Chapter 13 - The Ambush
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It had been two months since the wedding, and life at the Costa estate had settled into a strange, peaceful rhythm.
The twins had started holding Nora’s hands when they walked through the halls. Mia showed Nora her drawings. Even Leo would sit in the kitchen and do his homework while she cooked.
For the first time in her life, Nora felt like she belonged.
It was a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Nora had taken the twins, Sam and Ben, to a private, heavily guarded park on the outskirts of the city. Four of Arthur’s best men formed a perimeter around the playground.
Nora sat on a bench, watching the boys climb the jungle gym, a rare smile on her face.
Then, a black van screeched to a halt at the edge of the park.
Everything happened in terrifying slow motion. The back doors of the van flew open. Men in ski masks poured out, raising automatic weapons.
“Get down!” one of the Costa guards screamed, drawing his weapon before taking a bullet to the shoulder.
Gunfire erupted, shattering the peaceful afternoon.
Nora didn’t scream. She didn’t freeze. Adrenaline flooded her veins.
She sprinted across the woodchips, diving toward the jungle gym.
“Sam! Ben!” she screamed over the deafening crack of gunfire.
The six-year-old boys were frozen in terror at the top of the slide. Nora scrambled up the plastic steps, grabbing both of them by their shirts and hauling them down into the enclosed plastic tube of the slide, shielding their small bodies with her own.
Bullets chewed through the plastic above them.
“Nora, I’m scared!” Ben sobbed, burying his face in her chest.
“I know, baby, I know. I’ve got you. Keep your heads down,” Nora commanded, wrapping her arms around them like a vice. She closed her eyes, praying her body would be enough armor to keep them alive.
Outside, the Costa guards returned fire, engaging in a brutal shootout with the Romano hitmen.
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Nora felt a sharp, burning pain slice across her upper arm, but she didn’t let go of the children.
She would die before she let them take Arthur’s sons.
