"GOD HELP ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT YOU TWICE."

Dominic looked at the gun in Sadi's shaking hands, then at Rosa cowering behind her.

"Put it down, Sadi," Dominic said, his voice remarkably calm considering he was bleeding from a deep gash on his left cheek.

Sadi didn't lower the gun.

"Leo Moretti just called," Sadi choked out, her arms trembling under the weight of the weapon. "He gave us thirty minutes before he blows the foundation."

"The thermite charges are already disarmed," Dominic stated flatly.

Sadi blinked. "What?"

"I disarmed them ten minutes ago," Dominic said, stepping fully into the panic room. "My men have secured the perimeter. The intruders who breached the house are dead. The immediate threat is neutralized."

He walked over to Sadi and gently, but firmly, pushed the barrel of the gun down until it pointed at the floor.

He took the weapon from her hands and engaged the safety.

"You're safe," Dominic repeated, his dark eyes locking onto hers.

Sadi let out a breath she felt like she had been holding for an hour. Her adrenaline plummeted, and her knees buckled.

Dominic caught her before she hit the floor. He lifted her effortlessly, carrying her back to the cot.

"You're bleeding again," he noted, his jaw tightening as he saw the fresh red stain blooming across her hoodie.

"I'm fine," Sadi gasped, waving him off. "Dominic, the ledger. I found out where it is."

Dominic froze.

He turned his head slowly, looking at Rosa.

Rosa refused to meet his eyes.

"My father was the getaway driver for the hit on your father twelve years ago," Sadi confessed, pulling the faded baggage claim ticket from her pocket. "He stole the Moretti master ledger and hid it. The key to the locker is right here."

Dominic stared at the ticket.

Then he looked back at his mother.

"You knew about this," Dominic said to Rosa, his voice dangerously soft.

"I didn't know where the ledger was," Rosa defended herself quickly, her hands wringing in her lap. "I only knew her father stole it."

"And you never thought to mention that the woman who took four bullets for you was the daughter of the man who facilitated the hit on my father?"

"I was protecting you!" Rosa cried. "If you knew who she was, you would have killed her. You wouldn't have married her."

Dominic turned fully toward his mother, his imposing frame blocking Sadi's view.

"I don't kill innocent women, Ma. I kill threats. Sadi saved your life. That wiped her father's slate clean before I even knew his name."

He reached out and took the claim ticket from Sadi's hand.

"Union Station," Dominic read aloud.

"I told Leo I would meet him there," Sadi admitted, her voice small. "To buy us time."

Dominic’s expression hardened into a mask of pure, unadulterated fury.

"You made a deal with Leo Moretti?"

"He was going to detonate the house!" Sadi argued, pushing herself up on her elbows. "He said he would spare you and Rosa if I handed myself over!"

Dominic stepped closer to the cot, leaning down until his face was inches from hers.

"Listen to me very carefully," Dominic growled, the intensity in his eyes making Sadi shiver. "You are my wife. You do not negotiate for your life. You do not sacrifice yourself for my mother. And you absolutely never make a deal with a Moretti."

"I was trying to save you!" Sadi fired back, refusing to back down.

"I don't need saving," Dominic said fiercely. "I need you to stay alive."

The harshness in his voice wasn't anger; it was fear. Raw, primal fear that he had almost lost her.

He straightened up, slipping the ticket into his pocket.

"We are leaving the estate," Dominic announced, turning to the panic room door. "Leo knows we survived the breach. He’ll send a secondary strike team, heavily armed. We can't hold this house with the current security detail decimated."

"Where do we go?" Rosa asked, already moving toward the door.

"To the docks," Dominic said. "I have a secure freighter waiting. We lay low until I can rally the rest of the families against Leo."

He looked at Sadi. "Can you walk?"

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Sadi gritted her teeth, swinging her legs over the edge of the cot.

Dominic didn't let her walk. He scooped her up again, cradling her against his chest.

"Rosa, lead the way out through the drainage tunnels," Dominic ordered. "I’ll cover our exit."

Rosa nodded, grabbing the tactical flashlight.

They moved quickly through the dark, damp tunnels beneath the estate. Sadi buried her face in Dominic’s shoulder, the smell of gunsmoke and expensive cologne a strange, comforting anchor in the chaos.

They walked for what felt like miles, emerging from a rusted grate near a desolate stretch of the Chicago River.

A sleek, black speed boat was waiting, idling quietly in the dark water.

One of Dominic’s trusted lieutenants, a massive man named Marco, helped Rosa aboard.

Dominic stepped onto the boat, gently setting Sadi down on the leather bench seat.

As Marco went to untie the mooring lines, Sadi felt a sudden, sharp vibration in her sweatpants pocket.

She frowned, reaching inside.

It was a small, burner cell phone. She hadn't put it there.

She pulled it out.

The screen glowed brightly in the dark.

A single text message.

Sadi, if you get on that boat, you are a dead woman. The leak isn't a guard. It’s Dominic.

Sadi stared at the message, her heart turning to ice.