Chapter 2 - The Room Nobody Was Supposed To Enter
Elena barely slept that night.
She sat beside Mia's borrowed crib in the small staff apartment, watching her daughter breathe.
Three months earlier, she had believed hiding Mia in the penthouse laundry room was temporary.
She had been wrong.
The first night had been desperate.
The second had been frightening.
By the third week, Elena had realized somebody was watching.
She had never told Alessandro because she didn't know whom she could trust.
Now she had no choice.
The next morning, Elena entered the penthouse with Mia in the blue baby travel bag Alessandro had ordered for her.
She expected questions.
Instead, Alessandro was standing by the windows, holding a cup of coffee.
His expression softened when Mia saw him.
The baby immediately reached toward him.
Alessandro almost smiled.
“She's decided I belong to her.”
Elena managed a nervous breath.
“She likes people who don't yell.”
His eyebrow lifted.
“That explains why she tolerates you.”
It was the first almost-normal exchange they had ever had.
Then Alessandro's expression changed.
He placed the cup down.
“Tell me.”
Elena looked toward the hallway.
“I didn't hide her because I was ashamed of her.”
“I know.”
“I hid her because someone kept asking questions.”
Alessandro went still.
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What questions?”
“Whether I had a child. Where she stayed. Who watched her when I worked.”
Alessandro's eyes narrowed.
“Who asked?”
“A man.”
“Describe him.”
Elena hesitated.
“Dark coat. Gray hair at the temples. He came twice pretending to deliver supplies.”
Alessandro immediately reached for his phone.
“What was he carrying?”
“Laundry detergent.”
Alessandro stopped.
The penthouse had its own supply contract.
No outside delivery man should have been entering the private floors.
He called security.
Five minutes later, the head of household security arrived.
Alessandro asked for the delivery records.
There were none.
That was the first problem.
The second came when security checked the laundry room.
Behind one of the machines, they found a small blue thread caught on a metal edge.
Elena recognized it.
It came from Mia's travel bag.
Someone had touched it.
Alessandro looked at Elena.
“You said nobody knew she was here.”
“I thought nobody did.”
His phone vibrated.
A photograph had just been sent to him.
It showed the laundry room doorway.
Taken from inside the penthouse.
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And in the corner of the image was Mia's blue travel bag.
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