I WAS POURING CHAMPAGNE WHEN LUCA MORETTI’S SISTER TOOK THE MICROPHONE AND SAID TO HIS LATE BROTHER’S WIDO

The shock was absolute.

Luca froze, the gun in his hand suddenly heavy and useless. He couldn’t shoot her. Not without Siena firing a bullet into Rachel first.

“Siena,” Luca breathed, the betrayal cracking his voice. “What are you doing?”

“Ensuring my retirement,” Siena replied, her aim steady. “Did you really think Marcus acted alone all these years? He’s a brilliant accountant, but he needed someone on the inside to play the long game. Someone to blind you.”

I stared at the beautiful woman in the silver dress.

She hadn’t married him for love. She hadn’t even married him for power. She was a trojan horse, brought into the family to unlock the gates from the inside.

“You set this whole night up,” Luca realized, the horror dawning on him. “The engagement dinner. The guest list. You made sure my most loyal capos were out of town on assignment.”

“You made it very easy, Luca,” Siena smiled, though her eyes remained dead. “You were so desperate to rebuild your family after Michael died, you grabbed the first woman who offered you peace. But peace is an illusion. Only money is real.”

Rachel stepped slightly to the side, pushing Ethan behind her legs.

“You’re going to kill a ten-year-old boy for money?” Rachel asked, her voice shaking with disgust.

Siena’s expression hardened. “I don’t want to kill the boy. I just need the drawing, Rachel. Give it to me, and you can all sit in this bunker until Marcus clears out the accounts.”

“The drawing is gone,” Luca said coldly.

Siena’s eyes flicked to him. “Don’t lie to me.”

“It’s the truth,” I said, speaking up before I could lose my nerve. “I threw it into a boiling pot of water upstairs. The ink is destroyed.”

Siena stared at me. For a second, the perfect mask of the cold-blooded killer slipped, replaced by raw panic.

She looked at Luca, reading the truth in his face.

“You destroyed the offshore passwords?” Siena shrieked, her composure shattering. “Do you know what Marcus will do to me if I show up empty-handed?”

“He’ll kill you,” Luca said softly. “Just like he killed my brother. You’re disposable to him, Siena.”

“Shut up!” she screamed, her hand trembling on the grip of the gun.

In her moment of panic, the gun wavered.

It was only an inch. A fraction of a second of distraction.

But Rachel was a mother defending her child.

With a fierce, primal scream, Rachel lunged forward. She didn’t run away. She launched herself directly at the woman with the gun.

Siena fired.

The suppressed gunshot sounded like a violent cough.

Rachel collided with Siena, sending both women crashing hard onto the concrete floor. The gun skittered away, spinning into the shadows.

“Mom!” Ethan screamed.

Luca moved faster than I could track. He crossed the room in two strides, grabbing Siena by the hair and ripping her away from Rachel. He slammed the fiancée against the concrete pillar, pinning her throat with his forearm.

I dropped to my knees beside Rachel.

“Rachel!” I panicked, frantically checking her for blood. “Where are you hit?”

Rachel groaned, sitting up slowly. She clutched her left shoulder. Her beautiful dress was torn, and a bright red stain was blossoming across the fabric.

“I’m okay,” Rachel gasped, wincing in pain. “It just grazed me. Get Ethan!”

I grabbed Ethan and pulled him into a tight hug, shielding his eyes from the violence.

Siena was choking against the pillar, her hands desperately clawing at Luca’s arm.

“You let my brother burn,” Luca snarled, his face inches from hers. The civilized businessman was gone. The mafia boss had taken over.

“I… didn’t…” Siena choked out.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t snap your neck right now.”

Siena gasped for air as Luca loosened his grip slightly.

“Because… because Marcus doesn’t just have men outside,” she wheezed, a pathetic, desperate smile forming on her lips. “He planted explosives in the foundation of the house, Luca. He triggered the timer when he left the ballroom.”

Luca’s blood ran cold.

“How long?” he demanded.

Siena laughed, a wet, choking sound.