The Mafia Boss’s Lost Son

Part 3: The Father Who Came Back

The following morning, I received a delivery at the hospital.

A beautiful bouquet of white roses.

There was no name on the card.

Only one sentence.

I am sorry I wasn’t there when you needed me most.

I knew exactly who had sent them.

I placed the flowers in the staff room and returned to work.

But Alistair wasn’t finished.

That afternoon, I found him standing outside the hospital entrance.

He wasn’t alone. His driver waited beside a black SUV, but Alistair stood with a small paper bag in his hand.

“You’re becoming difficult to avoid,” I said.

He almost smiled.

“I brought something for Ethan.”

“I don’t want your gifts.”

“It’s just a book.”

I looked inside the bag.

A beautifully illustrated children’s book about a little boy and his father.

My throat tightened.

“Don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“Make promises you might not keep.”

He looked at me seriously.

“I won’t ask you to forgive me. I won’t ask you to come back. Just let me meet my son again.”

I remained silent.

Then my phone rang.

It was Ethan’s kindergarten.

He had developed a fever, and they needed me to pick him up.

I immediately grabbed my coat.

Alistair noticed my worried expression.

“What’s wrong?”

“Ethan is sick.”

“Let me drive you.”

“No.”

“Eveina, please. You don’t have to do everything alone.”

I wanted to refuse.

But the rain was getting heavier, and I needed to reach Ethan quickly.

“Just drive.”

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the kindergarten.

Ethan was sitting in the nurse’s office, looking pale and miserable.

“Mommy!”

I hurried toward him.

“Sweetheart, what happened?”

“My tummy hurts.”

I picked him up, and Alistair followed us.

When Ethan noticed him, his face brightened slightly.

“The cookie man!”

Alistair smiled.

“Hello, Ethan.”

At the hospital, the doctor examined Ethan and determined he had a common viral infection. Nothing serious, but he needed rest and plenty of fluids.

Alistair stayed outside the examination room.

He didn’t make phone calls. He didn’t bark orders at his bodyguards.

He simply waited.

When I finally came out carrying Ethan, he stood immediately.

“Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine.”

Alistair exhaled.

“Thank God.”

Ethan reached one small hand toward him.

“Can you carry me?”

I froze.

Alistair looked at me, silently asking permission.

After a moment, I nodded.

He carefully lifted Ethan into his arms.

My son rested his head against Alistair’s shoulder as if he had known him forever.

“You’re warm,” Ethan mumbled.

Alistair laughed softly.

“You’re warm too, buddy.”

Then Ethan asked the question I had dreaded.

“Do you have a little boy at home?”

Alistair’s smile disappeared.

“No.”

“Then you can play with me sometime.”

Alistair pressed his lips together.

“I would like that very much.”

Two days later, I agreed to let Alistair spend one afternoon with Ethan at a public playground.

He arrived carrying a small toy truck.

Ethan was delighted.

They played for nearly two hours. Alistair pushed him on the swings, bought him ice cream, and listened patiently to his endless stories about dinosaurs.

I watched from a nearby bench.

For a moment, I saw the family I had once dreamed of.

Then my phone vibrated.

An unknown number.

The message contained a photograph of Alistair standing beside Sophia.

Underneath it were six words.

You should know what he is hiding.

My stomach tightened.

Before I could respond, another message arrived.

Ask him why Sophia came back.

I looked toward Alistair.

He was laughing as Ethan tried to teach him how to build a sandcastle.

But suddenly, I remembered the woman in his penthouse.

And I realized that perhaps the past wasn’t finished with us.

That evening, I confronted him.

“Did Sophia contact you recently?”

His expression changed.

“Why are you asking?”

“Because someone sent me a photograph of you two.”

He was silent for several seconds.

Then he took out his phone.

“Sophia returned to Chicago three weeks ago.”

“Why?”

“She wants to marry me.”

I stared at him.

“Excuse me?”

“I refused.”

I folded my arms.

“And what does that have to do with Ethan?”

Alistair hesitated.

“Her father has been pressuring my organization. He believes our marriage would restore an old business alliance.”

I shook my head.

“I don’t care about your business arrangements.”

“There’s something else.”

He looked directly at me.

“Sophia knows about Ethan.”

My heart stopped.

“How?”

“She saw us outside the bakery. She recognized you.”

I immediately felt cold.

“Alistair, keep her away from my son.”

“I will.”

“Don’t just say that. Make sure you do.”

He nodded.

“I swear.”

I walked away that night with Ethan in my arms.

But I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching us.

And I was right.

Because Sophia Reynolds had no intention of letting Alistair Blackthornne build a happy family with the woman he had once abandoned.