CHAPTER 3 — THE ENEMIES WHO CAME FOR THE HEIR
Within weeks, everything changed.
Leo laughed again.
He painted.
He spoke in short sentences.
He even slept through the night.
The impossible had happened.
The mansion slowly felt like a home again.
But not everyone welcomed the miracle.
Word spread through the underworld.
The feared Matteo DeLuca had a weakness.
A woman.
And a child.
One rainy evening, while Camryn and Leo were baking cookies in the kitchen, every light inside the penthouse suddenly went dark.
The backup generators failed.
Security cameras went offline.
Matteo's phone rang.
A distorted voice whispered,
"You've taken everything from us."
"Tonight..."
"We're taking your son."
Gunfire erupted below.
The building shook.
Matteo drew his pistol before the first bodyguard reached the hallway.
"Take Leo," he ordered Camryn.
"Run."
She grabbed Leo's hand without hesitation.
Instead of hiding, she remembered the emergency staircase the maintenance workers used every week.
She led Leo through the service corridors she had memorized while cleaning.
Behind them came footsteps.
Closer.
Closer.
A masked gunman turned the corner.
Leo froze.
Camryn stepped in front of him.
"You'll have to go through me."
The gunman raised his weapon.
Before he could pull the trigger—
Bang.
Matteo's shot echoed through the hallway.
The attacker collapsed.
More guards rushed in.
Within minutes, the assault was over.
Matteo found Camryn sitting on the concrete stairs with Leo asleep in her lap.
She had shielded his son with nothing but her own body.
No weapon.
No armor.
Only love.
Matteo knelt before her.
"I've faced hundreds of enemies."
"But I've never met anyone braver than you."
Camryn smiled.
"I only protected my family."
The word lingered.
Family.
Matteo realized...
May you like
Somewhere along the way...
She had become exactly that.
