Page 96 of The Devil's Secret

“Muffins and cupcakes. That kind of thing.”

“I wish I could have some.”

“The other lady was nice too,” Robby adds. “She helped me learn to read and did math with me. I love them both.”

My heart tugs.Who are they? Did they love him back?

“I bet you’re better at math than I am.” Enzo rolls his eyes. “I’m not very good.” He chuckles, eliciting a giggle from Robby.

“Aida always told me I was a genius.”

“Did you sa-say Aida?” Chiara stammers, her expression stunned.

“Yeah. She had yellow hair,” Robby tells her. “I lived with her and the bad man who sent her away. She said her dad was the bad man, and I had to hide when he came home.”

“Oh my God.” Chiara’s fingers tremble against her chest.

My vision goes hazy. He’s been right under my fingertips. No one knew that Chiara and Raquel’s cousin had my son this entire time. I never imagined Agnelo would keep him in his own damn home. But what better place to hide him than there?

“Did they ever hurt you?” I caress his forehead with the tips of my fingers, the back of my nose straining with an ache, but I fight the emotional black hole trying to swallow me up.

“No.” He lifts his face up to me. “Well, sometimes her dad screamed really loud when I was bad.” His mouth drops into a scowl. “He is very scary.”

Anger burns white-hot across my skin. “You weren’t bad, baby. It’s that man who’s bad.”

“Yeah, buddy. Your mom is right. He’s not a good guy, and he’ll never come near you again.” Robby sits up taller, eagerly looking at Enzo like he’s his new favorite person, and it makes my heart all sorts of happy. “You see my brothers over there and your uncle?” Enzo slants his head toward them, and Robby nods.

“Well, they’ll always protect you and your mom, just like me.”

He sighs with relief. “That’s good. I don’t want to leave my mommy again.”

“You never will.” I swear it like an oath sewn into my very flesh, kissing the top of his head, my eyelids slowly swimming to a close as I picture that animal scaring my innocent baby. I could just kill him. I can’t believe he’s still out there.

“How did you end up in the place we found you?” Enzo continues. “Where did Aida go?”

“She had a big fight with her dad about the man in the basement.”

“What man?” Enzo’s tone lowers to a whisper.

“I—I can’t say. Aida told me to never talk about him, to pretend he was never there, or her dad would punish me.”

Discreetly, my hand falls over my mouth as I look at Enzo, who’s thinking the same thought as me.

It had to be Matteo.

Right?

“When her dad got very loud, I ran upstairs and hid. He was screaming at her. I could hear him even there. Then I heard a loud boom and Aida was screaming too. I was so scared, Mommy.” His arms fall around my middle in a tight hug.

“That was so brave of you.” Enzo comforts him with a pat on his head. “Do you know what happened after that?”

“Yeah, I stayed in my room for a long time, and then this man I didn’t know grabbed me from under the bed and took me to that smelly place and put me in the cage.”

“Holy hell,” Dante says incredulously. “You think he’s talking about Matteo? What did they do to our brother?”

“That’s what we’re gonna find out.” Dom clenches his fist at his side. “No matter the cost.”

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