Page 60 of The CEO Alpha’s Substitute Mate

This time, the pause runs long enough that I turn my head to look at him. His face looks tense, which is itself an answer, and the back of my neck goes cold. I’ve let a lot of this slide. Rich people are strange, this family is stranger than most, and I decided somewhere in week one that the vocabulary in this house was none of my business. Standing in this corridor, I’m no longer sure that was a smart decision.

“You should talk to the master.”

With that, he disappears into one of the rooms, leaving me alone to deal with my thoughts and questions.

An hour later, I hear the car on the drive, and I’m out through the front doors. Callum gets out first, on the phone with someone. Luca comes around the side of the car after him, and for a moment I stare at him. Something is wrong.

“Luca?” I take a few steps toward him and notice that he’s not all that steady on his feet, and his face looks a little clammy.

“Mommy?” He comes toward me at a walk that keeps tipping sideways. Callum turns his head sharply at the sound of his weak voice, lowering his phone.

“Luca, are you all right?”

The child doesn’t answer, just keeps coming, faster now, both arms out toward me, and I’m already running. I lock my arms around him, and he goes down. His whole weight drops into me at once, and I go to my knees on the ground with him folded against my chest. His forehead is scalding through my shirt.

“What happened?” I’ve got a fistful of his coat, and I glare at Callum. “Why is he like this? Why didn’t you notice?”

“He was fine in the car.” Callum is on his knees beside me, but I didn’t see him move. “He was sleeping.”

“Call a doctor.” My voice comes out too high and too fast. “He’s burning up again. Call Salar!”

Reid takes him from me at the top of the stairs as another car pulls up behind Callum’s. Salar exits the car, and as soon as he sees the chaos unfolding, he realizes what’s happening and rushes into the house. I’m right behind him, and as soon as Reid lays Luca in the bed, Salar puts a hand on my son’s forehead, then on the side of his throat.

His expression stiffens, and he looks at me and then at Callum.

“It’s better if you leave the room, Miss Reyes.”

“No, I’m staying.” I put myself against the end of the bed. “What is it?”

“Miss Reyes.”

“Just say it. It doesn’t matter.”

Salar’s mouth tightens. “He has the disease. I can sense it.” He glances at Callum. “And there are two of us in here today. That’s too many in one room.”

“Too many of what?”

“If you want answers, don’t stay here.” Callum is on his feet on the other side of the bed. “Because I will not give you the answers right now.”

“He’s my son.”

“It’s better if you leave the room so that we can talk properly,” Callum says firmly.

“Why are you hiding things about my son?”

“If you care for Luca,” he says, “you will leave the room.”

I stand there with my hands in fists while my child breathes badly a foot away. The choice is hard. I can either have this argument or let the man who knows what he’s doing get on with it. I have no choice but to leave.

Reid exits after me, and I say, “Reid, can you get some soup made? Something soft, for Luca.”

“Of course.”

“I have the recipe.” I’m already patting my pockets. “Do you have a pen? It has to be the right one. He won’t take anything else when he’s like this.”

He produces a pen and a small notebook out of his coat, then writes the whole thing down while I talk, without once treating a word of it as ridiculous. When he’s finished, he tears the page out and turns for the stairs.

“Reid.” I catch his sleeve. “Please tell the cook just to follow my instructions. Don’t put anything extra in it.”