Chapter 14 - The Final Threat NeutralizedThe peace we had built was tested one final time before the season changed.
It was late autumn when the last remaining loyalists of the Brighton Beach syndicate attempted a desperate, final strike.
They didn't attack the mansion this time.
They tried to strike at what mattered most.
I was at the botanical gardens in Manhattan with Benjamin, helping him sketch autumn leaves for a school project, when two unmarked vans pulled up alongside the pedestrian walkway.
Before my instincts could even register the danger, three masked men jumped out, rushing toward us with zip-ties and heavy canvas sacks.
"Get behind me, Ben!" I screamed, shoving the boy behind a stone fountain.
I grabbed a heavy metal tripod from our art supplies and swung it with all my might, catching the first attacker square across the chest.
He stumbled back, cursing, but lunged forward again, grabbing my arm and twisting it behind my back.
"Got the maid!" he yelled. "Grab the kid—"
BANG.
The sharp, muffled crack of a sniper rifle echoed across the park.
The attacker holding me dropped instantly, a clean, silent neutralization from a rooftop three hundred yards away.
The other two men froze in sheer terror, dropping their weapons as four black Moretti SUVs screeched to a halt around the pedestrian plaza, doors flying open as heavily armed security enforcers poured out.
And stepping out of the lead vehicle was Luca.
His black coat billowed behind him in the crisp autumn wind, his face a mask of absolute, frozen fury.
He didn't even look at the captured men.
His dark eyes locked entirely onto me and Benjamin.
He crossed the distance between us in three massive strides, dropping to his knees and pulling both Benjamin and me into a fierce, unbreakable embrace.
"Are you hurt?" Luca demanded, his voice shaking slightly as his hands checked my arms for injuries.
"I'm fine," I breathed, tears of adrenaline stinging my eyes. "Ben is safe. He didn't get touched."
Luca pulled Benjamin tightly against his chest, burying his face in the boy's hair, before looking back up at me.
May you like
"That was the last of them," Luca whispered, his voice dark and absolute. "The syndicate is dismantled. Completely. No one will ever threaten my family again."
He stood up, holding my hand tightly in his, and we walked back to the cars together under the golden autumn sun.
