“Please find out as much as possible about him.”
“Choose a name for him because he sure as fuck won’t carry the name the whore who tried to kill him gave him.” Remo stepped out and thrust the door shut, making me jump. I joined Nino beside the bed and peered down at the boy.
“Nobody will ever hurt you again, nobody will come close,” I promised, stroking his tiny head then his cheek, wondering if anyone had ever shown him love so far. My heart broke and at the same time something fiercer, darker rose in my chest.
Nino kissed the side of my head. “I told you the same shortly after we married.”
“I know, and you kept your promise ever since. Will you protect our son like you protect me?”
“I’d lay my life down for you and him.”
My heart was already full with love for the little baby I barely knew but I wondered what Nino felt. For him it was difficult to form emotional bonds and I figured it would take time for him to come to love our son, like it had taken time for him to love me.
“What should we name him?” Nino asked eventually.
“I always wanted to name my son Alessio, but what do you want?”
Nino shook his head. “I never considered having kids, not like you did. I think Alessio is a strong name that fits into our family.”
“Alessio then?”
He nodded and I bent over our son and kissed his forehead. “Alessio Falcone, welcome to your family.”
Nino gently rubbed my back as I peered down at the tiny baby. A small scratch marred his left cheek and I gently brushed over it.
“Maybe he was cut by something in the trash,” Nino said neutrally. “He’s lucky the bags didn’t cover up his head and choke him.”
I swallowed. “You’re safe now.”
A nurse came in for a check in fifteen minutes later, and relaxed when she spotted me, probably relieved that Remo was gone, but her relaxation only lasted until she noticed Nino leaning against the wall, watching everything with vigilant eyes.
“Hello,” she said hesitantly.
I smiled.
“You are …?”
Nino pushed away from the wall. “We are the boy’s parents.”
The nurse blinked, confusion flickering on her face. “But—”
Nino raised an eyebrow with an expression that sent a small shiver down my back.
The nurse nodded quickly. “Of course. Right.” She moved toward the crib and Nino stepped up to it as well, causing her to stiffen.
“I’m just going to remove the tubes so you can try to feed him with a bottle, if that’s okay?”
Nino gave a sharp nod. “Go on.”
The nurse was careful and gentle with Alessio, but he began to cry when she pulled out the feeding tubes from his nose and my heart broke hearing his wails even if it was necessary. I couldn’t stop imagining how often he’d cried in the past, how often those cries had gone unanswered or even been punished.
The nurse said, “I’ll get a bottle for you.”
The moment she was outside, I rested my palm very gently on top of Alessio’s chest, trying to show him that I was here. “Shhh. You’re safe. Your dad and I will protect you.”
I could see the surprise on Nino’s face as he was mulling over his new role—a father. “Maybe you can try to be less scary toward the nurse?” I said softly.
Nino took my hand and pressed a kiss to my wrist. “I don’t care if she’s scared. She needs to know her place and understand the consequences, if something happens to Alessio.”
The nurse stepped back in, robbing me of a chance to give a comeback. With a small shake of my head, I rolled my eyes. Nino was already focused on the woman—
like Remo he saw almost everyone as an intruder.
I took the bottle from her. “Thanks.” Alessio looked smaller than the babies I’d seen so far.
The nurse hovered beside me.
“We can handle this,” Nino drawled. “We’ll call you if we need anything.”
She turned and left without another word.
“I can’t hurt him because of his wounds?” I asked.
Nino shook his head. “The burns aren’t very fresh.”
Taking a deep breath, I carefully picked up Alessio and pressed him to my chest, and it felt perfect—as if it was meant to be, he and I and Nino, becoming a family. “Maybe it’s fate,” I whispered thickly. “All of us have experienced horrors in our past but we’ll create a beautiful future together.”
Nino stroked my hair, not saying anything, only smiling. He didn’t believe in fate or anything like it. “Try giving him the bottle, see if he’s hungry.”
I brushed the dummy over his tiny mouth and he opened it, starting to suck eagerly. My eyes drank in his beautiful face. He sucked so quickly he barely breathed in between. I pulled back the bottle a few inches. “Shhh. You’ll get the bottle. Not so fast.”