chapter 2
Matteo moved before the blade ever left the counter.
Years of surviving ambushes had trained his body to react faster than thought.
The drunk lunged upward with a savage roar, the serrated knife flashing beneath the kitchen light.
Instead of retreating, Matteo stepped inside the attack.
His forearm slammed against the man's wrist.
Bone cracked.
The knife spun through the air.
It skidded across the hardwood floor and disappeared beneath the dining table.
The giant bellowed in pain, but rage made him reckless.
He threw himself at Matteo like a wounded bull.
Furniture exploded around them.
The kitchen island split under the impact.
Cabinets rattled.
Glass shattered across the floor.
Upstairs, the little girl screamed.
"Please stop!"
Her tiny voice pierced Matteo harder than any weapon ever could.
The distraction cost him.
The man drove his shoulder into Matteo's ribs.
They crashed through the doorway into the dining room.
For the first time in years, Matteo felt genuine pain.
The brute wasn't trained.
He wasn't disciplined.
He was simply fueled by alcohol and years of cruelty.
Sometimes those men were the most dangerous.
The attacker wrapped both arms around Matteo's waist, trying to crush the air from his lungs.
"You think you're tough?" he snarled, blood spraying from his broken mouth.
"I've buried bigger men than you."
Matteo said nothing.
Silence had always been more terrifying than threats.
He drove his knee upward.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
The grip loosened.
Matteo twisted free and buried a brutal elbow into the man's temple.
The monster staggered backward.
Then he smiled.
It wasn't confidence.
It was insanity.
Without warning, he grabbed a cast-iron skillet from the stove.
He swung with enough force to cave in a skull.
Matteo ducked.
The skillet smashed through a cabinet instead.
Wood exploded into splinters.
The little girl had reached the middle of the staircase.
She stood frozen.
Tears streamed down her cheeks.
She couldn't move.
She couldn't look away.
The man saw her.
His smile widened.
"There you are..."
His voice changed instantly.
Soft.
Sickeningly gentle.
"Daddy just wants a hug."
The little girl whimpered.
"No..."
She backed away.
One tiny step.
Then another.
Matteo's heart nearly stopped.
The staircase behind her was covered with broken picture frames and shattered glass.
One wrong step...
She slipped.
Her small foot landed on a loose shard.
She lost her balance.
Time slowed.
The child tumbled backward.
Matteo launched himself toward the stairs.
The drunken father lunged after him.
Both men reached the staircase at the same instant.
Matteo ignored the fist crashing into his shoulder.
Ignored the burning pain shooting through his back.
He dove.
His fingers caught the girl's pajama sleeve.
For one horrifying second...
Half of her body dangled over the staircase.
His other hand barely clung to the banister.
Below them, fifteen wooden steps waited like stone.
The girl cried uncontrollably.
"I don't want Mama to die..."
Those words shattered something inside Matteo.
A memory flooded back.
Twenty-five years earlier.
Another staircase.
Another terrified child.
His little sister Isabella.
Only ten years old.
Covered in bruises.
Crying for him.
"Matty..."
"Don't leave me..."
He had left.
Not because he wanted to.
Because police officers had dragged him away while social workers promised they'd keep Isabella safe.
They lied.
Three weeks later...
She died in a hospital bed.
Internal injuries.
Too many broken bones.
Nobody had answered her cries.
Nobody had come.
Until it was too late.
The memory vanished.
Matteo's eyes hardened.
"Not again."
With one impossible burst of strength, he pulled the little girl into his arms.
She crashed against his chest.
Safe.
The father roared and tackled Matteo from behind.
All three of them rolled down the staircase.
Wood splintered beneath their weight.
The banister snapped in half.
When everything stopped moving...
The house fell silent.
Dust drifted through the air.
The little girl remained wrapped tightly inside Matteo's coat.
He had curled around her during the fall, taking every impact himself.
Blood trickled from a cut above his eyebrow.
His shoulder screamed in agony.
But she was unharmed.
The giant slowly climbed to his feet.
His face had transformed into something almost inhuman.
"You think you won?"
He laughed.
"You still don't know who I am."
He reached inside his jacket.
Matteo immediately shifted the little girl behind him.
The man didn't pull out a gun.
He pulled out a cellphone.
He pressed one speed-dial number.
Only four words escaped his lips.
"I've got a problem."
Then he smiled again.
"You should've walked away."
Within seconds...
Headlights appeared through the living room window.
Then another pair.
Then another.
Vehicle doors slammed outside.
Heavy boots pounded across the front lawn.
The little girl's tiny hands gripped Matteo's jacket.
"There are more..."
She wasn't wrong.
Three black SUVs surrounded the house.
Armed men stepped out in tactical gear.
But what made Matteo's expression change wasn't their weapons.
It was the insignia stitched onto their sleeves.
He recognized it instantly.
Not a street gang.
Not local criminals.
A private security unit belonging to Victor Kane...
One of the wealthiest and most politically connected men in the state.
The abusive husband looked straight at Matteo and grinned through blood-soaked teeth.
"You broke into the wrong house."
"My father..."
"...owns half this city."
Outside, someone knocked once.
Calmly.
Confidently.
Then a deep voice echoed through the shattered doorway.
"Mr. Reichi."
"We know you're inside."
"Come out slowly..."
May you like
"...or everyone in that house dies."
END OF CHAPTER 2
