Chapter 2 - The Men Outside
I moved immediately.
“Lily, get behind me.”
She obeyed.
Sarah tried to stand.
I caught her.
“You're too weak.”
“I can walk.”
“You're shaking.”
“I'm scared.”
I looked at her.
“When have you ever been scared?”
“When it comes to her.”
That answer told me everything.
I pulled out my phone.
“Call emergency services,” I told Lily.
She nodded.
Then the apartment door rattled.
Someone was trying to force it open.
I moved toward the entrance.
“Mr. Moretti?”
A man's voice.
“Open the door.”
I didn't answer.
The door shook again.
Sarah whispered:
“They're not here for you.”
“I know.”
“They're here for Lily.”
“Then they're going to have a very bad night.”
The door exploded inward.
Two men rushed inside.
The first barely had time to raise his weapon.
I dropped him.
The second ran.
He didn't make it past the hallway.
Within seconds, silence returned.
Lily stood frozen.
I crouched beside her.
“Are you hurt?”
She shook her head.
“Mommy?”
Sarah was still conscious.
Barely.
I called an ambulance myself.
Then I looked at the men.
One carried an identification card.
Daniel Rossi's private security company.
My stomach tightened.
This wasn't random.
Someone inside my organization knew where Sarah lived.
Someone had sent them.
And that meant the betrayal was deeper than I had imagined.
At the hospital, Sarah was rushed into emergency care.
Lily sat beside me.
She held my hand.
I wasn't used to children.
I wasn't used to anyone needing me.
But when she squeezed my fingers, something strange happened.
I didn't pull away.
“Are you really my daddy?”
I looked at her.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“I knew it.”
“How?”
“You look like me.”
I laughed softly.
“That's not how genetics works.”
She shrugged.
“I still knew.”
A doctor approached.
“Mr. Moretti?”
“Yes.”
“Sarah needs surgery.”
My heart tightened.
“How serious?”
“Very.”
I nodded.
“Do whatever it takes.”
The doctor left.
Lily looked at me.
“Is Mommy going to die?”
I didn't know how to answer.
So I told her the truth.
“I'm going to do everything I can to make sure she doesn't.”
She leaned against me.
“Promise?”
I looked down at her.
“I promise.”
May you like
That was the first promise I'd ever made to my daughter.
And I intended to keep it.
