Chapter 4: THE PRESENT

LORENZO’S P.O.V. I managed to avoid my father and Leonardo for the better part of the day by remaining in my office. My day had taken such an abrupt turn that I didn’t know what to do with myself. The reality was daunting and it posed so many questions. By evening, there wasn’t much I could do and my father came storming into my office. He walked in looking calm and collected but I had known the man long enough to know that when he clasped his hands in front of him or clenched his jaw, he was pissed. I pretended like I didn’t know what he wanted to talk about and I watched as he took the seat opposite me. He stared at me waiting for me to break the silence but I had no intention of doing so. He realized that soon enough because he cleared his throat. “What are you thinking, Lorenzo?” he chided. “How could you bring a random child into the house? Do you not realize what kind of situation we are in right now with the Mexicans and the Russians? The child could be a spy.” “If you have such little faith in my men and my empire that you think it can be overthrown by a child who isn’t even nine years old then you are more than welcome to leave, father.” He bristled at the insult. “I am only trying to look out for you. This nonsense about him being your child makes no sense.” “If he is my child then he is the heir to all of this,” I reminded my father who sighed. “Let us find out if he is your child before we discuss the mechanics of him being your heir.” “He has proof from Isabella.” I saw father roll his eyes at the mention of her name. He never liked her. Maybe it was the fact that she was a common casino girl or the fact that he had wanted me to marry the daughter of his friend, I never cared enough to find out. He was always rude to her but I never needed to step in because Isabella could hold her own. She may have been a small thing but she was extremely feisty. “Even if the child belongs to that girl, that does not mean that you should keep him. She left you, Lorenzo, that bitch should be dead to you.” My jaw clenched at the last part and I sat up straight. “Whether you like it or not, father, Isabella is still my wife and I have a duty to my child. If you have anything else to say then I suggest you air your grievances elsewhere.” “How are you even sure that the child is yours?” “It is getting late, father, you should return home,” it was a clear dismissal. It wasn’t something I did with my father often and I could tell that it annoyed him to no end but he knew better than to argue with me. “As you wish, Lorenzo. When all of this blows up, don’t say that I didn’t warn you.” He stood up and left my office making sure to slam the door behind him. I rested my head in my palms in frustration. Isabella wasn’t here and yet she was still fucking up my life in more ways than one. Why couldn’t she have just dropped him off herself? What did I do to her that was so heinous that she ran away in the middle of the night? When she left, I was filled with so many questions that only she could answer but seeing as she wasn’t here, I decided to go to the next best thing- Leonardo. He was seated on the bed when I walked into the room. There was an empty plate of food next to him and I mentally applauded whoever thought to give him food. How did Isabella expect me to be able to take care of a child? He smiled when he saw me and it set me on edge. I was used to people being scared of me- even children. It felt weird to have one excited at my presence. I slowly made my way over to him and sat at the edge of the bed. He was either oblivious to my need for space or he didn’t care because he closed the distance between us and sat directly next to me. I wasn’t used to people being that close to me and it took everything for me not to move to the side. “I need to know a few things, Leonardo-” “You can call me Leo,” he cut me off. “Mum calls me Leo, she says Leonardo is a lot of words.” I exhaled deeply before continuing. “Leo, I need to know why your mother sent you now. Do you know where you were before now or who was with you?” He shook his head. “We never left the house until the day I left. Mum always said that it wasn’t safe.” This was going to prove harder than I thought. How was it possible that he never left the house in his life? “How old are you?” “Seven.” “What happened the day you left?” he shrugged and it seemed like he didn’t want to remember the day. If I was a better person, I would have dropped the subject but I needed to know. “I need an answer, Leo.” “Mum just told me I needed to go with a friend of hers. He took me into the car and the next thing I knew, we were here. The drive was long but he never stopped. He said I needed to get to you.” As he spoke, I couldn’t help but be furious with Isabella. Only she would make finding her so difficult. I thanked Leo and stood up to leave when he stopped me. The last thing I wanted was father-son bonding time but I turned to him. He held out a hand to signify that I should wait and he rushed over to his bag. It was seated on the bed and I had to breathe through my nose so I wouldn’t be angry that the dirty, mud-streaked monstrosity was sitting on expensive sheets. He rummaged through the bag until he produced an envelope. He stretched it out to me and I gingerly took it. I realized that there was no name on it as I turned it over in my hands. “What is this?” I asked finally. “My mum asked me to give it to you,” he told me. “She said that if you had questions then you should read it.”