Chapter 12
Lorenzo
“Good afternoon,” Ronald says. “Your guest has a visitor. Mrs. Vanderbilt is here to see Vanessa Baker.”
“My mom’s here?” Vanessa hisses, appearing in the doorway.
She glances at Leo, who’s munching on his fruit puffs and babbling at her.
“I’ll go down there,” she says. “I don’t want her anywhere near Leo.”
Before I can respond to her comment, she disappears down the hall, and a moment later, the front door slams closed.
It shouldn’t shock me that the woman who’s only been in our lives for a short time is determined to protect my son, but every time I watch her with him, I can’t help but be surprised by how quickly they’ve bonded.
Every smile, every laugh, every sweet word she speaks to him has him—and me, not that I’d ever admit that out loud—falling under her spell.
When she leaves, life will go on, but I can’t help but wonder if Leo will miss her. Will he wonder where she went? Feel abandoned? He didn’t even notice when Hillary disappeared, but Vanessa’s spent more time with him during her stay here than I ever saw Hillary interact with him.
“Ronald, Ms. Baker is on her way down,” I tell the doorman who’s still on the phone. “There should be a guard with her. If there’s not, don’t let her go anywhere near her mother.”
“You got it, sir.”
There’s a screeching sound, and Ronald sighs. “Ma’am—”
“I want to see that selfish bitch right now!” a woman, who clearly isn’t Vanessa, yells, making my hackles rise.
Grabbing Leo from the floor, I ignore the pain radiating down my arm and head straight for the front door, finding Vince—one of Matteo’s men—standing by the door.
“Is someone with Vanessa?”
He shakes his head. “Matteo told me not to leave the door.”
“Shit.” I can still hear Vanessa’s mom screaming over the line. “I’ll handle it.” I hand Leo to Vince. “Go inside with him, please, and don’t let him out of your sight.”
He nods in understanding, and I rush to the elevator, jabbing the button.
The call cuts off once I enter the elevator, and when I step out, I find who I assume is Vanessa’s mom—based on the fact that she looks like an older version of her daughter, only with a shit ton of work done.
She grabs her daughter’s wrist, yanking her toward her, and Vanessa yelps out in pain.
“Get your fucking hands off her,” I bark, making both women look my way.
“You need to mind your own business,” her mom sneers. “This is a family matter.”
“Well, since I’m her husband, I guess that makes me family,” I say dryly, refusing to think too hard about the fact that I’m not only defending the woman who seduced and drugged me, but I’m outwardly admitting to us being married.
“Are you serious, Mom?” Vanessa hisses, pulling her wrist out of her mom’s hold. “How stupid do you think I am? I know what your husband is trying to do. I overheard him on the phone, offering to sell me to pay off his debt!”
Mrs. Vanderbilt doesn’t even appear to look shocked at what her daughter just said.
“He’s not going to let anything happen to you,” Mrs. Vanderbilt insists. “It’s the only way to find this Santiago guy. And once he does, he has men who will handle him, and we’ll bring you home.”
I bark out a laugh. “She’s not going anywhere with you. If you want to use someone as bait, use yourself.” I pull Vanessa behind me. “And if you come anywhere near this building again, I’m going to take it as a threat and have you handled.”
Mrs. Vanderbilt flinches but quickly bounces back, straightening her shoulders and jutting her chin out. “This is not over.” She turns on her heel and saunters toward the lobby door.
“You’d better hope for your sake that it is,” I call out just before she exits.
“Add her to the list of people not allowed in here,” I tell Ronald, reaching into my pocket and pulling out a couple of hundred-dollar bills, handing them over to him.
“Yes, sir,” he says, pocketing the money.
“I hate this town,” Vanessa utters, walking back toward the elevator.
The doors open before I can get a look at her reflection, but once we step inside, she can’t hide from me. Her eyes are filled with unshed tears, and her nose and cheeks are red.
“Hey,” I say, turning her around to look at me. “Take a deep breath.” The last thing we need is her having a panic attack in the elevator. “Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
“You can’t know that,” she chokes out. “Maybe you’re used to living like this, but this isn’t the life I want.”
She glares my way, and I’m taken aback by her sudden hostility toward me.
“Look, I didn’t ask for this shit—” I start.
“And I did?” she bites out. “The last time I checked, this Santiago person is after your family and friends.”
“Your stepfather made a deal with her …”
“But I didn’t!” she shrieks. “My entire life, I’ve been forced to do shit I don’t want to do.
Live in homes I didn’t want to live in, deal with men I didn’t want to be around.
And I was finally—finally—away from my mom and her bullshit, and once again, I’m being dragged back.
For once, I just want to live my life. I want to be in Seattle, in my dorm, taking my classes in person.
“I have no job, I’m stuck taking classes online, I’m living with a man who can barely stand me … albeit for good reason.”
Tears stream down her cheeks, and I have no idea what to do or say, but something tells me she just needs to let it all out, so I stand there and let her go off.
“My mother,” she croaks, “the woman who was supposed to love and protect me, agreed to sell me. SELL ME!” Sobs rack her body, and she angrily swipes several tears away.
“What parent does that? All I wanted was for her to love me. To put me first. And when it was clear she’d never do that, too obsessed with finding a man to take care of her, I just wanted her to pretend I didn’t exist. And I was so close …
” She sniffles back a sob and slides down the elevator wall, sitting on the floor.
“I was so close,” she repeats as tears track down her cheeks.
She covers her face with her hands as her sobs increase, to the point that her entire body is shaking, and as much as I want to hate her for what she did to me, my heart aches for the woman who didn’t ask to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into this fucked-up world.
“Hey,” I say, kneeling in front of her.
She looks up at me, her violet eyes meeting mine, and the vulnerability in her gaze reminds me so much of my sister.
She’s only a couple of years younger than her, with her entire life ahead of her.
Before Dani moved home, all our father wanted was for her to stay as far away from the corrupt world we lived in.
She went to boarding school and went away to college, and I hoped that she’d live a normal life outside of Harbor Point …
until she was dragged back into this life the same way Vanessa was.
“Matteo is working overtime to find this psycho bitch, and once he does and she’s no longer a threat, you’ll be able to go back to your life, I promise.”
She blinks several times, and when a few more tears escape, without thinking, I reach out and wipe them from under her eyes.
“Maybe,” she whispers. “But that won’t change the fact that my only family was willing to sell me to a sex trafficker so she and her husband could continue to live their cushy little life.
” She sniffles back a sob. “The worst part is that before I moved in with you, I didn’t know what true love looked like.
I knew my mom wasn’t nurturing, but until I saw you with Leo, I didn’t grasp how little my mom loved me. ”
My heart breaks at her admission. No child should feel unloved by their parent. My parents were far from perfect, but Dani and I always knew we were loved.
“I guess I have you to thank for that,” she says with a sad smile.
“I’m nowhere near ready to become a mom.
But I hope … no …” She shakes her head. “I know that one day, when I become a mom, I’ll make sure I love my child the way you love Leo.
My child will always know they’re loved, just like Leo knows he’s loved. ”
“And what about you?” I find myself asking. “Do you … want to find love?”
I immediately regret my question, but before I can take it back, she starts to speak.
“Someday,” she says. “I’ve never seen what that type of love looks like either.
When I was growing up, the men she dated …
they didn’t love her, and sadly, the only person my mother knows how to love is herself.
Though I’m not even sure if she’s capable of that.
So, I’m just going to hope that when the time comes, I’ll recognize what love is supposed to look like.
And until then, I’m going to focus on my future because the only way to ensure I don’t end up like my mother is to pave the path myself. ”
Fuck, this woman. She’s such a contradiction from the woman I met on the yacht. The one who drugged and tricked me into marrying her. And I don’t know what to do with that.
“What about you?” she asks. “Do you want to find love?”
“Yeah,” I admit easily. “Despite the shit my ex put me through, I want to find someone to spend my life with.”
Her sad smile turns genuine. “You’re already a great dad, Lorenzo.
I have no doubt you’ll make a great husband.
” As if she realizes what she said, she flinches and tries to backtrack.
“I mean, you know … one day, when you aren’t tricked into marriage, that is.
But you’re a good fake husband to me. You could’ve kicked me out, but instead, you gave me a place to stay, and you took a bullet for me and told my mom off …
God”—she groans—“after being married to me, you’re probably going to want to change your mind about ever getting married again. ”
I bark out a laugh. “Being married to you isn’t so bad.”
Her eyes go wide, and I consider taking what I said back, but the truth is, aside from the gunshot wound and her crazy mom, I’ve liked having her around.
During the day, we work together to take care of Leo, and in the evening, once he’s in bed, we play cards.
I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but it’s been nice to have an adult conversation with someone that isn’t work-related.
I love my son, but he isn’t exactly the best conversationalist.
“Well, thanks, I guess. Good to know that when the time comes to get married for real, maybe I won’t be too bad of a wife.”
She clambers to get up, so I stand and reach my hand out to help pull her onto her feet.
Only when she stands, in this position, we’re close …
too close. Our mouths only centimeters from one another.
I glance down, and her perky tits are flush against my chest. Her soft, feminine scent fills my senses, and I force myself to take a step back, willing my cock not to react.
We might’ve had sex before, but I don’t remember it, and there will not be a repeat.
“I need to get back to work,” I say, pressing the button for my floor and moving to stand as far away from her as possible. “I can’t change what your mom did, but Matteo will get you out of here as soon as he can.”
The moment the doors open, I stalk inside my penthouse and find Vince sitting on the floor, playing with Leo, who’s climbing all over him like a jungle gym.
The second he spots me, he scrambles off Vince and crawls straight for …
“Up, up, up!” he shrieks, stopping in front of Vanessa instead of me and lifting his arms for her to pick him up.
“Hey, Monkey,” she chokes out, kneeling in front of him.
She lifts him into her arms and snuggles him close. “I have a quiz I need to take,” she murmurs to him, like he can understand her. “Once I’m done, we’re going to build the biggest block tower.”
With a kiss to the tip of his nose, she stands and hands him to me, and then she walks out of the living room and down the hall, closing her door behind her.
“Thanks for watching him,” I say to Vince once I have Leo on my hip. “If anyone tries to see Vanessa, make sure you check with me first.”
“Will do.” With a nod, Vince disappears back out the front door, leaving Leo and me alone.
For a few seconds, I stare at Vanessa’s door, considering knocking on it and talking to her.
But what would I even say? I wasn’t lying when I told her that it wasn’t so bad, having her here, but that doesn’t mean anything can come of it.
For one, she’s fifteen years younger than me.
And the only reason why she’s here is because she drugged and tricked me into marrying and having sex with her.
And then there’s the fact that the last woman I let in helped to have me imprisoned, almost had my company taken from me, and then proceeded to trap me with a baby and steal millions from me.
“If there’s one thing I can teach you,” I say to my son as I head back to my office, “it’s to never underestimate women. They’re like the ocean. Beautiful yet dangerous.”