Romano's POV

Leo’s question—"Are you really my father?"—hit me like a sudden splash of cold water, freezing me in place. My body went rigid, my muscles locking. My eyes fixed on him in disbelief, as if he were an alien who had just spoken a profound truth.

In that moment, a desperate urge welled up: I wanted to claim him. I wanted to tell him that yes, I was the man capable of fathering a child as bright as him.

But a stronger, colder part of me resisted. Not now. The revelation had to ...