Chapter 4 - The Mother Who Ran Toward Bullets.
.The gunman turned too slowly.
Anna slammed the silver emergency extinguisher she had ripped from the garage wall into his forearm.
The pistol flew across the concrete.
He struck her across the face, and pain burst behind her left eye.
She staggered but did not fall.
He reached for the weapon again.
Anna kicked it beneath the wrecked SUV.
The gunman grabbed her ponytail and pulled her backward.
Luca hit him from the side with enough force to send both men crashing into the hood of the sedan.
The fight lasted less than ten seconds.
It felt much longer to Sofia.
She stood beside the open SUV door, trembling so violently that her knees nearly folded.
"Mama!"
Anna broke free and ran to her.
The word no longer felt impossible.
It felt terrifyingly natural.
Luca's guards finally flooded the garage and secured the attacker.
Luca ordered everyone into a second vehicle.
He sat opposite Anna in the back as the convoy sped away from the hotel.
A bruise was forming along her cheek.
Sofia lay curled against her, exhausted.
Luca looked at Anna's hands.
"You ran at an armed man."
"He was aiming at her."
"You didn't even know her two hours ago."
Anna looked down at Sofia.
"Maybe some part of me did."
Luca's eyes filled with a grief he quickly buried.
"If you are Elena, then I buried an empty coffin."
Anna looked at him.
"Did you see my body?"
He shook his head.
"The fire destroyed almost everything. Victor identified your necklace and wedding ring at the scene."
Anna's hand moved instinctively to her bare throat.
"I woke without jewelry."
Luca leaned back.
For the first time, suspicion turned away from Anna and toward the man he had trusted for fifteen years.
The convoy entered a gated estate overlooking the Hudson River.
Anna recognized the stone lions beside the drive before Luca said a word.
Her stomach twisted.
"I've been here."
Sofia sat up.
"This is home."
Inside, Anna stopped in the entry hall.
A portrait hung above the staircase.
It showed Luca, a younger Sofia, and Anna herself wearing a red dress.
Anna covered her mouth.
A wave of memory crashed through her.
She saw herself dancing barefoot in the same hall.
She heard Luca laughing as Sofia tried to copy them.
Then another image pushed through.
Victor standing in Luca's office late at night with papers spread across the desk.
Anna arguing with him.
"You're stealing from him."
Victor smiling without warmth.
"No. I'm building what he is too weak to protect."
Anna gripped the stair rail.
Luca caught her elbow.
"What did you see?"
"Victor was moving money."
Luca's face hardened.
Anna struggled to continue.
"I found accounts. I told him I would show you."
Sofia watched both adults with frightened eyes.
Luca crouched beside her.
"Rosa will take you upstairs."
"No. I want Mama."
Anna squeezed her hand.
"I'll be right here."
An older housekeeper named Rosa appeared at the landing and began to cry the moment she saw Anna.
"Madonna mia. Elena?"
Anna felt the room tilt.
Before Rosa could reach her, the front doors opened.
Victor Sanz walked in surrounded by four armed men.
He looked at Anna's bruised face, then at Luca.
"Thank God you're safe."
Luca did not answer.
Victor's gaze moved to Sofia.
"The doctor is on his way. She should be sedated after what happened tonight."
Anna's blood went cold.
"No sedatives."
Victor smiled at her.
"You don't get to make decisions here."
Luca stepped between them.
May you like
"Actually, she does."
Victor's smile disappeared.
