Chapter 6 - What Caleb Had Really Done
Mateo moved Hazel behind him.
“Who is it?”
“Caleb.”
Hazel opened the door.
Her brother stood there breathless.
“We have a problem.”
He saw the note.
His face changed.
“Where did that come from?”
“Under the door.”
Caleb looked down the stairwell.
“Lock everything.”
Mateo called his security team.
But the threat turned out to be less immediate and more complicated than they feared.
The note had not come from Adrian.
It came from a former employee trying to warn them.
Adrian had recently resurfaced through attorneys, attempting to negotiate immunity in exchange for information concerning several financial crimes.
He had discovered Mateo had a son.
Hazel's first instinct was simple.
Run.
Mateo recognized it immediately.
“No.”
“You don't decide.”
“You're right.”
That stopped her.
Mateo lowered his voice.
“But don't run because you're afraid of me taking control.”
“I'm afraid of Luca being dragged into this.”
“So am I.”
Hazel studied him.
“What do you suggest?”
“We document everything. We let attorneys handle Adrian. We increase security around the restaurant without turning Luca's life into a prison.”
“You already planned this.”
“I considered it.”
“Difference?”
“Apparently five years of therapy.”
Hazel blinked.
“What?”
Mateo almost looked embarrassed.
“I started therapy.”
She stared.
“You?”
“Yes.”
“Mateo Lombardi voluntarily sat in a room and discussed feelings?”
“Don't make it sound humiliating.”
Hazel laughed despite herself.
That laughter broke something open.
They worked together.
Not as lovers.
Not yet.
As parents.
Mateo did not move them.
He hired discreet security.
Hazel approved each person.
He did not buy the restaurant.
He offered to upgrade the alarm system.
Hazel accepted.
That distinction mattered.
Meanwhile, Caleb cooperated with investigators.
The evidence on his flash drive exposed Adrian's financial scheme.
Caleb still faced consequences for theft, but his cooperation mattered.
He entered a structured recovery program.
For the first time, Hazel stopped trying to save him from consequences.
She simply supported him through them.
“You're different,” Caleb told her.
“I had a kid.”
“You used to rescue me.”
“I know.”
“You won't anymore?”
“No.”
He smiled sadly.
“Good.”
Mateo became part of Luca's routines.
Wednesday dinner.
Saturday mornings.
One bedtime each week.
Then two.
He never missed.
One afternoon, Hazel entered the restaurant kitchen and found Mateo wearing Luca's tiny spare apron over his black shirt.
It covered approximately twelve percent of him.
Hazel burst out laughing.
Mateo glared.
“Your son insisted.”
“Our son.”
The words came naturally.
Both went silent.
Mateo looked at her.
“Our son,” he repeated.
Hazel turned back toward the stove because her face had become warm.
The attraction had never disappeared.
That was obvious.
But something else was rebuilding beneath it.
Trust.
Slower.
Harder.
More valuable.
One evening, Mateo stayed after Luca fell asleep.
Hazel poured coffee.
“Black?”
He looked offended.
“You corrupted me years ago.”
She added cream.
He smiled.
They sat.
“I owe you an apology,” Mateo said.
“You've apologized.”
“Not properly.”
Hazel waited.
“The night you left, I treated uncertainty as justification to doubt you. It wasn't.”
She looked at him.
“I understand why you had questions.”
“Questions were fair. The way I made you feel wasn't.”
Hazel traced the rim of her cup.
“I should have told you about Luca before leaving.”
“You were hurt.”
“I was also angry.”
“You had a right to be.”
“Having a right doesn't make every choice good.”
Mateo considered that.
“No.”
“I deprived Luca of the chance to know you.”
“And I deprived him of that chance when I found you in Milwaukee and didn't knock.”
They sat with the truth.
No excuses.
Hazel finally said:
“We really made a mess.”
Mateo laughed quietly.
“An impressive one.”
“Five-year mess.”
“At least our son appears functional.”
“Debatable. He puts ketchup on eggs.”
Mateo looked horrified.
“I didn't know.”
“I've been protecting you.”
Their laughter faded.
Mateo's hand rested on the table.
Hazel's lay inches away.
Neither moved.
Then Mateo said:
“I still love you.”
Hazel's heart stumbled.
“Don't.”
“I don't expect anything.”
“Mateo.”
“I just don't want another five years built on things I was afraid to say.”
Hazel looked away.
“I don't know what I feel.”
“Yes, you do.”
Her eyes snapped back.
Mateo corrected himself immediately.
“Sorry. Old habit.”
Hazel almost smiled.
“I love you too.”
He became very still.
“But that isn't enough.”
“I know.”
“I won't return to the woman I was.”
“I don't want you to.”
“I have a business.”
“I know.”
“A home.”
“I know.”
“A life that doesn't revolve around yours.”
“I know.”
“And Luca is a Brooks.”
Mateo smiled.
“He's also a Lombardi.”
“Legally, we'll discuss it.”
“Understood.”
She narrowed her eyes.
“You're annoyingly reasonable now.”
“Therapy.”
Hazel laughed.
Then Mateo's phone rang.
He checked it.
His expression changed.
“It's my attorney.”
He answered.
Listened.
Then stood.
Hazel's smile disappeared.
“What happened?”
Mateo ended the call.
“Adrian made a statement.”
“About what?”
“Caleb.”
Hazel stood too.
Mateo looked toward Luca's bedroom.
Then back at her.
“He says Caleb wasn't the person who originally gave him access.”
Hazel frowned.
“Then who was?”
Mateo's phone buzzed.
A photograph appeared.
He opened it.
May you like
Hazel looked over his shoulder.
And recognized the person standing beside Adrian immediately...
