Chapter 1 - The Contract of Secrets
“I don’t know who that woman is,” Cameron whispered, her voice barely breaking the heavy silence of the study.
Matteo Duca did not blink as he kept his dark, piercing eyes locked onto her pale face.
He stepped closer, his imposing figure blocking out the dim light from the window.
“People do not simply share the same exact face, the same eyes, and the same birthmark by coincidence,” Matteo stated coldly.
Cameron instinctively pulled Leo closer to her side, wrapping a protective arm around the sleeping toddler.
“I grew up in the foster care system in Chicago, Mr. Duca,” she explained, her voice trembling but defiant.
“My records were sealed, and I was told my birth mother abandoned me at a fire station when I was a day old.”
Matteo’s jaw tightened as his mind raced through the impossible implications of her story.
Sofia had never mentioned a sister, let alone an identical twin lost to the broken system of the city.
He looked down at his son, who was resting peacefully against the chest of a maid he had met less than an hour ago.
Fourteen highly trained, expensive professionals had failed to soothe the boy’s violent grief.
Yet this young woman with scarred hands and a cheap uniform had tamed him with nothing but a whisper.
“You are no longer a maid in this penthouse,” Matteo commanded, walking back to his mahogany desk.
He pulled a blank checkbook from the top drawer and slammed it onto the leather surface.
“I am offering you a position as Leo’s exclusive, live-in nanny, and I will pay you whatever number you write on this piece of paper.”
Cameron stared at the check, her heart pounding wildly against her ribs.
“I don’t want your money, I just want to know why I look like a dead woman,” she fired back.
Matteo leaned over the desk, his presence so commanding that it sucked the oxygen out of the room.
“If you stay, I will hire the best private investigators in the world to find out exactly who you are.”
Cameron looked down at Leo’s soft, tear-stained cheeks and knew she could never walk away from this broken child.
“Fine,” she agreed softly, meeting the billionaire’s dangerous gaze without flinching.
“But I am here for the boy, Matteo, not to be a ghost for you.”
May you like
Matteo’s breath hitched at the sound of his first name falling from her lips.
For a fraction of a second, the cold, ruthless businessman vanished, leaving only a haunted widower behind.
