"GOD HELP ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT YOU TWICE."

The glass shattered inward with a muffled, suppressed crack.

Sadi didn't scream. Her instincts, honed by years of surviving a rough neighborhood and an abusive childhood, took over.

She grabbed the heavy silver teapot from the tray and hurled it directly at the window.

The pot hit the assassin squarely in the chest, splashing scalding tea across his face. He grunted, stumbling backward onto the patio.

"Run!" Rosa shouted, grabbing Sadi’s arm with surprising strength for an older woman.

Sadi ignored the agonizing fire in her ribs. She bolted toward the suite’s heavy oak door, yanking it open.

The hallway was a nightmare.

Dominic’s guards were already engaged in a brutal, close-quarters firefight. Gunsmoke thickened the air, stinging Sadi’s eyes. The estate’s blaring security alarm deafened them.

"Down!" Dominic’s roar cut through the chaos.

He was at the top of the grand staircase, a high-powered rifle pressed to his shoulder. He laid down a suppressing fire that forced the intruders in the foyer to dive behind the marble pillars.

Rosa pulled Sadi away from the main hall, dragging her toward the back of the house—toward the servant’s quarters.

"Where are we going?" Sadi gasped, clutching her side as fresh blood began to seep through her bandages.

"The old prohibition tunnels," Rosa panted, pushing through the swinging kitchen doors. "My husband built a panic room beneath the wine cellar."

The kitchen was empty, the staff having already fled or taken cover.

Rosa hurried to the massive walk-in pantry. She bypassed the canned goods and dropped to her knees in front of a heavy wooden flour bin.

She grabbed the cast-iron handle and pulled.

The bin didn't move forward; it swung outward like a door, revealing a dark, narrow stone staircase plunging into the earth beneath the estate.

"Go," Rosa commanded, pushing Sadi toward the stairs.

Sadi stumbled down the first few steps into the pitch blackness. The air was cold and smelled of damp earth and old wine.

Rosa followed, pulling the heavy bin shut behind them. The click of the latch echoed loudly, plunging them into total darkness.

Rosa pulled a small tactical flashlight from her skirt pocket and clicked it on.

"Keep moving," she ordered.

Sadi walked as fast as she could, pressing one hand against the damp stone wall for balance.

"How did they get past the outer gates?" Sadi asked, her voice echoing in the narrow tunnel. "Dominic said the perimeter was impenetrable."

"No fortress is impenetrable," Rosa said grimly, her flashlight beam bouncing off the stone ahead. "They had inside help. Someone on the security detail deactivated the alarm grid."

They reached the bottom of the stairs. The tunnel opened into a large, dusty wine cellar lined with thousands of bottles.

Rosa walked straight to a dead end—a solid brick wall covered in cobwebs.

She reached out and pressed a specific, protruding brick.

Nothing happened.

Rosa pressed it harder, cursing softly in Italian.

"It's jammed," Rosa panicked, her composure finally breaking. "The mechanism is rusted."

Sadi heard the heavy thud of footsteps echoing down the stone staircase they had just descended.

The intruders had found the entrance.

"Move," Sadi shoved Rosa aside.

Sadi didn't try to press the brick. She grabbed a heavy, vintage wine bottle by the neck and smashed it against the brick.

The impact dislodged a thick layer of hardened mortar.

Sadi kicked the brick with her good leg.

It gave way, sinking into the wall with a loud, metallic clank.

The entire brick section swung open, revealing a steel-reinforced panic room.

They threw themselves inside just as the beam of a high-powered flashlight cut through the darkness of the wine cellar behind them.

Rosa hit the emergency lock button on the wall panel.

The steel door slammed shut, sealing with a heavy, pressurized hiss.

The panic room was small, lit by dim red emergency lights. It contained a cot, a first-aid kit, a secure phone line, and a small armory cabinet.

Sadi collapsed onto the cot, gasping for air. Her hoodie was soaked in fresh blood.

Rosa immediately grabbed the first-aid kit and rushed to Sadi’s side.

"You tore your stitches," Rosa said, pulling out gauze and antiseptic.

Sadi winced as Rosa applied pressure, but her mind was racing faster than her heart.

"Rosa," Sadi gasped. "If my father stole the Moretti ledger twelve years ago... where is it?"

Rosa stopped applying pressure. She looked at Sadi, her expression unreadable in the red light.

"I don't know, Sadi."

"You're lying," Sadi accused, pushing herself up slightly, ignoring the pain. "You knew who my father was. You knew about the ledger. You knew they would eventually come for me."

Rosa looked away.

"The note," Sadi realized, her eyes widening. "The note in my wardrobe. You didn't write it. Someone else knew about the ledger. Someone inside the house."

Before Rosa could answer, the secure phone on the wall began to ring.

It was a jarring, shrill sound.

Rosa slowly stood up and walked over to the phone. She picked up the receiver.

"Yes?" Rosa said.

She listened for a long moment. Her face drained of color entirely.

She slowly hung up the phone.

"Was it Dominic?" Sadi asked desperately. "Is he okay?"

Rosa turned to face Sadi. Her hands were shaking violently.

"It wasn't Dominic," Rosa whispered. "It was Leo Moretti."

Sadi felt a cold chill wash over her. Leo Moretti was the head of the rival family. The man who had likely ordered the hit at the diner.

"What did he want?" Sadi asked.

Rosa swallowed hard.