Chapter 2 - The Secret of Naples
Lorenzo sank into his leather chair, the fearsome mafia don suddenly looking small beneath the glowing monitors. "Tell me," he commanded.
"Four years ago, I was a pediatric nurse at a clinic in the Spanish Quarters of Naples," Emma said, stepping closer to the desk. "A local gang came in demanding medical supplies. They were going to kill me to cover their tracks. Juliana was there visiting her family's old church. She didn't use guns, Mr. Pellegrini. She just walked into that clinic, said your name, and those men fell to their knees in terror."
A bitter, longing smile touched Lorenzo’s lips. "Yes. That was my Juliana."
"She hid me in her safehouse for three weeks," Emma continued, tears blurring her vision. "She fed me. She kept me safe. And every night, when the nightmares of that attack woke me up, she sat at the edge of my bed and sang that exact lullaby. She told me it was a song of protection. She made me promise that if I ever found a child in darkness, I would sing it to guide them home."
Emma looked directly into Lorenzo's tormented eyes.
"Two weeks ago, a contact in the medical registry told me the Pellegrini child in New York was dying, silent, and surrounded by men with guns who didn't know how to love her. I forged my papers because I knew your security would never let a girl from Naples near your daughter. I didn't come to kill her, Lorenzo. I came to pay my debt to the woman who gave me my life."
Lorenzo stared at the silver medallion, then at Emma. For the first time in two years, the cold suspicion in his chest began to fracture, revealing a raw, bleeding wound of grief.
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"She is dying, Emma," Lorenzo whispered, his voice breaking. "The doctors say the chemotherapy isn't taking. My empire is safe, my enemies are dead, and I am entirely powerless."
"She isn't dying because of the cancer, Lorenzo," Emma said, walking around the desk and placing a gentle hand on his tailored shoulder. "She is dying because she thinks she’s already alone in the dark. You have to stop watching her through a screen."
