Chapter 1 - The New Contract
The silence in Matteo Duca’s study was heavy, smelling of leather, expensive scotch, and the faint, bitter scent of ozone from the rainy Manhattan evening outside. Matteo didn't sit behind his desk. He stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his tailored suit jacket unbuttoned, his dark eyes fixed on Cameron.
"You're not going back to Queens, Cameron," Matteo said, his voice a low, gravelly baritone that had sent men to their knees in the docks of Brooklyn. "Your mother's medical debt is wiped. As of ten minutes ago, my personal attorney has transferred the full balance to a private account. Her next treatment will be at the Sloan Kettering VIP wing."
Cameron gripped the armrests of the leather chair. She felt small, swallowed up by the immense wealth of the Tribeca penthouse, her shoulder still throbbing where Leo’s wooden train had struck her. "Mr. Duca... I don't understand. I'm a maid. I came here to clean your floors."
"You did what fourteen high-priced child psychologists and elite nannies couldn't do in two years," Matteo said, turning around. His expression was intense, almost predatory, but beneath the iron facade, Cameron caught a glimpse of a father who had been staring into an abyss. "You reached my son. You gave him a choice, and he chose you. You are his nanny now. You live here. You eat here. Your only job is to keep him safe from the things inside his own head."
"And if I say no?" Cameron whispered.
May you like
Matteo walked over, stopping just inches from her chair. He didn't tower over her threateningly, but his presence was absolute. "You won't say no. Because you love your mother, and you already care about my son. I saw how you held him. You didn't look at him like a paycheck. You looked at him like a child."
As Cameron nodded, accepting the golden handcuffs of her new life, she remembered the look on the face of Mrs. Gable, the head housekeeper, when Leo had fallen asleep in her arms. It hadn't been a look of relief. It had been a flash of pure, venomous hatred.
