Chapter 5: A Country Coming Back After War
Matteo began changing, too. At first, he only appeared in passing—a dark silhouette lingering in the doorway of the playroom after a long day. But soon, the kingpin of New York began coming home earlier.
One evening, Cameron looked up to find Matteo in his shirtsleeves, sitting cross-legged on the plush rug. Two armed guards stood awkwardly in the hallway, pretending not to notice their boss playing with wooden trains. Leo sat between them, serious and intent, passing a toy train car into his father’s waiting hand.
Matteo caught her looking. Neither of them said a word, but the silence between them hummed with something new. To Cameron, it felt like watching a war-torn country slowly piece itself back together.
The tension broke completely during a high-stakes business dinner. Matteo was hosting a city councilman and several powerful associates. The dining room was alive with candlelight, silver, and the heavy scent of political compromise, when Leo suddenly awoke from a nightmare.
Before Cameron could catch him, the boy burst into the dining room, barefoot and panicked. He grabbed a silver serving tray and sent it crashing to the floor. The guests startled. Matteo's face turned to stone.
Cameron didn't care about the powerful men. She dropped to her knees right there on the Persian rug, amidst the expensive leather shoes, and opened her arms.
“Come here, mio piccolo leone,” she said softly, practicing the Italian phrases she had spent nights learning.
Leo froze. He dropped the silver candlestick he was about to hurl and ran straight into her embrace. As she carried him out, the silence in the room was deafening.
Later that night, Cameron went downstairs for a glass of water and found Matteo alone in the dark dining room.
“You handled that well,” he said, his eyes tracking her movement. “You speak to me differently than other people do.”
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“I’m not on your payroll for conversation.”
“You are now,” he murmured, stepping closer. The air grew thick. Matteo Duca was a hard man to look at for too long, but standing there in the shadows, the gravity of his presence pulled her in.
