Page 14 of Brazilian Revenge

The man was catching his breath. Sweat beaded his forehead. “I need to tell you something.”

Nervously, he glanced around them before saying, “I was working that week when you were admitted to the clinic. When you had the surgery—”

“And my baby died,” she said.

“The…baby died.” Leonardo narrowed his eyes.

The honk from a bus across the street almost made her turn around. Almost. She couldn’t. The man wiped the sweat off his forehead and leaned closer to them, again apparently aware of his surroundings. What could he be scared of? Besides pedestrians jaywalking and some folks waiting at the bus stop. “No. Your baby is still alive.”

Alive?Her heart skipped a beat, and it took too damn long to pulse again—this time, like it was about to gallop out of her chest. For the past three months her life had been an endless, dark tunnel. She ran from Harry, from Leonardo, and most of all, from herself. From her pain, even though it was there, every step of the way. Pain. Could there be a tiny flicker of hope at the end, waiting for her? “E-excuse me?” she managed to say, her hand circling her stomach.

He shook his head. “I was told to keep my mouth shut. Listen, I’m just a lowly worker. I help support my family. I can’t lose my job.”

Her temples throbbed, and for a second she thought she was going to faint. She lifted her hand to her forehead, willing the anxiety away. Could that be true? Her Lyanna…alive?

“What happened? Tell me now,” Leonardo demanded. Stepping forward, he could easily tower over the guy, with hands perched on his belt, his posture stiff and eyes darkening.

“When the baby was born, they transferred her somewhere. I thought it was to a neonatal intensive care at a bigger hospital, but honestly I don’t know for sure. And I heard someone paid a lot of money to the director and medical team. To make it seem like the baby hadn’t made it.”

“Are you absolutely sure?” Leonardo asked.

“Yes. I was dating this nurse back then, and she confessed it to me and made me promise I wouldn’t tell. But when I saw you today, it was a sign. I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t say anything.”

Leonardo thrust his fingers in his brown hair. “Who could have—”

“Harry.” She verbalized it before she kept up with her racing mind. “He took her from me.” Bile floated up her throat, and she had to cover her mouth and swallow hard not to get sick. When she fled the youth house and the system with Harry, he tried to mold her into the perfect daughter of a crook.

Unfortunately for him, after a single attempt, she had turned him down, even threatened to cut ties if he shared any illicit side business information with her. He had conceded, and for years they both lived like a surrogate family. That is, until he used her to attract Leonardo, and to steal from him. To then scold her when she decided to keep her pregnancy. Disowned her when she confided she would look for Leonardo once the baby was born. After all, Harry knew he would go to jail if she testified against him. Did he steal her baby in retaliation?

Leonardo growled. “That director lied to us. I’m going to go back there and make him spill the beans,” he said, rolling the sleeves of his shirt.

“Wait.” She grasped his elbow. “We need to think this through. If you go in there and accuse him, he can just call Harry and warn him and then we’ll never find her.”

Never. Find. Her. The words got trapped in her dry throat, and she had to swallow twice. There was no way she’d lose her daughter again.

“The miss is right.” The man nodded.

The contours of Leonardo’s face hardened. She didn’t miss the flash of raw emotion, and wondered if they shared at least that in common. Love for their daughter. “Do you know where that nurse lives?”

“I think so. I have been there once. She quit and—”

“Okay. We’re going there right now. She may be the key for finding out the truth.”

The man gestured with his hands. “But, sir, my job—”

“I will make sure you are well compensated for your time if you still wish to work in that hellhole. If not, I will pull some strings and help you get a job somewhere else. But now I need to find out what happened to my daughter. And nothing, and no one, will stop me,” Leonardo said, in a commanding voice that reverberated through her.

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