The mother froze.

“You knew him?”

Luca nodded.

“Your baby’s father saved my life six years ago.”

Her face changed.

“He told me he had no one.”

“He thought he didn’t.”

Luca reached inside his coat and pulled out an old photograph.

Two younger men stood together in front of a hospital.

One was Luca.

The other was the man she had loved.

Her eyes filled instantly.

“Where did you get this?”

“He gave it to me before he disappeared.”

She shook her head.

“He died.”

Luca’s expression hardened.

“That’s what you were told.”

The man in the blue suit suddenly stopped trying to get up.

The mother noticed.

Luca noticed too.

He turned slowly.

“You know something.”

The man said nothing.

Luca looked back at the mother.

“Your son’s father found out someone was stealing from his family.”

Her breathing became shallow.

“And before he vanished, he made me promise one thing.”

“What?”

Luca looked at the newborn.

“If anything happened to him, I was supposed to protect his child.”

The mother began crying.

Then Luca handed her the photograph.

On the back was a handwritten message.

If my son is ever born, tell him I never left him willingly.

She covered her mouth.

Luca looked toward the man in blue.

Then quietly added,

“And the man who threatened your baby today…”

His eyes turned cold.

“…is the last person who saw his father alive.”