Chapter 4 - The BreachThe front gates exploded inward.
A delivery van had rammed through them.
Four men in tactical gear stormed the courtyard.
Silenced rifles flashed.
Guards dropped behind marble pillars.
“Lockdown Protocol Alpha!”
I drew my pistol.
“Dominic, secure the foyer! Get everyone upstairs!”
The mansion erupted into chaos.
Glass shattered.
Alarms screamed.
My security team returned fire.
Then I realized what mattered.
Hannah.
Leo.
I ran.
I took the stairs three at a time.
The nursery door was locked.
“Hannah!”
Silence.
“Hannah, it's me!”
The electronic lock clicked.
The door opened.
She stood there holding an iron fireplace poker.
Leo was strapped against her chest in a tactical baby carrier.
“Are you hurt?”
“No.”
“Leo?”
“He's okay.”
Then the skylight shattered.
A masked man descended through the broken glass.
His rifle came up.
He aimed at Hannah.
Hannah didn't run.
She screamed and swung the poker.
Metal smashed into the attacker's helmet.
He stumbled.
I stepped between them.
One shot ended the threat.
Hannah stared at me.
Her hands were shaking.
I grabbed her.
“Come with me.”
We raced toward the hidden panic room.
Behind us, gunfire echoed through the mansion.
Inside the steel room, Hannah finally collapsed onto the sofa.
Leo remained calm.
Almost impossibly calm.
She stared at her hands.
“I hit someone.”
“You protected my son.”
“I've never hurt anyone.”
“You saved him.”
She looked at me.
Then whispered:
“They'll keep coming.”
“Yes.”
“Then I'm staying.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“If they want Leo, they'll have to come through both of us.”
For the first time, she called me by my first name.
“Lorenzo.”
I looked into her eyes.
She was terrified.
But she wasn't running.
“I'm not losing another child.”
Then she held Leo tighter.
“And I'm not letting him lose his father.”
Something shifted between us.
Not love.
Not yet.
May you like
Something stronger.
A promise.
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