Page 66 of Secret Baby for the Mafia Don

For a week, all she did was sleep in between the gentle physical therapy sessions and the brain function tests that she had to complete.

Happily, she did not seem to have suffered any kind of long-term brain damage, but her short-term memory was still a little iffy from time to time. She always remembered right away when prompted, but it was a little scary to see her having trouble keeping track of everything.

I realized now just how much she had been the organized, steady presence in my life before she went into hiding. She had kept track of everything while I had simply tried not to fall apart each day.

Mateo had been amazingly patient and helpful throughout the process, and I was immensely proud of him.

He was used to caring for his mother, but he seemed to have a caretaker’s instincts. The doctors and nurses were so smitten with him that they offered to show him all kinds of things about the way that the hospital operations worked and how the treatment machines were used.

He helped his mother with her daily walks and worked with her on her memory training sessions as well.

I had been able to spend a lot of time with my kid over the past two weeks and found that I actually wasn’t terrible at interacting with a small child.

Mateo seemed to enjoy spending time with me and he asked me lots of intelligent questions about whatever activity we were engaged in at the time.

I had called for my security team to assemble so we could take Mateo to a local amusement park, a museum, and a playground so that he could have breaks from taking care of his mother at the hospital.

He told me he had never been able to do any of those things before, a fact which broke my heart.

Each day that I spent with my child made me realize how much I had to make up for. And not just with regard to Mateo.

I had been through a lot at the hands of my father, but that was no excuse for the way that I had treated everyone around me for years. I had promised myself that I was going to start putting those that I loved first.

I would give up the entire business to the Baldini family if it meant keeping Mateo and Kate safe.

The elevator finally arrived at Kate’s floor and I hurried out into the cool hallway. I nodded hello to the nurse behind the main desk on the floor and hustled past to go into Kate’s room.

I had left Mateo with her while I went back to the hotel and took a shower and when I step into the room, I find him leading her slowly around the room.

As I watch, he draws Kate to a stop and she has to bend forward and touch the floor with her fingertips before standing back up. They walk forward a few more steps, and Kate stops again, this time hunkering down in a squat and then rising back to her feet.

“That’s really good, Mommy!” Mateo praises her, a big smile on his handsome little face.

“Looks like therapy is going well today,” I say as I step into the room.

They both turn to look at me and I’m warmed by the smiles and the love on their faces. I glance at the therapy nurse who is standing against the far wall, watching Mateo help his mother with her exercises. She gives me a small smile.

“Mateo has been a very good assistant throughout all of this work,” she says. “Maybe he will grow up to be a nurse.”

“Or a doctor!” Mateo says happily, guiding his mother as she starts to walk forward again.

The nurse smiles again at me, and then turns her attention to the tablet in her hand as she types something on the screen.

“Phew!” Kate says, halting for a moment and placing her hands on the small of her back. She pushes against her spine as she stretches taller. “Who knew lying in bed for a couple of weeks would take so much out of you.”

“You’re improving at a very rapid rate,” the nurse assures her, still typing on the screen. “I’m actually really impressed with your progress.”

“Patience, amore,” I say to her, closing the distance between us and pressing a kiss to her brow.

She closes her eyes and leans into me for a moment. I wrap my hands around her shoulder and squeeze gently. I’m pleased to find that she doesn’t feel as fragile and thin as she did a week ago.

“Oh good, you’re all here.”

We all turn toward the voice and see that Grazia has joined us. My brows lower ever so slightly. I hadn’t seen much of Grazia the past week.

She had texted me to tell me that she was going to deal with her brothers, but then I hadn’t heard anything else for quite a few days. Her sudden presence makes me nervous, even though she’s been nothing but kind to Kate and Mateo.

“Don’t look so pale, Elio,” she says to me chidingly. She waves a sheaf of papers in the air. “I think you will like what you see here.”

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