Chapter 2 - The Intruder
The brutal sound of the struggle was heavily muffled by the massive thunderstorm raging outside. I watched in absolute horror as Luca disarmed the attacker with stunning and violent efficiency. He twisted the man's arm until a loud, sickening crack echoed through the empty rainy street. The dangerous assassin dropped the gun and fell to his knees in the thick mud. Luca leaned down and whispered something terrifying into the man's ear before knocking him completely unconscious. My heart pounded wildly against my ribs as Luca turned his dark attention back to my front door. He knocked again, but this time his bruised knuckles left smears of dark blood on the pristine white paint. I knew I could not leave the father of my children bleeding on my porch with an unconscious hitman in the yard. I slowly turned the heavy brass deadbolt and pulled the door open just enough to let him slip inside. He stepped into the warm bakery, his dark amber eyes instantly scanning the room for any additional threats. He looked at me, his broad chest heaving as freezing rainwater and blood dripped onto the wooden floor. I grabbed a clean white towel from the counter and handed it to him without saying a single word. He pressed the soft cloth against a deep, bleeding cut on his sharp cheekbone. I firmly asked him who had sent a professional assassin to a quiet bakery in the middle of nowhere. Luca looked at me with an intense emotional gravity that made it incredibly difficult to breathe. He explained that the man belonged to the Rossi syndicate, his absolute biggest rival in Chicago. I crossed my arms and told him that his violent, unpredictable world had absolutely nothing to do with me anymore. Luca shook his head slowly, his deep voice laced with a terrifying and undeniable certainty. He told me the assassin was never sent to kill him. He pulled a crumpled photograph from the unconscious man's pocket and placed it on the flour-dusted counter. It was a surveillance picture of me and the twins playing happily in the park across the street.
