SAY THANK YOU AND SMILE. YOU SHOULD BE GRATEFUL YOU EVEN HAVE A JOB,” THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE TOLD THE YOUNG HOUSEMAID, HANDING HER A WHITE ENVELOPE IN FRONT OF FORTY GUESTS—BUT WHEN LUCA MORETTI SAW WHAT WAS INSIDE, HE QUIETLY ASKED, “WHY DOES THIS SAY SHE RESIGNED YESTERDAY?”**

The heavy steel door of the panic room muffled the sounds of the gunfire raging outside, but my heart was pounding so loud it filled the silence.

I stared at the sticky note attached to my photograph.

If I don’t survive, give this to Hannah. She is the only one who knows the truth about the fire.

“What fire?” I whispered to myself.

Leo clung to my side, burying his face in my sweater. “Hannah, I’m scared.”

“It’s okay, baby. We’re safe in here,” I promised, stroking his hair, though my hands were trembling uncontrollably.

I gently set Leo on the small cot and turned back to the metal desk. I picked up the photograph. It was a picture of me from years ago, standing outside the small apartment complex where my parents had died.

The official police report had said it was a tragic electrical fire. I was fifteen at the time, staying at a friend’s house. I came home the next morning to find my entire world burned to ashes.

I pulled the sticky note off the photo. Underneath lay a thick, folded manila folder.

I opened it.

Inside were police reports, bank statements, and a single, chilling confession letter written by a man named Arthur Vance.

I read the first page, and the air left my lungs.

Antonio Moretti ordered the fire. He paid me to ensure the Collins family did not survive the night.

My knees gave out. I collapsed into the metal chair, staring blindly at the words.

Luca’s father—the man who had supposedly saved Leo from a life of crime—had ordered the murder of my parents.

I flipped frantically through the pages, tears blurring my vision.

Antonio realized the Collins family was asking too many questions about the baby they had adopted. They wanted to know where Leo came from. They were threatening to go to the authorities. Antonio couldn't risk the police digging into the Moretti syndicate's adoption ring. He ordered the apartment burned. The girl, Hannah, wasn't supposed to survive either.

I dropped the folder.

My entire life had been a lie, orchestrated by the very family I was currently working for. The family I had just kissed.

Luca had known. He had investigated the fire. He had kept this briefcase hidden in his panic room, preparing to give me blood money if he died.

The heavy steel door suddenly groaned.

The electronic keypad beeped rapidly.

Someone was trying to open the door from the outside.

I grabbed a heavy metal flashlight from the emergency kit on the desk, stepping protectively in front of Leo.

With a loud clack, the deadbolt slid back. The heavy door swung open.

It wasn’t Luca.

Standing in the doorway, bleeding from a superficial wound on his arm, was Daniel.

“We held them off,” Daniel panted, leaning heavily against the doorframe. “The Russians retreated. Luca is securing the perimeter. He sent me to get you.”

I didn’t lower the flashlight. I glared at the head of security, pure, unadulterated hatred boiling in my veins.

“You knew,” I accused, my voice shaking with rage.

Daniel frowned. “Knew what, Hannah?”

I pointed to the open briefcase on the desk.

“You knew Antonio Moretti murdered my parents to cover up Leo’s adoption. You knew Luca was hiding it from me.”

Daniel’s eyes widened. He looked at the open folder, then back at me. The hardened security chief actually looked ashamed.

“Hannah, please listen to me,” Daniel urged gently. “Luca didn’t know until a month ago. He found Arthur Vance’s old files in the vault. He was trying to figure out how to tell you.”

“By keeping me as his maid?!” I screamed, tears spilling over my cheeks. “By letting me clean his toilets while his father’s money paid for my parents’ graves?!”

“He kept you here to protect you!” Daniel argued, stepping into the room. “Arthur Vance knew you survived the fire. He knew you were asking questions. Luca brought you into this house so Vance’s men couldn’t finish the job.”

I backed away, pulling Leo behind me.

“I don’t believe you. I don’t believe any of you.”

“Hannah,” a deep, exhausted voice said from the doorway.

I turned.

Luca stood there. His white shirt was torn and covered in dust and blood. He looked like a man who had just fought a war, only to come home and find his heart ripped out.

He looked at the open briefcase, then at my tear-streaked face.

“I’m so sorry,” Luca whispered, his voice cracking.

“Did your father kill them?” I demanded, gripping the flashlight so tight my knuckles turned white.

Luca closed his eyes, a heavy, agonizing sigh escaping his lips.

“Yes,” Luca said.

I let out a broken sob, covering my mouth.

“My father was a monster, Hannah,” Luca confessed, opening his dark, remorseful eyes. “He built this empire on blood and lies. I have spent the last three years trying to dismantle it. Trying to make it right.”

He took a slow step into the room.

“When I found out what he did to your family... I couldn’t bear to look at you. But I couldn’t let you go. I knew Arthur Vance was still hunting loose ends. I brought you here, and I gave you a job, because it was the only way I could guarantee you and Leo were safe 24/7.”

“You should have told me!” I wept.

“I was a coward,” Luca admitted, a tear slipping down his cheek. “I fell in love with you, Hannah. And I knew the moment I told you the truth, you would hate me forever.”

The confession hung in the cold, concrete room, heavy and devastating.

He loved me. The man whose family had destroyed mine, loved me.

Before I could respond, the radio on Daniel’s hip crackled violently to life.

“Boss!” a panicked guard yelled through the static. “We have a breach at the rear gate! It’s not the Russians!”

Luca wiped his face, instantly shifting back into survival mode. “Who is it?”