**“DON'T YOU DARE GIVE HER THAT CHAIR, HANNAH! BEING PREGNANT DOESN'T MEAN SHE GETS SPECIAL TREATMENT!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE HUMILIATED HIS 26-YEAR-OLD MAID FOR HELPING HIS SEVEN-MONTHS-PREGNANT SISTER SIT DOWN—BUT WHEN THE YOUNG WOMAN WHISPERED, “LUCA, I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T WANT MY BABY IN YOUR FAMILY,” HE SLOWLY PUT DOWN HIS GLASS.**

"Vanessa?" Elena whispered, the name hanging in the air like a curse. "But... she’s a federal judge's daughter. Why would she blackmail you for the shipping yards?"

"Because she’s not a federal judge's daughter," Luca said, his voice dropping to a chilling calmness.

He turned to Marco. "Call the security desk at the front gate. Do not let Vanessa off this property. If she’s already in a car, shoot the tires."

"On it, Boss," Marco said, pulling a heavy tactical radio from his belt and sprinting out the double doors.

Luca turned back to the fireplace, staring up at the large portrait of his late mother, Teresa. His hands were clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles were stark white.

"Mr. Moretti," I said gently, stepping closer. "What do you mean she isn't a judge's daughter? You've had dinners with him. I served him wine last week."

"He’s a judge, Hannah," Luca said bitterly, not looking away from the painting. "But he’s not her father."

Elena gasped. "Luca, what are you talking about?"

Luca finally turned around. The exhaustion on his face made him look ten years older.

"When I proposed to Vanessa, I ran a background check," Luca explained, his voice low. "Standard procedure for anyone entering the inner circle. The background check came back flawless. Too flawless. So I had my private investigator dig deeper into her childhood."

"And?" I prompted, my heart pounding.

"Vanessa’s real last name isn't Bellini," Luca said softly. "It’s Volkov."

The silence in the room was deafening.

"Volkov?" Elena breathed, clutching her stomach protectively. "She’s... she’s related to David?"

"She’s David’s older half-sister," Luca confirmed, the truth finally exposed. "Born out of wedlock to the Volkov boss before he married David’s mother. The Volkovs disowned her, sent her away. She was raised in foster care until Judge Bellini, a man deep in the Volkov’s pockets, legally adopted her to give her a respectable cover."

"She was a plant," I realized aloud, horror washing over me. "The Volkovs sent her to infiltrate your family."

"Yes," Luca nodded grimly. "She was supposed to marry me, gain access to the Moretti family trusts, and slowly dismantle our empire from the inside out."

"But if you knew," Elena cried, tears of betrayal spilling down her cheeks, "why did you stay engaged to her? Why did you let her treat me like garbage?"

"Because I didn't know she knew about David," Luca pleaded, dropping to his knees again in front of his sister. "Elena, I swear to you, I didn't know. I kept the engagement going because it was the only way to figure out what the Volkovs were planning. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. I was playing a game of chess."

"You played with my life!" Elena sobbed, pushing his hands away. "You let her put me in a garage! You let her tell me you were ashamed of my baby!"

"I didn't know she was doing that!" Luca yelled, genuine agony in his voice. "I was in New York all week negotiating the port contracts! She promised me she was taking care of you! I thought she was just being her usual, arrogant self tonight. I didn't know it was malicious until you spoke up."

He looked down at the photograph of David tied to a chair.

"Vanessa wasn't just sent to infiltrate us," Luca deduced, his tactical mind piecing the nightmare together. "When she realized I paid a hitman to kill David seven months ago... she found the hitman before he finished the job. She paid him double to keep David alive as leverage."

"And now she wants the shipping yards," I said, pointing to the ransom note. "Why the shipping yards?"

"Because the shipping yards are the only piece of the Moretti empire that isn't tied up in corporate red tape," Marco announced, walking back into the dining room.

Marco looked pale, a terrifying expression on a man who had survived a dozen turf wars.

"Boss," Marco said tightly. "We have a massive problem."

"Did she escape?" Luca demanded, standing up.

"No," Marco said, holstering his radio. "My men grabbed her just as she was trying to slip out the servant’s entrance. She’s locked in the basement interrogation room."

"Then what’s the problem?" Luca asked.

Marco swallowed hard. He looked at me, then at Elena, before meeting Luca’s eyes.

"The problem, Boss, is that Vanessa wasn't trying to run away," Marco said grimly. "She was trying to get to the security breaker panel to shut down the cameras."

"Why?"

"Because," Marco explained, "she didn't come to the dinner party alone tonight. And she didn't just bring guests."

Marco pulled a tablet from his jacket and handed it to Luca.

I stepped closer to look. The screen displayed the live security feed from the front gates of the mansion.

Parked outside the heavy iron gates weren't the luxury sedans of the dinner guests.

There were six black tactical vans, idling in the rain. Heavily armed men in dark combat gear were stepping out, taking up positions along the perimeter wall.

"The Volkovs," Luca breathed, staring at the screen.

"They’re not here for a dinner party, Boss," Marco said softly. "They’re here for an invasion."

"They brought an army," Elena whimpered, her hands flying to her stomach.

"They know David is alive," Luca realized, the full scope of Vanessa’s betrayal hitting him. "Vanessa didn't just blackmail me for the shipping yards. She told her father I ordered the hit on his favorite son. She used the ransom note as a distraction to keep me busy while they mobilized."

"We’re outnumbered, three to one," Marco stated, slipping into his role as a military commander. "They’ll breach the gates in less than five minutes. We need to get you and Elena to the safe room, now."

"No," Luca said firmly, handing the tablet back to Marco.

"Luca, we have to hide!" Elena pleaded.

"If we hide, they burn this house to the ground and take the empire anyway," Luca said, his voice dropping to a cold, lethal calm. "The Volkovs want blood for David. I’m going to give them exactly what they want."

He turned to me.

"Hannah," Luca said, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made me hold my breath. "I need you to do exactly what I tell you. Your life, and my sister’s life, depends on it."

"I’m ready, sir," I nodded, my hands shaking but my voice steady.

"Take Elena down to the basement," Luca ordered. "Do not go to the safe room. Go straight to the interrogation room where Vanessa is being held."

I frowned, confused. "Vanessa? But she’s the enemy."

"Vanessa is the key," Luca corrected, a dark, terrifying smile touching his lips. "The Volkovs think she’s their inside man. They think she’s a loyal daughter."

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a sleek, suppressed handgun, handing it to me.

"But Vanessa isn't a Volkov," Luca whispered, the revelation making my heart stop. "She doesn't know it yet, but her father lied to her. And I have the proof in my desk."

Luca looked at Marco. "Hold the front door. Buy me ten minutes."