CHAPTER19
LOUISA
Iswear I stop breathing and I can’t even look at Flynn.
“A daughter.” I say it softly and watch Iris’s eyes fill with tears.
“Such a tragedy. I don’t think I will ever forget that terrible time.”
“Why, what happened?”
I’m doing all the talking because Flynn looks as if he can’t even speak right now and the emotion is so tangible, I’m surprised Iris doesn’t see it for herself.
“Massimo fell in love with Imogen. The most beautiful woman I have ever seen. So lovely, like an angel, and he was besotted with her. I’ve never seen love like it and, well, it was a happy time.”
The fond memories that shine from her eyes make me smile because it’s obvious that at one point in his life, Massimo was happy and in love.
Iris’s expression grows troubled. “They were to become parents; such a joyous time. Massimo was the happiest I had ever seen him, and it made life easier for everyone. Then Imogen went into labor early and Massimo was out of town. There wasn’t time to send for a doctor because her waters broke, and I had to act fast. I delivered the baby myself and she was so beautiful, just like her mother.”
Iris breaks off and appears so sad it moves me incredibly. “Out of great joy came great sadness.” She stares out of the window as if she is seeing pictures from the past and sighs heavily. “Childbirth cost Imogen her life. She hemorrhaged so badly we couldn’t save her. The nearest hospital was far away and by the time the doctor came, it was too late.”
“I’m so sorry.” The grief in Iris’s eyes is hard to bear, and she clenches and unclenches her fist as if that’s her coping mechanism.
“I called Wesley. He was the only one who could help me.”
I catch Flynn’s expression and my heart shatters for him. This story is affecting him so deeply I wish she would stop, but she carries on in a slightly wavering voice. “Wesley turned out to be a great help to me. The fact the baby was a girl became a huge problem. He told me that Massimo wouldn’t be able to look at the child without seeing her mother, causing him to be afraid of what he may do to punish her for killing the only woman he ever loved.”
“Surely he would love her all the more.”
I am so incensed I can’t help but speak out and Iris laughs, a dull, brittle laugh of someone who has no silver lining on her cloud.
“Wesley was right. Massimo would be overcome with grief and take it out on the child. We had to act fast. I called a childless couple I used to work for who were desperate. They would raise the child as their own and Massimo would never learn of her existence. Wesley told me he heard of an abandoned child we would swap her with. A boy, the son of a worker from his club called Vivian Clark.”
I glance at Flynn with concern because this could erupt into madness in a second, but the tense set to his jaw and the dead eyes that stare at Iris with no emotion, chills me even deeper than any emotional outburst. That expression spells huge trouble for Wesley Vasquez.
Iris sighs. “It was the right thing to do. Wesley arranged everything before Massimo returned and it happened just as he said it would. Massimo became mad with grief. I’ve never seen anything like it, so much that Wesley told him he would take the boy off his hands, so he didn’t have to see him. I will never forget the expression in Massimo’s eyes when he told Wesley to make the child’s life a living hell. He would burn in it for eternity for causing the death of his beloved wife.”
Iris breaks off and changes from the frightened woman she was as she relived her past and smiles. “Where are my manners, I haven’t offered you any tea. Did I tell you that Massimo likes me to brush his hair? Such beautiful hair. He will be here soon, I’m sure. You must meet him. He’s such an angel.”
I notice that Flynn has murder in his eyes and say to Iris quickly, “You mentioned Massimo has a daughter. Can you tell us where she lives? Does she visit you too?”
Iris looks a little confused. “Oh no dear, she doesn’t live here anymore.”
“Where does she live?”
I keep pressing on because the more information we get, the better and Iris smiles happily. “She lives in England, my dear, with another one of my children. Such a lovely family.”
The door opens and the care worker heads into the room, looking flustered.
“I’m sorry I was so long. Mr. Benson had a mild heart attack, and I had to dial 911. I’m very sorry, but we must continue the tour another day. I’m so sorry but well, emergency and everything.”
For the first time, Flynn speaks up and says huskily, “Of course, thank you for allowing us to visit. We’ll be in touch.”
He reaches out and takes my hand and, as his cold fingers wrap around mine, I fear the storm about to break on the horizon. I don’t think either of us expected what we found, and it’s changed everything.