Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR AT MY DOOR
I had never been afraid of Dr. Evans before.
She was the woman who had shown Matteo and me our child’s heartbeat.
She had held my hand when I had a bleeding scare at twenty weeks.
Now she stood beside Luca Bellini at the bottom of the front steps while six armed security men surrounded the house.
Elena grabbed my wrist.
“Back stairs.”
“No.”
“Norah.”
“If I run, Luca knows I’m afraid.”
“You should be afraid.”
“I am.”
But fear and obedience were not the same thing.
I walked into the foyer.
Luca entered without knocking.
That alone told me something had changed.
Under Matteo’s roof, even his closest men waited to be invited inside.
Luca smiled when he saw me.
“Norah.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Matteo asked me to make sure you were safe.”
“Matteo is in Greece.”
“He’s concerned.”
“I spoke to him ten minutes ago.”
Luca’s smile tightened.
Dr. Evans avoided my eyes.
I looked directly at her.
“Why are you here?”
She swallowed.
“Mrs. Rossi, your blood pressure readings from last week concerned me.”
“That’s a lie.”
Luca’s expression hardened.
“Careful.”
I turned toward him.
“This is my house.”
He almost laughed.
“No.”
The word came softly.
“This is Matteo’s house.”
And there it was.
The belief beneath everything.
I was decoration.
A wife.
A womb carrying a Rossi heir.
Something protected because I belonged to Matteo.
Never because I belonged to myself.
Luca gestured toward the hallway.
“Dr. Evans needs to perform a test.”
“No.”
“It will take five minutes.”
“No.”
Dr. Evans finally looked at me.
“I’m sorry.”
Luca’s head snapped toward her.
“For what?”
She said nothing.
I understood.
The doctor was afraid of him too.
I placed a hand over my belly.
“You’re not touching my child.”
Luca stepped closer.
“Your child?”
His smile disappeared.
“That is exactly what we need to establish.”
I felt Elena move behind me.
Luca noticed.
“Elena, go upstairs.”
She stayed.
His eyes narrowed.
“You’ve forgotten who pays you.”
Elena’s voice was quiet.
“I remember exactly which Rossi hired me.”
Something flickered across Luca’s face.
Then one of his men’s phones rang.
He answered.
His expression changed instantly.
“Boss.”
Matteo.
Even across the room, I could hear his voice shouting through the phone.
Luca stepped away.
“Yes, she’s here.”
Pause.
“No.”
Another pause.
Luca looked at me.
His face went cold.
“I thought it was authorized.”
He listened.
Then said:
“Matteo, calm down.”
Nobody told Matteo Rossi to calm down.
Not twice.
The line went dead.
Luca lowered the phone slowly.
I smiled.
“Problem?”
His eyes settled on me.
“You called him.”
“Yes.”
“You showed him the document?”
“Not yet.”
That frightened him.
I could see it.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message from Matteo.
MATTEO:
Get into the panic room. Now.
A second message arrived.
MATTEO:
Do not trust anyone wearing my crest.
I looked at Luca’s men.
Every one of them wore the silver Rossi crest.
Then Matteo sent one final message.
May you like
MATTEO:
Luca just tried to reroute my plane.
