Chapter 10 - The Daughter He Had Never Held
Sofia remained in the hospital for eleven days.
Matteo came every day.
He never arrived with an entourage.
Arthur waited downstairs or across the street.
Matteo brought coffee for Norah.
Once he brought flowers.
Norah looked at them.
“You know flowers used to be your apology.”
Matteo immediately stopped.
“I can take them away.”
She smiled.
“No. These are nice.”
He placed them beside the window.
“What changed?”
“You asked.”
Matteo looked at her.
It sounded like such a small observation.
It was not.
On day three, Matteo held Sofia for the first time.
He sat rigidly in a hospital chair while a nurse placed the tiny baby against his chest.
“You can breathe,” Norah said.
“I am breathing.”
“No.”
Matteo inhaled.
Sofia opened her eyes.
Dark.
Unfocused.
Matteo stared down.
“Hello.”
Norah watched from the bed.
The feared Matteo Rossi looked completely helpless beneath five pounds of newborn.
Sofia yawned.
Matteo smiled.
Norah’s heart hurt.
This was the man she had wanted.
Not because tenderness erased betrayal.
It did not.
But because tenderness without control revealed what might have existed if Matteo had learned earlier.
Federal prosecutors postponed his first meeting by two days.
When he finally attended, he spent six hours answering preliminary questions through counsel.
He did not provide information that would put innocent families in danger.
He did provide financial records connected to organizations he controlled.
He agreed to unwind legitimate businesses from criminal operations under supervision.
Nothing would happen quickly.
There were investigations.
Negotiations.
Potential charges.
Matteo accepted that.
Victor reacted differently.
“This is betrayal,” he told the remaining captains.
To Victor, the organization was family.
Matteo had once used the same word.
Now he understood family without choice was merely hierarchy.
Victor prepared for conflict.
Arthur warned Matteo.
“Salvi is gathering people.”
“I know.”
“You should increase protection.”
“For me?”
“For all of you.”
Matteo looked toward Norah’s hospital.
“We increase hospital security discreetly.”
“Norah won’t like it.”
“Then explain the risk and let her decide.”
Arthur smiled slightly.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“Say it.”
“You’re annoying now.”
Matteo raised an eyebrow.
“You ask permission for everything.”
“That’s apparently normal.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Norah agreed to additional hospital security as long as it remained unobtrusive.
That alone demonstrated how much had changed.
Matteo did not announce protection.
He proposed it.
Norah decided.
On day seven, Evelyn brought finalized divorce documents.
Norah stared at them for a long time.
Matteo happened to enter carrying two coffees.
He stopped.
“I can leave.”
Norah looked up.
“No.”
He placed the cups down.
Neither mentioned the papers.
Finally Norah said, “I haven’t signed.”
Matteo remained silent.
She looked at him.
“You’re not going to ask why?”
“No.”
“That must be killing you.”
“Yes.”
Norah almost smiled.
“I don’t know what I want.”
“That’s okay.”
“Is it?”
“It has to be.”
Norah leaned back.
“I still don’t trust you.”
“I know.”
“I still think about Harper.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened.
“I know.”
“I still wonder whether you’re changing because you lost me.”
“So do I.”
That surprised her.
“You do?”
“Every day.”
He sat across from her.
“Keller asked what happens if you never take me back.”
Norah waited.
“I told him I still have to change.”
Her eyes filled.
“Why?”
Matteo looked toward the neonatal unit.
“Because Sofia deserves a father who doesn’t confuse control with love.”
“And me?”
Matteo’s expression softened.
“You deserved that husband before you ever had to leave.”
Norah looked away.
She did not sign the papers that day.
She did not tear them up either.
They remained inside Evelyn’s folder.
On day eleven, Sofia was discharged.
Norah planned to return to the cottage.
Matteo knew better than to suggest the penthouse.
He carried Sofia’s bag to Evelyn’s car.
Then stood awkwardly on the sidewalk.
Norah held the baby.
“Thank you for coming.”
Matteo looked down at Sofia.
“Can I…?”
Norah understood.
She carefully transferred their daughter into his arms.
Matteo kissed Sofia’s forehead.
“I’ll see you when your mother says I can.”
Norah heard the sentence.
Something inside her softened.
He returned Sofia.
Then stepped backward.
No attempt to follow.
No demand for an address.
No hidden tracker.
Norah entered the car.
Matteo closed the door.
As Evelyn drove away, Norah looked through the rear window.
Matteo remained on the sidewalk.
Alone.
Watching.
Not chasing.
For the first time, Norah cried because he had let her leave.
May you like
And for the first time, leaving did not feel like the end.
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