Chapter 1 - WHAT BABY?
“Mr. Romano... your wife never told you?”
Adrian Romano stood motionless beside the enormous windows of his Chicago office.
His attorney, Charles Whitaker, watched him with growing concern.
On the phone, Lauren Mitchell waited for an answer.
Adrian was forty-one years old.
He controlled businesses worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Men who carried weapons lowered their voices when he entered a room. His enemies called him the King of the South Side.
But two words had just stripped him of every illusion of control.
What baby?
“Explain,” he said.
Lauren hesitated.
“Mr. Romano, my client is requesting sole legal and physical custody of her child. She is also asking that all initial communication concerning the child take place through counsel.”
Adrian gripped the edge of his desk.
“How old?”
Charles glanced at him.
Lauren answered carefully.
“Seven months.”
Adrian stopped breathing.
Seven months.
He and Elena had been married for eight years.
He had never known she was pregnant.
Never seen a crib.
Never heard a baby cry in their mansion.
Never noticed a nursery being prepared.
“That's impossible.”
Lauren's voice remained steady.
“The child's name is Sofia Elena Romano. Her birth certificate identifies you as the father.”
Adrian's eyes closed.
Sofia.
A daughter.
He had a daughter.
“Where is she?”
“Safe with her mother.”
“I want to see her.”
“That's a matter we can discuss through the appropriate legal process.”
Adrian's voice hardened.
“She's my child.”
“And Elena has asked that you respect her privacy while arrangements are made.”
The call ended shortly afterward.
Adrian stood in silence.
Then he looked at Charles.
“Find out why I didn't know.”
Charles removed his glasses.
“Adrian, before you start investigating your wife, you should ask yourself a different question.”
“What?”
“How could a woman live in your house, carry your child, give birth, and raise that child for seven months without you noticing?”
Adrian opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Because he already knew the answer.
He hadn't been looking.
For almost a year, he'd spent most nights away from home.
Bianca DeLuca had occupied his time, his attention, and eventually the part of his life that once belonged to Elena.
Meanwhile, Elena had become a quiet presence at the edge of his world.
A woman who arranged his medication.
Remembered his appointments.
And waited for a husband who rarely came home.
Adrian looked toward his office door.
“Get my car.”
Charles shook his head.
“Don't go to the mansion and demand answers.”
Adrian turned.
“She's my wife.”
“Not for much longer. And she's a mother protecting a baby.”
The words struck him.
Adrian looked down at his wedding ring.
Then whispered, “My daughter.”
May you like
For the first time in his life, the most feared man in Chicago understood that he could lose something he hadn't even known he possessed.
And he had no idea that the truth behind Elena's silence was far more dangerous than neglect.
