Renata

Chapter 5

The car was already there with Liam waiting by it. I look around and watch as Aden finishes the call he was on and walk towards us. Liam opens the back door for us and I gesture for Luca to get in. Once the door is closed, I look back at Aden. "Mathew has been informed. The social worker we arranged will be there when we reach." I give him a nod and I enter in the back with Luca while Aden sits in the passenger seat. The car with the luggage and my two men follow us closely.

I take out the file and hand it over to Luca. He goes through it with confusion. After reading through the highlighted parts, he looks at me. "Who is this Sofia?" He asks as his eyes go back to the name on the file. "She's the woman that adopted you when you were 4. Her full name is Sofia Davies. She owns her own little company, hence how you had the life you had. She died two days ago and now you're on your way to the police station to meet the social worker who will then inform the Espositos that they found you. Sofia is not real of course but make sure you know the little details about her that are highlighted." He looks at me with raised eyebrows and looks back at the file. "You made up a person? Just like that? There is even a fake photo!"

"Well yes. It has to be realistic. Just incase they decide to look into her." I take a pause before continuing in a low voice. "And Luca, I know this is a lot. They will want to know how your life has been the past 14 years. And you'll have to lie to them and I'm sorry for that. Just be honest with all the memories you made but make sure to tell them it was made with this Sofia woman, not me. That's all I'm asking." He closes the file but doesn't look up from it. I see him swallow and after a second, he nods his head and looks out the window. I decide to give him some space to digest all of it.

My mind was running with various problems that could potentially come up. It was a thing I did when I was not at my best. Making up problems in my head and finding solutions for it became a hobby. It made me feel in control.

I was watching the sky with its morning sun shining down making the trees look greener. It gave away a false sense of warmth in the comparatively cold London. I was counting the number of trees as a distraction when suddenly Luca hugged me from the side and put his head in the crook of my neck and started sobbing. My heart clenched at the muffled sounds. I put my right hand around him and cupped the back of his head with my left and let him cry. He was an arrogant and tough kid around others but when it came to me, he becomes the most vulnerable person.

We stayed in that position till we reached the station. Sometime before, he had stopped crying and just stayed in my arms silently hugging me. When the car came to a stop, Luca tensed. Aden gets out and walks towards the man and woman standing at the entrance. Slowly Luca pulls back and looks out at the station and then at me. I wiped his tears and gave him a smile. "You'll be okay bambino. We can call anytime you want and I'll fly to Italy whenever possible. And don't be too reserved. Give them a chance to be your family, okay?" He nods his head and mutters a small okay. "Come on, let's get out."

While Luca stands near his luggage and goes through the file I gave him, I and Aden stand near the car, away from the eyes in the station. A tall blonde haired man and a brunette woman in a pencil skirt and blouse walks up to us. Mathew, the cop working at London Metropolitan police station and Lara, the social worker. They both work for me. Well technically the government, but their loyalties lie with me.

"Good morning ma'am. All the formalities are done. Mr. Lasko briefed us on how discrete this has to be. All we have to do is for Lara to make the call. We were waiting for your arrival." Mathew spoke up once he and Lara reached us. "Good. I want you both to accompany Luca to Italy. Don't leave until he's safely reunited with them and make sure no other calls are made by anyone else about this. I don't want anyone to know until he reaches Italy." My voice loses its softness that was there while talking with Luca. "Yes ma'am." He nods and I call out for Luca to come to us.