Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Wasn't AfraidI knelt beside the bassinet.
The baby screamed again.
His face was flushed.
His body was tense.
His tiny legs pulled toward his stomach.
Dominic stood over me.
Up close, he looked different from the man I had seen in newspapers.
He wasn't angry.
He was scared.
Terrified.
“You know what's wrong?” he asked.
“I think something is wrong.”
His eyes narrowed.
“That's not an answer.”
“Let me hold him.”
The restaurant went completely still.
One of the bodyguards looked at Dominic.
Another looked at me like I had just signed my own death certificate.
Dominic stared at me for several seconds.
“If anything happens to my son…”
“Something already is.”
His expression changed.
I reached into the bassinet.
“Please.”
He finally nodded.
“Do it.”
I lifted the baby carefully.
The moment his weight settled against my arms, my chest tightened.
For one terrible second, I wasn't in Bellavita anymore.
I was back in the hospital.
Leo was tiny.
Too tiny.
His fingers had wrapped around mine while machines screamed around us.
I remembered whispering to him.
Stay with me.
Please stay.
I forced the memory away.
“Easy,” I whispered.
The newborn squirmed.
I supported his head and adjusted his position.
Then I gently rubbed his back.
His screaming gradually weakened.
Dominic leaned closer.
“What are you doing?”
“Trying to calm him.”
The baby let out one final cry.
Then stopped.
Dominic exhaled.
I didn't.
Something wasn't right.
The baby hadn't relaxed.
He had gone still.
Too still.
His little arms dropped.
His head became heavy against my forearm.
I looked at his face.
The color was changing.
“Call 911.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“Call 911!”
His chair slammed backward.
“What happened?”
I turned the baby carefully.
His lips were beginning to turn blue.
Dominic shouted.
“CALL 911!”
The restaurant erupted.
People screamed.
Chairs scraped across the floor.
One bodyguard grabbed his phone.
Another locked the front door.
I checked the baby's airway.
And then I saw something.
A tiny white object.
At first I thought it was milk residue.
I looked closer.
My stomach dropped.
It wasn't milk.
It was a tablet.
Partially dissolved.
I stared at it.
Then slowly looked up.
Dominic was watching me.
“What is it?”
I couldn't answer.
“Tell me.”
I swallowed.
“Someone gave your son something.”
Dominic's face went completely still.
Then I noticed one of his bodyguards.
The man near the kitchen.
He wasn't looking at the baby.
He wasn't looking at Dominic.
He was looking at the exit.
May you like
And then—
he started walking.
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