Chapter 10 - Sylvia’s Poisonous Revenge: The Ambush in the Pine Woods
The sound of gunfire ripped through the sterile quiet of the hospital ward.
Victor’s combat instincts took over in a microsecond. The weeping, broken husband vanished, replaced instantly by the ruthless predator who had ruled Chicago’s underworld for a decade.
He surged off the floor, lunging across the room to tackle Nora to the ground, using his massive frame to shield both her and Mia beneath him just as a burst of automatic 9mm rounds shredded the nursery door, spraying wood splinters and drywall dust into the air.
"Stay down!" Victor roared, his voice cutting through Nora’s screams.
Outside the window, tires screeched on the icy hospital driveway. Sylvia had not gone quietly into the night. When Victor stripped her of her wealth and banished her, she had reached out to Victor’s most violent rival—the Moretti syndicate, who had been looking for a way to execute Victor outside of his heavily fortified Chicago territory for five years. Sylvia had traded Nora’s hospital location for a million-dollar bounty and a ticket out of the country.
Four masked gunmen in tactical gear stepped into the hallway, firing suppressed rifles to clear the security staff.
"Rinaldi!" a voice shouted from the smoke-filled corridor. "Come out, or we toss a grenade into the incubator!"
Nora gasped in horror, looking toward Leo’s glass box. The baby was screaming, terrified by the deafening noise, the monitors flashing red.
"Listen to me," Victor whispered in Nora’s ear, his tone deadly calm despite the chaos. He reached into his ankle holster and pulled out a backup snub-nosed revolver, pressing it into Nora’s trembling hands. "Cover Leo. If anyone other than me walks through that door, empty this into their chest. Do you hear me?"
"Victor... no..." Nora cried, her anger momentarily swallowed by terror. "They'll kill you!"
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Victor looked into her eyes, a faint, sad smile touching his bruised lips. "If I die protecting you and the twins tonight, Nora... it will be the only honorable thing I’ve ever done in my miserable life."
He leaned down and kissed her forehead, then turned, drew a combat knife from his boot, and rolled out into the dark, smoke-choked hallway.
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