathroom.
I stopped by the door, towel in hand and another around my chest.
The child had refused to leave my side since declaring me her mother.
She was so insistent about it too, curling up beside me in bed, following me around the room, even waiting for me in front of the bathroom like a little guard.
Every time someone tries to take her away she cries and screamed like the world was ending.
Now she sat cross-legged on the bed, her dark hair slightly messy from sleep.
She looks completely comfortable.
Like she belongs with me.
Was that even possible.
I shook my head there was no need overthinking this again.
“French toast and waffles”. I repeated, raising a brow.
She nods so enthusiastically that I thought her head might fall off.
“And strawberries”. She added proudly.” Chef Mario makes the best waffles ever”.
A smile tugged at the corner of my mouth.“Really now, I bet he does”.
Alba jumped of the bed and ran towards me. She grabbed my hand and immediately starts pulling me towards the door.
“Let's go! Daddy is going to finish them before we get there!”.
Before I could protest, she pulled the door open and we both collided into a wall.
A wall that smelt so good and warm.
“Daddy!”.
Alba’s excitement echoed in the hallway
I looked up and straight into a pair of storm- grey eyes the same as Alba’s.
Enzo Conti stood in the doorway like he had been carved there. Tall. Broad shoulders filling the frame. Dark shirt stretched over muscle, sleeves pushed to his elbows, revealing the tattoos that crawled along his forearms.
This close he looked intimidating and felt intimidating too.
How could one have such eyes and never smile with them.
And be dangerous.
The kind of dangerous mama would warn you to stay away from.
For a moment neither one of us moved.
Alba still clung to my hand, practically bouncing with excitement.
Daddy!” she repeated happily. “We are going to breakfast before you eat everything.”
His gaze flickered down briefly to where her fingers were wrapped so tightly around mine.
Then it returned to my face.
Slow.
Assessing.
Like he was studying something he couldn’t quite understand.
My skin prickled under the intensity of it.
“Is that so?” he said calmly.
His voice was low. Smooth. Controlled.
Watchful.
Alba nodded enthusiastically.
“Yes! Chef Mario made waffles and French toast. And strawberries.” She gasped dramatically. “And mummy hasn’t eaten yet.”
There that word was again.
Mummy
The word slipped out of her mouth so easily it made my chest tighten.
Enzo’s eyes sharpen slightly.
Not angry.
Not surprised.
Just observant.
I cleared my throat to get his attention.
“I was just going to get dressed,” I said, suddenly aware of the towel wrapped around my chest.
His gaze dropped.
Just for a second.
But it was enough to make heat crawl up my neck.
Then his eyes returned to mine.
“But I don't actually have any clothes”. I added totally embarrassed.
Enzo's gaze didn't change.
Not surprised.
Not sympathy.
“ I can fix that”. Alba said before running off down the hallway
Silence settled between us the moment she disappeared down the hall.
I kept my eyes anywhere but on him. The polished floor. The wall beside his shoulder. Even the doorknob suddenly looked interesting.
Anywhere but at the man standing in front of me.
But his eyes never waver. I could feel them on me. Burning holes through my skin and into my soul.
I felt like I was running a fever.
My fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the towel wrapped around my chest.
“Your daughter,” I said finally, breaking the silence, “is very determined.”
Enzo didn’t answer right away.
When he did, his voice was calm.
“She gets that from me.”
I nodded. Not knowing what else to say.
“How is your leg feeling?”.
Something about the way he asked the question made my stomach twist.
I glanced up before I could stop myself.
Big mistake.
He was still watching me.
Those storm-grey eyes moved slowly over my face like he was trying to read something hidden beneath my skin.
“ I noticed you’re standing,” he said after a moment.
I blinked.
“I feel better”.
Although I still felt sore. But I couldn't tell him that.
Was he planning on kicking me out.
“You said you don’t have clothes.”
It wasn't a question
“No”.
A moment passed.
Then he said quietly,
“We’ll fix that.”
Before I could respond, Alba’s voice rang out.
‘I found something in daddy's room!”.
She came running back toward us, clutching a bundle of fabric in her arms.
The moment she got to us she stopped.
Her small frame went very still.
Then she whispered something so softly I almost didn’t hear it.
“…Daddy?”
Enzo’s body went rigid.
Completely still.
Because Alba wasn’t looking at him or me the way a child looks at their parents.
She was staring at us like she had just remembered something.
Something that terrified her.
Her fingers tightened around the clothes she was holding.
And then she said words that made the air in the hallway turn ice cold.
“Bad man coming.”
“ He took mummy”.
- Writer
