Because if I stayed, if I looked at her pain one more second, I might actually agree to wait.
And I was done waiting.
As I walked away, the image of that little boy stayed with me. My son. Leo. A child I hadn't known existed until ten minutes ago.
My phone buzzed before I reached the elevator. Marco.
"Boss, we have a problem. Matteo's been asking questions."
Ice flooded my veins. "What kind of questions?"
"About you. About changes in your routine." Marco's voice was grim. "He asked one of the building security guards if you'd had any personal visitors lately. Specifically asked about women with children."
My blood ran cold. "Women with children. Plural. He's fishing."
"Or he knows something, and he's confirming it."
"How?" I punched the elevator button harder than necessary. "I just found out ten minutes ago. No one knows except you, me, and Isla."
"And whoever's been watching you… Boss, Matteo doesn't ask questions like that without a reason. Either someone saw something, or he's had surveillance on you."
I thought back. The gala. Leaving with Isla. Her arriving at my building Friday night. Leaving Saturday morning.
"The penthouse," I said slowly. "Friday night. Anyone watching would have noticed."
“That's not your usual pattern."
"But how would he know about a child?” I stopped. “He's been watching her. Not me. Her."
"That's my guess." Marco's voice was tight. "Question is, how long? And what else does he know?"
I pressed my fingers to my temples, mind racing. "Find out which security guard he talked to. I want to know exactly what questions Matteo asked and what answers he got."
"Already on it. But boss, if Matteo knows you have a kid—" Marco didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to.
If Matteo knew about Leo, my son wasn't just a secret. He was a vulnerability. A target. Leverage.
"Double security on Isla's building. Discreet. I don't want her to know, and I don't want Matteo to know we're protecting her. AndMarco? Find out how deep this goes. If there's someone on our payroll feeding Matteo information, I want their name by morning."
"Understood."
I hung up, staring at my reflection in the polished elevator doors.
I'd been so focused on my anger at Isla that I hadn't considered the real reason she might have been afraid to tell me.
Not because I'd reject him. Not because I'd try to take him away.
But because bringing my son into my world meant painting a target on his back.
And now, thanks to Matteo's surveillance, that target was already there.
Whether I'd met Leo or not, he was in danger. Because he was mine.
And Matteo had somehow figured that out.
CHAPTER 10
Isla
