A feared mafia boss entered the restaurant with a crying baby, and the entire dining room went silent as the child reached desperately for me.

Elina felt as though the air had been violently sucked from her lungs. She stared at the painted eyes of Isabella DeLuca, then dropped her head to look at the baby resting against her collarbone.

Baby Leo shifted slightly in his sleep, curling his tiny body even closer against Elina. He rested his small, round cheek directly against her chest, letting out another soft, contented breath, completely at peace in the arms of a woman who possessed the exact face of his deceased mother.

"Isabella..." Elina whispered, the name tasting heavy and foreign on her tongue. "She... she looks just like me."

"No," Matteo corrected softly, his voice sharp and laced with an underlying tension that sent chills down Elina's spine. "You look just like her."

Elina turned her head slowly to look at Matteo. He was standing extremely close to her now. The dim light highlighted the fear and suspicion battling inside his dark eyes.

"I don't understand," Elina said, her voice crackling with distress. "I was raised in foster care three towns over. I spent my whole life in public schools, working in diners and restaurants. I don't have family, Mr. DeLuca. I don't know who my biological parents were. I swear to you, I didn't plan this! I didn't know this picture was here... I mean, I've seen it before, but I never—I never really looked at it!"

"This restaurant was owned by Isabella's family," Matteo said quietly, ignoring her frantic explanation. His dark eyes remained fixed on her face, analyzing every tremble of her lips, every quiver of her eyelids. "I kept her portrait here after she passed. I come here once a month to sit in her memory."

He took another step closer, his massive presence completely encircling Elina and the child.

"Isabella died nine months ago," Matteo continued, his voice dropping into a dark, solemn tone. "She died giving birth to Leo in a private clinic. I held her hand as her heart stopped. I watched them bury her. I saw her casket go into the ground."

Elina swallowed hard, feeling an icy knot of terror tighten in her stomach. "Then... then this is just a terrible, impossible coincidence, Mr. DeLuca. I'm just a girl who happens to look like her. Please... take your baby."

Elina carefully began to lift Baby Leo away from her chest, intending to hand him back to his father.

The moment Leo felt his mother's likeness slipping away, his eyes snapped open. The infant let out a sharp, heartbroken wail, his small hands instantly reaching out to grab Elina’s white apron again, holding on with desperate, frantic strength. He kicked his little legs and began to sob hysterically, his face turning red instantly.

Elina immediately pulled him back against her chest, her protective instincts overriding her fear. "Shh, shh, it's okay, Leo! I'm here, I'm here," she hushed softly, gently kissing the top of the baby's blonde head and swaying again.