Chapter 9 - The Family They Almost Lost
The signature belonged to Mateo's father, Antonio Lombardi.
Hazel stared at it.
“But your father died four years ago.”
“He did.”
“This was signed five years ago.”
“Yes.”
“How did he know Luca's name?”
Mateo sat down.
For the first time in months, Hazel saw the old guardedness return.
“Because I told him.”
Hazel froze.
“What?”
“Not about Luca.”
Mateo looked at the document.
“About the name.”
He explained.
Years before Hazel became pregnant, during one of their midnight conversations, she and Mateo had joked about children.
Hazel had said if she ever had a son, she liked Luca.
Mateo had told his father.
Antonio remembered.
The document was not evidence that someone knew about the pregnancy.
It was a draft family trust amendment.
Mateo had asked his father to prepare it shortly after Hazel left.
“Why?”
“Because after I discovered you were innocent, I knew I had destroyed something important.”
Hazel listened.
“I didn't know you were pregnant,” Mateo said. “But I knew if we ever found our way back to each other, I wanted you protected from my business.”
The trust would have separated family assets from Mateo's corporate holdings.
It would have protected Hazel and any future children from business liabilities.
Antonio used Luca as a placeholder because Mateo had once mentioned the name.
The amendment was never finalized.
Mateo's father became ill the following year.
The document disappeared.
Evelyn had hidden it.
Hazel stared at him.
“You were planning a future with me after I left?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you come?”
Mateo smiled sadly.
“Because I was an idiot with excellent lawyers.”
Hazel laughed.
Then cried.
Mateo sat beside her.
“There's something else.”
“Of course there is.”
“I don't want that document.”
“What?”
“I don't want to resurrect something I designed without asking you.”
Hazel looked at him.
“So what do you want?”
“A new one.”
“Together?”
“Together.”
That word became the foundation.
Together, they met attorneys.
Together, they established Luca's legal paternity.
Mateo's name was added to the birth certificate only after Hazel and Mateo explained everything to Luca in language a six-year-old could understand.
“Does this mean my name changes?” Luca asked.
“It can,” Mateo said. “But it doesn't have to.”
Luca thought deeply.
“I want both.”
Hazel smiled.
“Both?”
“Brooks-Lombardi.”
Mateo nodded.
“I like it.”
“So I'm Luca Brooks-Lombardi?”
“If that's what you want.”
Luca grinned.
“It's really long.”
“That's the downside.”
“I'll need more paper at school.”
Hazel laughed.
For the first time, a name connected to Mateo did not feel like ownership.
It felt like choice.
Caleb continued rebuilding.
He reached one year sober.
Hazel baked a cake.
He complained because she wrote ONE YEAR WITHOUT MAKING ME LOSE MY MIND across the top.
Luca thought it was hilarious.
Mateo secretly took three pieces home.
Hazel's Table expanded into the empty storefront next door.
Mateo offered investment money.
Hazel refused.
Then reconsidered.
Not because she needed rescuing.
Because he presented an actual business proposal.
She countered.
He complained her terms were aggressive.
She increased them.
He accepted.
Their arguments became negotiations rather than wounds.
Their home became noisy.
Luca got the dog.
A rescue mutt he named T-Rex despite weighing eleven pounds.
Mateo pretended to dislike T-Rex.
T-Rex slept on Mateo's chest.
One evening, Hazel found them both snoring on the couch.
She took a photograph.
“Blackmail,” she whispered.
Life was not perfect.
Hazel still sometimes remembered the marble foyer.
Mateo still struggled with control.
They still fought.
But now they returned.
They apologized.
They spoke before silence became distance.
One year after finding the trust document, Mateo took Hazel back to the restaurant kitchen after closing.
The lights were low.
Luca was staying with Caleb.
Hazel immediately became suspicious.
“What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“That tone means something.”
Mateo leaned against the counter.
“Do you remember the first night I kissed you?”
“You stole my coffee.”
“It was terrible coffee.”
“You drank all of it.”
“I was being polite.”
“You've never been polite in your life.”
Mateo smiled.
Then his expression changed.
He reached into his pocket.
Hazel raised a hand.
“Mateo.”
“Relax.”
“Never tell a woman to relax while reaching into your pocket.”
He laughed.
Then removed the ruby ring.
The original one.
Hazel stared.
“I thought you said it belonged to me.”
“It does.”
“Then why do you have it?”
“You left it on the bathroom counter this morning.”
“Oh.”
That ruined the moment.
Mateo laughed again.
Then he reached into his other pocket.
And removed a small velvet box.
Hazel stopped breathing.
“Mateo.”
He didn't kneel immediately.
First he spoke.
“Five years ago, I told you to take nothing tied to my name.”
Hazel's eyes filled.
“I've hated those words every day since.”
He opened the box.
Inside was a simple ring.
Beautiful.
But not enormous.
He knew her better now.
“I don't want you to take my name,” Mateo said. “I don't want you to belong to me. I want to belong beside you.”
Then he knelt.
“Hazel Brooks, will you marry me?”
She covered her mouth.
Mateo waited.
For once in his life, he could do nothing else.
Hazel lowered her hand.
“Yes.”
His eyes closed.
She laughed.
“Yes.”
Mateo stood and kissed her.
Then something crashed outside the kitchen.
They broke apart.
Hazel frowned.
“The restaurant is locked.”
Mateo turned toward the door.
Another sound.
Then a child's muffled giggle.
Hazel narrowed her eyes.
“Luca?”
Silence.
Mateo reached for the handle.
May you like
Before he touched it, the door flew open.
And everyone they loved was standing on the other side...
