Chapter 3 - THE BOTTLES THAT LIED
Renato Rossi entered Lorenzo's office at seven fifteen in the morning carrying a silver-headed cane he didn't need.
He was sixty-two.
Gray at the temples.
Perfect navy suit.
Soft voice.
If I had passed him on a train, I would have assumed he was an attorney or retired professor.
Not a man people lowered their voices around.
He looked at me first.
Not surprised.
Interested.
Then he looked at Lorenzo.
"I was told there was an emergency."
Lorenzo remained behind his desk.
"Where was your maintenance tablet at two this morning?"
Renato lifted one eyebrow.
"Good morning to you too."
"Answer."
"In my sitting room, presumably."
"Presumably?"
"I don't inventory electronics before bed."
"Someone used it to lock Leo's nursery."
Renato's face changed.
Not much.
"Is Leo safe?"
"Answer my question."
"I just did."
"Who has access?"
"Staff. Your security people. Maintenance."
"Password?"
Renato smiled without humor.
"You're asking me whether I locked your child in a nursery?"
"I'm asking who could use your tablet."
"You seem to have already decided the answer you prefer."
Lorenzo stood.
The office suddenly felt too small.
"Don't play with me."
Renato's gaze hardened.
"You think because you're angry, you have the luxury of becoming stupid?"
Lorenzo stepped forward.
I had the strange sensation of watching two versions of the same man separated by twenty-five years.
One older.
One younger.
Both accustomed to command.
Renato turned toward me.
"And who is this?"
"You know who she is."
Do you?
The question filled the room.
Renato looked directly into my eyes.
"Maya Reed."
I watched him carefully.
Nothing.
No slip.
No recognition.
Then he smiled politely.
"Unless that is no longer the name we're using."
My heart stopped.
Lorenzo's hand hit the desk.
"Enough."
Renato looked at him.
"Your staff talks."
"Nobody knew."
"Apparently somebody did."
The door opened before Lorenzo could answer.
Dr. Hart entered with a folder.
She stopped when she saw Renato.
"Good. Saves me repeating myself later."
Renato gave her a cool nod.
"Doctor."
Hart ignored him.
She placed the folder in front of Lorenzo.
"I reran the tests."
Lorenzo opened it.
"Tell me."
"Leo's swallowing reflex is normal. His gastrointestinal function is normal for his age. He has moderate dehydration, caloric deficiency and low muscle mass from prolonged underfeeding."
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.
"The vomiting?"
"I found no evidence supporting chronic severe vomiting."
"What about the reports?"
"That's exactly the problem."
She took out several feeding charts.
"I compared the medical charts with the supply inventory."
She put two pages side by side.
"According to these records, Leo consumed approximately twenty-six ounces per day last week."
"Yes."
"He didn't."
"How do you know?"
"Because the amount of formula removed from inventory doesn't match the amount supposedly prepared."
Renato leaned forward.
"Could there have been wastage?"
"Yes."
Hart looked at him.
"Nearly fifty percent every day?"
Renato said nothing.
Hart continued.
"Somebody recorded feedings that didn't happen."
My stomach twisted.
Lorenzo looked toward me.
"What about the sedative?"
"It metabolizes quickly. What remains in his blood suggests repeated exposure."
"How?"
"Liquid medication would be easiest."
"Mixed into bottles?"
"Possibly."
"How long?"
"Days. Maybe weeks."
Silence.
Leo had been dying in a mansion filled with people whose entire purpose was to protect him.
And someone had done it slowly enough that everyone blamed his body.
Dr. Hart took out another report.
"I also tested residue from three bottles collected from the nursery refrigerator."
Lorenzo stared at her.
"All three?"
"Two contained extremely diluted formula."
"How diluted?"
"Less than half the expected calorie concentration."
I closed my eyes.
Water.
They had been filling his stomach with water.
Enough to quiet him.
Not enough to nourish him.
Lorenzo said nothing.
Dr. Hart looked uncomfortable.
"The third contained traces of the sedative."
Renato slowly sat down.
"This is monstrous."
Lorenzo looked at him.
"Yes."
The word carried something sharp beneath it.
Renato seemed to hear it.
"You cannot seriously think—"
"I didn't say what I think."
"No. You're doing something more insulting. You're letting everyone else imagine it."
Dr. Hart folded her arms.
"I'm not imagining laboratory results."
Renato ignored her.
"Lorenzo, I loved Elena."
His voice softened.
"And I love that child."
"Then help me."
"I am trying."
"Who orders Leo's medical supplies?"
"Bellini's office."
"Who approves vendors?"
"My administrative team."
"Which vendor?"
Renato hesitated.
"Aster."
My breath caught.
He noticed.
Lorenzo did too.
Renato looked at me.
"What?"
"Her former boyfriend worked for Aster."
For the first time, Renato looked genuinely surprised.
Or he was very good.
"Interesting."
"That's your reaction?"
"What would you prefer? Shock? Outrage?"
"I'd prefer answers."
Renato tapped the cane against the carpet once.
"Then speak to Bellini."
"We will."
Renato stood.
"Good."
He walked toward the door.
Lorenzo stopped him.
"Uncle."
Renato turned.
"Until this is resolved, you don't leave the property."
The older man's expression became almost amused.
"Are you confining me?"
"I'm protecting my son."
"From me?"
"From everyone."
Renato looked at me again.
Then at Lorenzo.
"Be careful who you trust when you're frightened."
Lorenzo's eyes narrowed.
Renato opened the door.
Before leaving, he said quietly:
"Grief makes people desperate to replace what they've lost."
His gaze moved to me.
Then he left.
I stood frozen.
Lorenzo walked around the desk.
"Ignore him."
"He thinks I did it."
"He wants me to think you did."
"Do you?"
Lorenzo stopped.
I forced myself to hold his gaze.
"If you think I'm some grieving woman who walked into that nursery because I wanted to steal your child—"
"I watched Leo eat."
"That doesn't answer me."
"No."
His voice was calm.
"I don't think you hurt him."
"Why?"
"Because whoever did this wanted him weak."
He looked toward the door.
"You made him stronger."
That should have comforted me.
It didn't.
Dr. Hart cleared her throat.
"Leo needs a feeding plan."
Lorenzo turned.
"Whatever he needs."
"I want controlled feeds every two to three hours. Everything prepared in front of someone we trust. No medication unless I approve it."
"Done."
"And for the next forty-eight hours, breast milk if possible."
Both of them looked at me.
My chest tightened.
"Camille," Lorenzo said.
She held up a hand.
"I know."
"No pressure."
"I know."
I stared out the window.
Somewhere beyond the trees was the cemetery where Lily had been buried.
I had not visited since the funeral.
I couldn't.
Every time I imagined standing over that small grave, something inside me refused.
"I'll do it."
Lorenzo frowned.
"You don't have to."
"I know."
"Then why?"
I looked at him.
"Because he needs to eat."
It was the simplest answer.
And maybe the only one I could survive.
For the next twelve hours, Leo ate.
Not perfectly.
Not greedily.
But steadily.
Two ounces.
Sleep.
Two more.
Then three.
His crying became stronger.
His eyes stayed open longer.
The change was small.
But inside the Rossi mansion, it felt miraculous.
At four in the afternoon, I sat in the guest suite with Leo sleeping against my shoulder.
Lorenzo stood near the fireplace answering calls.
He had not slept.
Neither had I.
A knock sounded.
Nico DeLuca, head of estate security, entered.
He carried a tablet.
"We traced the disabled hallway cameras."
Lorenzo looked up.
"And?"
"Command originated from a maintenance panel."
"Renato's?"
"No."
Lorenzo went still.
"Which?"
"The service corridor downstairs."
"Who accessed it?"
Nico put the tablet on the table.
"That's the problem."
He showed us an employee list.
A badge had opened the service corridor at 1:58 a.m.
Four minutes before I entered the nursery.
My photograph appeared beside the record.
MAYA REED.
I stared at it.
"That's impossible."
Lorenzo's eyes lifted to mine.
"I was folding towels."
Nico nodded.
"We checked."
"Then how—"
"Your badge was cloned."
I stopped breathing.
Nico continued.
"Whoever did it wanted the system to show you near the controls."
The room felt colder.
Lorenzo looked at me.
Someone had not merely known my real name.
They had prepared evidence against me.
"There's more," Nico said.
He swiped to another screen.
"Employment agency that placed Maya here?"
"Yes?"
"It doesn't exist anymore."
"What?"
"The company shut down three days after she started."
My mouth went dry.
Nico looked at me.
"Phone disconnected. Website gone. Office lease terminated."
Lorenzo's expression became dark.
"Who owned it?"
"Shell company."
"Find the owner."
"We're working on it."
I stood so quickly Leo stirred.
Lorenzo moved toward me.
"What?"
"I need to leave."
"No."
"I was brought here."
"We don't know that."
"Someone created evidence using my badge. Somebody knew my real name. Travis worked for the company supplying your son's food."
My voice rose.
"They put me here."
Leo began to fuss.
I lowered my voice.
"They put me next to him."
Lorenzo stared at me.
The same conclusion had reached him.
Why would someone place a grieving mother who was still lactating inside a house with a starving infant?
The answer was ugly.
Because if Leo died after I was caught holding him—
everyone would know whom to blame.
The desperate maid.
The mother who lost her child.
The woman found nursing another woman's baby in the middle of the night.
Lorenzo looked at Nico.
"Find every document related to her hiring."
"Already started."
"And locate Travis Kane."
Maya's ex.
The man who had taken Lily from me.
Nico nodded.
"Alive?" he asked.
I looked at Lorenzo.
His face was unreadable.
Then he looked at me.
"Alive."
A pause.
May you like
"For now."
---
