Chapter 2 – THE WATCH ON THE NIGHTSTAND

The maternity ward smelled of antiseptic and lavender.

Rose practically ran down the corridor, her worn shoes squeaking against the linoleum.

“Megan Bennett,” she told the nurse at the desk, her voice breathless. “I’m her mother.”

The nurse smiled gently. “Room 412. She’s been asking for you.”

We hurried down the hall.

When we opened the door, Megan was lying in the hospital bed, pale and exhausted, holding the hand of a tall man with kind, tired eyes.

David.

“Mom,” Megan cried, reaching out.

Rose crossed the room in seconds, wrapping her arms around her daughter, pressing her face into Megan’s damp hair.

“I’m here, baby. Mama’s here.”

I stood near the door, feeling like an intruder on a profoundly sacred moment.

David looked up at me, mouthing a silent thank you.

“I didn’t think you’d make it,” Megan whispered, crying into Rose’s shoulder.

“I told you I’d come,” Rose said, kissing her forehead. “I’m never leaving you again.”

Then the door opened behind me.

Luca walked in.

He had taken off his suit jacket, his white shirt unbuttoned at the collar.

David stood up immediately, recognizing the billionaire who employed his mother-in-law.

“Mr. Moretti. You didn’t have to come.”

“Rose is family,” Luca said simply.

Megan looked at Luca, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

But Luca wasn’t looking at Megan’s face.

He was staring at the small bedside table next to the heart monitor.

Resting next to a plastic cup of ice chips was an old, heavy silver pocket watch.

The silver was tarnished, the chain broken.

“Where did you get that?” Luca asked, his voice entirely devoid of emotion.

Megan followed his gaze.

“It was my father’s,” she said softly. “He left it behind when he walked out on us. I brought it today because… I don’t know. I guess I wanted him here, in some small way.”

Rose stiffened.

She slowly turned around, stepping between Luca and the table.

“Mr. Moretti,” Rose said, her voice dropping to a trembling whisper. “Please.”

Luca stepped forward.

He didn’t look angry. He looked devastated.

He reached past Rose and picked up the watch.

He didn’t even have to open it to know what was inscribed on the back.

He turned it over, revealing the deeply engraved initials.

E. M.

Enzo Moretti.

Luca’s uncle. The man who had been murdered thirty years ago by a rival syndicate.

Luca slowly looked up at Rose.

“My uncle didn’t walk out on you,” Luca said, the realization suffocating the room. “He was killed.”

Rose covered her face, sobbing.

“I lied to her,” Rose wept. “I told her he left us because it was the only way to keep her safe from your family’s enemies.”

Megan stared at her mother, completely paralyzed by the revelation.

But the monitor beside her bed suddenly began to blare.

A high-pitched, frantic alarm.

Megan gasped, clutching her stomach, her face draining of all color.

“David!” she screamed.

Nurses flooded the room, pushing us back against the wall.

“Fetal heart rate is dropping!” a nurse shouted. “We have a placental abruption. We need to move her to the OR now!”

As they wheeled Megan’s bed toward the door, a doctor rushed in, looking directly at David.

“Your wife has a rare blood type. We don’t have enough O-negative on hand for an emergency surgery of this scale.”

Rose collapsed against the wall.

“I’m A-positive,” David panicked.

I felt completely useless.

But Luca stepped directly in front of the doctor, rolling up his white sleeve.

“Take mine,” Luca ordered. “She’s a Moretti.”

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