For one hour and twenty-seven minutes, a six-month-old baby screamed aboard a flight from New York to Los Angeles while his father, one of the most feared mafia bosses in America, struggl

The compound went into immediate lockdown.

Steel shutters slammed over the floor-to-ceiling windows. Armed guards flooded the hallways. Dante’s roar of command echoed through the marble foyer as he ordered Silas to strip the entire staff of their phones and confine them to the east wing.

I ran to the nursery. My heart didn't stop hammering until I saw Maya safely tucked into a massive velvet bed, clutching her stuffed rabbit, fast asleep next to Leo’s crib.

I collapsed into the rocking chair, trembling.

The enemy was inside the house. Someone had reached into Maya’s bag, taken her drawing, and walked it right out to the front gate.

The heavy mahogany door opened softly. Dante stepped into the dim nursery. He had taken off his suit jacket. The holster strapped across his broad chest was a stark reminder of the world I had just stepped into.

He knelt beside the rocking chair.

“Nobody gets near them, Clare,” Dante whispered, his dark eyes fierce with a protective fire I had never seen in Richard. “I have Silas standing outside this door. He is the only man I trust implicitly.”

“We brought a traitor into your home,” I cried softly, staring at the floor. “Dante, I should leave. If I take Maya and run, Richard will follow me. He’ll leave you and Leo alone.”

Dante’s hand shot out. He grabbed my wrist—not hard enough to bruise, but firm enough to ground me.

“Do not ever say that again,” Dante said, his voice a low, vibrating growl. “You do not run. You are not a burden. You are mine to protect now. Do you understand?”

I looked at him. The intensity in his gaze made my breath catch. He wasn't looking at me like a charity case. He was looking at me like something infinitely precious.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, intricately woven gold bracelet.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered softly.

I hesitated, then opened my palm. He placed the heavy gold onto my skin. It was warm.

“This was my mother’s,” Dante explained, his thumb gently tracing the gold links. “In my world, when a woman wears this, it means she is untouchable. It means the entire weight of the Salvatore syndicate stands behind her. If Richard or anyone else sees this on your wrist, they know they have to go through me to get to you.”

He clasped it around my wrist. It fit perfectly.

“You are not a prisoner here, Clare. You are family.”

Tears blurred my vision. I touched the gold, feeling a strange, profound sense of safety wash over me.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Dante stood up, lingering for a moment, his eyes dropping to my lips before he cleared his throat. “Try to sleep. We find the mole tomorrow.”

He left the room, the heavy door clicking shut behind him.

I sat in the quiet nursery for a long time. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind a bone-deep exhaustion. I stood up to find a blanket.

As I walked past Leo’s designer diaper bag—the one Dante’s staff had brought off the plane—I noticed the side zipper was snagged.

I knelt down to fix it. As I pulled the zipper track, a false bottom in the bag shifted.

My nursing instincts kicked in. I thought it might be a hidden pocket for emergency medication. I reached inside and pulled out a sleek, waterproof envelope.

I opened it.

Inside was a pristine, brand-new passport for Leonardo Salvatore.

And a one-way, first-class ticket to Geneva, Switzerland. Dated for tomorrow.

I froze.

Dante wasn’t keeping his son. He was sending him away.

“What are you doing?” a gravelly voice demanded.

I jumped, dropping the envelope. Silas stood in the doorway, his massive frame blocking the exit. His hand rested on his weapon.

“I… I was just fixing the bag,” I stammered, backing away.

Silas looked down at the ticket on the floor. His scarred throat bobbed as he swallowed hard.

“The boss didn’t want anyone to know,” Silas said quietly, stepping into the room and closing the door.

“He’s sending a six-month-old baby to Switzerland alone?” I asked, horror creeping into my voice.

“Not alone. With an armed nanny team,” Silas corrected, picking up the ticket. He looked at Leo sleeping in the crib. “Since his wife died, the boss thinks he’s cursed. He thinks his world is too violent for the boy. He’s sending Leo to grow up in safety, far away from the mob.”

My heart broke. Dante wasn’t cold. He was deeply, profoundly traumatized. He thought the only way to be a good father was to give his son up.

“He can’t do that,” I whispered. “Leo needs his father. Not a nanny.”

Silas looked at me. For a terrifying enforcer, his eyes were incredibly sad.

“You want to help the boss?” Silas asked. “Make him see he’s worth loving. Because right now, he thinks he’s just a monster.”

Before I could reply, the nursery door flew open.

Dante stood there, his face pale and furious.

“Turn on the news,” Dante barked at Silas.

Silas grabbed the remote from the nightstand and turned on the wall-mounted television, muting the volume.

The screen flashed with a breaking news alert from Cleveland, Ohio.

There, plastered across the screen, was my face.

The headline made my blood run cold: AMBER ALERT: MOTHER WANTED FOR ARMED KIDNAPPING OF THREE-YEAR-OLD.

Below my photo was a picture of Maya.

“Richard didn’t just hack a clinic,” Dante said, his voice venomous. “He framed you. The police think you stole your own daughter at gunpoint. Every cop in the country is looking for you.”

I backed up until I hit the wall, sliding down to the floor in pure terror. Richard had boxed me in perfectly.

Then, Dante’s phone buzzed. He answered it, listening for three seconds before his eyes widened.

“Bring him to the basement,” Dante ordered the phone, hanging up.