Chapter 9 - The Night Someone Came for Nora
It happened on a rainy Thursday.
The security alarm sounded at 2:13 a.m.
I was already awake.
Marcus rushed into the hallway.
“Sir, perimeter breach.”
I grabbed my weapon.
“Where?”
“Garden.”
Then I heard it.
A child's scream.
“Nora!”
I ran.
Maria was already running behind me.
The rain was pouring.
A black vehicle stood near the garden wall.
A man was carrying Nora.
She was struggling.
“Mama!”
Maria screamed.
I raised my weapon.
“Put her down.”
The man froze.
He turned.
Victor's former associate.
A man named Cole.
He had escaped custody weeks earlier.
“You destroyed everything,” he shouted.
“No.”
I stepped forward.
“You did.”
He pressed a weapon against Nora.
Maria cried.
“Please.”
Nora was terrified.
But then she looked at me.
I remembered the little girl from the laundry room.
The little girl who had believed dirty shirts could cost her a home.
I lowered my weapon.
“Cole.”
He looked at me.
“You want me?”
“Yes.”
“Then take me.”
“Luca!”
I kept my eyes on him.
“You want revenge?”
“Yes.”
“Then don't make Nora pay for it.”
Cole hesitated.
That was enough.
Marcus moved.
The guards rushed from both sides.
Cole dropped his weapon.
Nora ran.
I caught her.
She buried her face against my chest.
“I knew you'd come.”
I held her tightly.
“I always will.”
Maria reached us.
She wrapped both arms around Nora.
Then she looked at me.
“Thank you.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“What?”
“You don't thank someone for protecting family.”
She started crying.
I kissed her forehead.
The police took Cole away.
Later that night, Nora fell asleep between us on the couch.
Maria looked at her.
“She trusts you completely.”
I looked at the child sleeping against my chest.
“I almost didn't become the man she needed.”
Maria touched my hand.
“But you did.”
I looked at her.
“Maria.”
“Yes?”
“I don't want to spend another day pretending you're just my employee.”
She smiled through tears.
“I don't want that either.”
I reached into my pocket.
There was no diamond.
No grand gesture.
Just a simple ring I had bought that afternoon.
“I don't know how to do this perfectly.”
She laughed softly.
“Neither do I.”
“But I want to try.”
She looked at Nora.
Then at me.
“Yes.”
May you like
I smiled.
And for once, the most feared man in the city was crying.
