I Saved His Daughter And The Mafia Boss Won’t Let Me Leave Chapter 05
The doctor puts down the chart and looks at us.
“So, his legs are actually doing a lot better than we thought.”
I blurt out before I can think. “Wait — so he’s not actually disabled?”
The second it comes out, I want to crawl under the floor. I let out an awkward laugh and scratch my head.
Roman pinches the bridge of his nose.
The doctor almost smiles.
“The crash did real damage. Nerve compression, the whole deal. But the surgery fixed that. His bones are solid. Muscles are fine.”
He leans back in his chair.
“The reason he still can’t feel his legs? It’s up here.” He taps his temple. “His body healed. His brain hasn’t caught up. It went through something so bad, it’s still convinced the legs don’t work. Like a switch that got stuck.”
I lean forward. “Then how come he felt something last night?”
The doctor shrugs. “Sometimes a strong enough jolt can flip that switch for a second. Emotional, physical, whatever.” He looks at Roman. “What were you doing when it happened?”
Last night. Carrying him. Cleaning him up. Peeling off his shirt. My hands on his legs.
My face catches fire.
Roman turns his head the other way. His ears are bright red.
The doctor grins. “Whatever it was — keep doing it. With steady rehab, there’s a real shot he walks again.”
On the ride home, I can’t stop thinking.
“Roman.”
He looks at me.
“The crash. What really happened?”
He’s quiet for a long time.
“Victoria called. Said something happened to Lily. Somewhere out past the city.”
His voice goes flat. Too flat.
“I got in the car. Didn’t think. Just drove.”
He pauses.
“Halfway there, the brakes went. Car went straight off the overpass.”
My blood runs cold. “But—”
“Had it serviced the day before.” He’s looking out the window now. “Cops said the brake pads were worn through. Funny how that works, right?”
The way he says “funny” makes my skin crawl.
“You think someone did it on purpose.”
He doesn’t answer. Which is an answer.
“What about Victoria?”
“Signed the papers a few weeks after. Left the country.”
Still looking out the window.
“Didn’t take Lily.”
I think of that little face. Those big scared eyes. That tiny voice begging me not to go.
Something twists hard in my chest.
What kind of mother does that? Just packs up and walks away from her own kid?
Back at the estate, Lily is nowhere.
Marco meets us at the door, face tight with worry.
“She hasn’t eaten since this morning. Won’t talk. Won’t get out of bed.”
I take the stairs three at a time.
She’s curled into a ball under the covers, facing the wall.
“Lily?”
She goes stiff. Sits up so fast it scares me.
The second she sees my face, she breaks.
“Mommy…”
She crashes into me, sobbing so hard she can’t get air.
“I woke up and you were gone.”
“I thought — I thought you left me too—”
It hits me right in the chest. Like a blade.
I know this feeling. I lived it.
When I was little, the woman who ran my orphanage got sick. I sat alone in that hallway for hours, staring at the door, sure she was never coming back.
That fear of being completely alone in the world. I know every second of it.
I hold Lily as tight as I can.
“Mommy just went to the doctor with Daddy. That’s all.”
“From now on, wherever I go, I’ll tell you first. Always.”
“I’m not gonna disappear. And I’m never, ever leaving you.”
She looks up at me. Eyes swollen, cheeks soaked.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
She holds out her tiny pinky. I hook mine around it.
“Pinky swear,” she whispers.
“Pinky swear.”
Her grip on my shirt finally loosens. Just a little.
After a while, she asks quietly:
“Summer’s almost over.”
“Will you come with me? On my first day?”
I smile and kiss the top of her head.
“Of course I will, baby.”