THE MAFIA BOSS CALLED MY NAME THREE TIMES WHILE I WAS SERVING HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE HIT HER HEAD ON THE SERVICE DOOR,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY I COULDN’T HEAR HIM. For three seconds, everyone at the table thought I was deliberately ignoring Luca Moretti. I wasn't.

The walk from the servant’s quarters to the grand ballroom felt like a funeral procession.

I walked a few paces behind Luca, still holding Matteo tightly in my arms. The little boy had completely exhausted himself from fear and was now resting his head heavily on my shoulder, his thumb tucked into his mouth.

Ahead of us, Arthur marched Daniel and Vanessa down the sweeping marble staircase. Daniel was limping, clutching his broken wrist. Vanessa looked like a ghost. Her perfectly coiffed hair was a mess, her dark pantsuit was stained with plaster dust, and the bruise on her cheekbone from my ice pack was already turning a deep, angry purple.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, the massive double doors to the ballroom were closed, guarded by two more of Luca’s men.

Behind those doors were twenty-six of the most powerful people in Chicago. Judges, developers, politicians, and Vanessa’s own aristocratic, deeply indebted family.

Luca stopped in front of the doors. He turned to me.

"You don't have to go in there, Sophie," Luca said quietly, the harsh lines of his face softening for a brief second. "You can take Matteo to the library. Isabella is in there with my private physician. She is safe."

I looked at the closed doors. I thought about the four hours I had spent pouring wine for these people, listening to Vanessa belittle me, watching her lie to a man’s face while a woman and child were locked in the dark.

I tightened my grip on Matteo.

"I'm staying right here," I said, my voice steady. "I want to watch."

A faint, incredibly dangerous smile touched the corner of Luca’s mouth. He gave me a single nod of respect.

Then, he turned to the guards.

"Open them."

The heavy wooden doors swung inward.

The ballroom was entirely silent. The string quartet had stopped playing. The guests were standing in tight, nervous clusters, their eyes darting toward the entrance.

When Luca walked in, the temperature in the room seemed to drop ten degrees.

He didn't look like the charming host who had been discussing honeymoon destinations over dessert. He looked exactly like the brutal, absolute ruler of the city's underworld.

The guests’ eyes shifted from Luca, to the bruised and limping Vanessa, to the bleeding head of security, and finally, to me—the maid in a stained uniform, holding a toddler in pajamas.

"Luca, what on earth is going on?" Richard Bellini, Vanessa’s father, stepped forward, his face flushed with confusion and indignation. "We heard a gunshot! And what has happened to my daughter’s face?"

Vanessa didn't say a word. She kept her eyes glued to the marble floor, trembling violently.

Luca didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. The quiet authority in his tone carried perfectly across the silent room.

"Your daughter," Luca said smoothly, "has spent the last six months orchestrating a conspiracy to steal my family's estate."

A collective gasp rippled through the room.

Richard Bellini’s face went rigid. "That is absurd! You are slandering her! I demand an explanation!"

Luca reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded legal document.

"This is a forged document," Luca announced, holding it up for the room to see. "Created by Vanessa and Daniel. It falsely grants her legal conservatorship over my sister, Isabella, and this child, my nephew."

Answer one: Luca wasn't just exposing Vanessa; he was dismantling her legal protection in front of the very people she intended to use as witnesses.

"Isabella?" an older woman whispered from the crowd. "But Isabella is in rehab in Switzerland."

"Isabella has been locked in a room in the east wing of this very house," Luca corrected, his voice laced with venom. "Drugged, isolated, and tortured by the woman standing before you. All so Vanessa could extort me into a marriage I would never otherwise agree to."

The room erupted into shocked whispers. Richard Bellini took a step back, staring at his daughter in absolute horror. "Vanessa... tell me this is a lie."

Vanessa squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling over her bruised cheek. "Daddy, please..."

But the reversal came from the person I least expected.

Daniel, bleeding and clutching his wrist, looked around the room at the disgusted faces of the elite. He realized he was the one taking the fall for this. He realized he was a dead man.

He snapped.

"She didn't do it just for the money!" Daniel shouted, spitting blood onto the marble floor. He pointed a shaking finger at Vanessa. "Tell them the truth, Vanessa! Tell them why you needed the Moretti inheritance so badly!"

Vanessa’s head snapped up, sheer panic twisting her features. "Daniel, shut up!"

"No!" Daniel laughed, a hysterical, ugly sound. He looked directly at Luca. "You think she wanted to marry you because of your power? She wanted to marry you because she’s pregnant, Boss. And it’s not yours."

The ballroom went deathly quiet.

I stared at Vanessa.

"She’s two months along," Daniel continued, twisting the knife. "It’s mine. If she married you, the kid becomes the Moretti heir. But Isabella and Matteo were in the way. As long as the real bloodline was around, her bastard wouldn't inherit a dime. That's why she locked them up. That's why she forged the papers."

Vanessa let out a guttural scream of pure rage and lunged at Daniel, her manicured hands clawing at his face. "You idiot! You ruined everything!"

Arthur intercepted her effortlessly, catching her around the waist and tossing her roughly back onto the marble floor.

Luca stood perfectly still. The revelation of the betrayal didn't make him angry. It made him entirely, terrifyingly indifferent.

He looked down at Vanessa, weeping on the floor of the grand ballroom, her reputation, her family name, and her entire future shattered into a million pieces.

"Arthur," Luca said, turning his back on her.

"Yes, Boss."

"Call the police. Give them the forged documents. Give them Daniel. And give them her."

"Luca, please!" Vanessa shrieked, crawling forward and grabbing the hem of his trousers. "You can't send me to prison! My family will be ruined! I'll do anything!"

Luca didn't kick her away. He simply reached down and pried her fingers off his clothing with clinical disgust.

"You are already ruined," Luca said softly.

He stepped over her, walking directly toward me.

"Come, Sophie," he murmured, gently placing a hand on the small of my back. "The air in here is toxic. Let's go see my sister."