Chapter 4 - Blood on the Autumn Leaves
Aleandro rose from behind the wall like an absolute specter of death.
His movements were precise, cold, and devastatingly efficient. He leaned over the concrete ledge and fired three rapid shots.
Thwip. Thwip. Thwip.
Two of the attackers dropped instantly on the grass. The third scrambled behind his SUV, blind-firing wildly into the park.
"Matteo! Cover the left flank!" Aleandro roared over the gunfire, his voice commanding his men like a seasoned general.
From the side path, two of Aleandro’s top enforcers flanked the remaining shooter. Within ten seconds, the final attacker was disarmed and forced to his knees on the pavement, his weapon sliding across the wet leaves.
The chaotic crossfire stopped as quickly as it had begun. The afternoon silence returned to the park, broken only by the distant, approaching wail of police sirens.
Aleandro lowered his weapon, clicking the safety back on, and tucked it smoothly back into his coat. He turned around and rushed back to the concrete wall.
"Sarah! Lily!" he called out, his voice laced with frantic worry.
Sarah sat up, her face covered in dust, her hands trembling as she held Lily tightly against her chest. The little girl was crying softly, her face buried in her mother’s purple sweater.
Aleandro knelt beside them, his large hands hovering over them as he checked every inch of their bodies for injuries. "Are you hurt? Tell me! Are you bleeding?!"
"We're... we're okay," Sarah stammered, looking at him in utter shock. "Aleandro... you took a bullet for us!"
Sarah pointed at his right shoulder. The dark wool of his cashmere coat was torn, soaked through with dark, heavy blood.
Aleandro glanced at his shoulder as if it were a minor inconvenience. "It’s a scratch. It doesn't matter."
He reached out, his hand surprisingly gentle despite the blood on his cuffs, and gently cupped Lily’s tear-stained cheek.
"Don't cry, little bird," Aleandro whispered softly to his daughter. "Daddy’s here. Nobody will ever hurt you again."
Lily looked up through her tears, seeing the blood on his coat, then reached out her small hand and touched his face. "Daddy... you're bleeding."
Aleandro smiled—a genuine, broken smile full of endless warmth. "I'm okay, Lily. Because you held my hand."
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He looked up at Sarah, his eyes deadly serious. "The police will be here in three minutes. We leave now. Both of you."
This time, Sarah didn't argue. She nodded, allowing Aleandro to lift Lily into his good arm while guiding Sarah toward the waiting bulletproof sedan.
