Chapter 4 - Blood in the Nursery
The heavy oak doors of the safe house nursery shuddered under the force of a high-explosive breach charge.
Explosive smoke billowed through the hallway as splintered wood rained down across the Persian carpets.
Hannah jolted awake in the middle of the night with adrenaline screaming through every vein in her body.
Without a second thought, she grabbed Matteo out of his bed and pulled him into the secret alcove behind the bookshelf.
Heavy combat boots pounded against the hardwood floors outside the room.
Voices in harsh foreign accents shouted orders as rival Morosco syndicate mercenaries swept the estate.
Matteo buried his face in Hannah's chest, trembling so hard he couldn't even cry out.
Hannah pressed her hand firmly over his mouth to muffle his breathing while her heart hammered against her ribs like a trapped bird.
The nursery door was kicked off its hinges with a deafening crash.
Two masked men holding silenced submachine guns stepped into the bedroom, sweeping their flashlights across the room.
Hannah held her breath, praying to every god she had ever known that the secret latch would hold.
One of the mercenaries walked directly toward the bookcase, his heavy boots stopping just inches away from where they hid.
He reached out a gloved hand and pushed against the wooden frame.
Hannah closed her eyes and prepared for the end, wrapping her own body protectively around Matteo.
Suddenly, a muffled gunshot echoed from down the eastern corridor, followed by a sickening thud.
The mercenary paused, pulling his hand back from the bookshelf to listen to his radio headset.
Static hissed through the comms before a chilling voice whispered that the perimeter was compromised.
Both intruders spun around and rushed out of the room to join their squad.
Hannah let out a shaky breath, her entire body slick with cold sweat.
Ten minutes later, the secret door clicked open and slid back into the wall.
Lucas stood in the doorway holding a customized Sig Sauer pistol, his charcoal shirt stained dark with crimson blood that wasn't his.
His eyes swept over the room like a radar before locking onto Hannah and his son.
When he saw they were unharmed, the terrifying tension in his shoulders relaxed by a fraction of an inch.
He dropped his weapon onto the sofa and fell to his knees, pulling both Hannah and Matteo into his powerful embrace.
Hannah felt the frantic beating of Lucas's heart against her own chest and realized he was terrified of losing them.
In that moment of shared trauma, the barrier between the mafia boss and the ordinary teacher shattered completely.
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Lucas kissed the top of Matteo's head before turning his intense gaze toward Hannah.
He whispered that he would burn the entire city of New York to ashes before letting anyone lay a finger on either of them again.
