SHE ABANDONED THIS FAMILY FIFTEEN YEARS AGO. DON'T YOU DARE OFFER HER A SEAT!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S AUNT HUMILIATED HIS 25-YEAR-OLD MAID FOR HELPING A POORLY DRESSED WOMAN AT HIS BIRTHDAY DINNER—BUT WHEN LUCA MORETTI RECOGNIZED THE WOMAN STANDING BEHIND HIS MAID, HE ASKED ONE QUESTION THAT MADE HIS AUNT DROP HER CHAMPAGNE GLASS

The sound of gunfire in a confined space is not like the movies. It is a concussive, deafening roar that physically rattles your bones.

Plaster exploded from the walls above us, dusting Grace and me in white powder. I curled my body completely over hers, pressing my hands over her ears to muffle the terrifying noise.

Luca and Rossi returned fire instantly, their tactical precision overwhelming Marco’s street thugs. Marco had expected a quick surrender, not a heavily armed Chicago boss defending his blood.

"Out the back!" Luca yelled over the ringing in my ears.

I looked up. Luca was providing covering fire, gesturing toward a heavy steel fire door at the back of the clinic.

I grabbed Grace’s hand. "Come on, sweetheart. Stay low."

We crawled across the linoleum, slipping on scattered medical files and broken glass. Anna was right behind us, her faded green dress stained with dust.

We burst through the fire door into a dark, rain-slicked alleyway. The cold night air hit my lungs like a physical blow.

Rossi kicked the door shut behind us and jammed a heavy metal trash can under the handle to barricade it.

"The cars are out front," Rossi grunted, pulling out his radio. "We're trapped in the alley."

Luca checked his magazine. "Call the safehouse team. Tell them we need extraction on 4th and Elm in three minutes."

He turned to Celia, who had stumbled out behind us, her designer heels sinking into the alley's muck. She looked terrified, clutching her ruined silk blouse.

"You caused this," Luca snarled, grabbing his aunt by the arm. "You kept this secret for thirteen years. You fed Marco millions to protect a trust fund you don't even own."

"I built this family's wealth!" Celia screamed defensively, the fear making her erratic. "Vincenzo was a brute. I managed the money. That trust belongs to me, Luca! Not some bastard child of a Romano!"

Grace flinched as if she had been slapped.

Anna stepped forward and shoved Celia hard against the brick wall. It was the first time the broken woman had shown physical aggression.

"Don't you ever call my daughter that again," Anna hissed, her eyes burning with a mother’s rage.

Suddenly, the steel fire door bowed violently. Marco’s men were using a battering ram on the other side. The metal trash can groaned under the pressure.

"Move!" Luca ordered, pushing us down the alley.

We sprinted toward the main street. I held Grace’s hand tightly, my heart hammering in my chest.

As we reached the street corner, a black, unmarked van skidded to a halt. The side door slid open. Three of Luca's heavily armed men jumped out, forming a protective wall around us.

"Get in!" Rossi yelled.

I pushed Grace into the van, followed by Anna. Celia scrambled in after them. I put my foot on the bumper to climb in, but I paused, looking back.

Luca was still at the alley entrance, firing two controlled shots to keep Marco’s men pinned down as they finally broke through the door.

"Mr. Moretti!" I screamed.

Luca didn't hesitate. He holstered his weapon and sprinted toward the van, diving through the open door just as Rossi slammed the gas pedal. The van tore down the street, leaving Marco Romano standing in the alley, a silhouette of absolute fury.

I collapsed onto the floor of the van, gasping for air.

Luca sat on the bench across from me, breathing heavily. He looked at me, his dark eyes filled with something I had never seen before—genuine, profound respect.

"You saved her life, Emma," Luca said quietly over the roar of the engine. "If you hadn't found that train ticket, Celia would have shipped Grace off to be hunted down by Marco in the middle of nowhere."

I looked at the little girl huddled in her mother's arms. Anna was stroking Grace’s hair, crying softly. For the first time in thirteen years, they were together.

But the victory felt hollow.

"We didn't win," I whispered, looking at the floorboards.

Luca frowned. "What do you mean?"

I reached into my apron pocket and pulled out the legal trust document I had grabbed from the floor before the shooting started.

"The trust unlocks on her thirteenth birthday," I reminded him. "That's at midnight tonight."

Luca checked his watch. It was 10:15 PM.

"If Marco goes to a judge tomorrow morning with his birth certificate," I said, "he takes legal custody. And he takes the empire. We can't run forever. We need proof that he gave up his parental rights, or proof that he isn't her father."

Anna looked up, her eyes wide.

"He is her father," Anna whispered. "But... there might be something else."

We all turned to her.

"Before I left him," Anna said, her voice shaking. "I found a ledger in Marco's apartment. It detailed his plan to murder Vincenzo. But it also detailed the bribes he paid to a judge to legally falsify his own identity. Marco Romano isn't his real name. He took his dead brother's identity to avoid federal prison twenty years ago."

Luca sat forward, stunned. "If Marco is legally dead, he has no paternal rights. The birth certificate is void."

"Where is the ledger?" Luca demanded.

Anna swallowed hard. "I hid it. The day before Grace was born. I put it in a safe deposit box at First National Bank."

"Do you have the key?"

Anna shook her head, tears spilling over her cheeks. "No. I didn't have time to keep it. I hid the key in the only thing I was allowed to take to the hospital."

I remembered the birthday gift. The brown paper package.

"The wooden music box," I gasped.