**THE MAFIA BOSS NOTICED HIS HOUSEKEEPER COULDN’T HOLD A COFFEE CUP WITH HER LEFT HAND—THEN FOUND OUT SHE WAS HIDING THE SAME INJURY THAT HIS ENEMIES GAVE HIS DAUGHTER YEARS AGO.** I almost dropped the coffee. That was the moment everything changed. Not when I walked into the DeLuca mansion.

The pearl earring rolled across the hardwood floor, coming to a stop inches from my shoes.

I recognized it instantly. It matched the one in my mother’s jewelry box, the one she had always claimed was lost.

"You killed her," I whispered, the horror paralyzing me.

"It was just business," Vincent said dismissively, pressing the gun harder against Adrian’s temple. "Elias DeLuca wanted her gone. I was just the man who pulled the trigger. Now, the key, Emily. Or Adrian dies."

Answer One: Vincent was the trigger man who murdered my mother on the orders of Adrian's father.

Open Two: Why did Vincent wait fifteen years to make a move against Adrian if he already had the power of the old boss behind him?

Adrian struggled against Vincent’s grip. Despite his injuries, his eyes burned with a fierce, protective fire.

"Don't give it to him, Emily!" Adrian roared. "If he gets the vault, he buys the police. He buys the city. You and Sofia will never be safe!"

"Silence," Vincent hissed, striking Adrian across the jaw with the butt of his pistol.

Adrian slumped, blood pouring from his mouth, but he stayed on his feet.

"The key, Emily," Vincent repeated, holding his bloody hand out.

I reached into my apron pocket. My fingers wrapped around the cold, heavy silver key.

If I gave it to him, Vincent would have fifty million dollars. He would become unstoppable. But if I didn't, he would execute the only real family I had left. My brother in blood. My niece.

I looked at Sofia, clinging to my leg, trembling.

I looked at Adrian, willing to die to protect us.

Then I looked at the dark wood paneling on the wall to my left.

I had been cleaning this house for a year. I dusted every molding, polished every fixture. I knew the secrets of the architecture better than the men who lived in it.

I knew about the seam in the oak paneling. The one that Adrian’s late wife had shown me in an old blueprint she found in the attic. The servant's passage, built during prohibition.

"Okay," I said, my voice trembling. I pulled the key out, holding it up so it caught the moonlight. "I'll give it to you. Just let him go."

"Throw it," Vincent ordered.

"No," I said, stepping forward. "You'll shoot us the second it leaves my hand. I'll bring it to you."

Vincent narrowed his eyes, but he nodded. "Slowly."

I took a step forward. Then another.

I was five feet away from the hidden panel.

I looked at Adrian. I needed him to understand. I needed him to be ready.

I locked eyes with him and gave a tiny, almost imperceptible nod toward the wall.

Adrian was a survivor. He saw it. His muscles tensed.

"Here," I said, holding the key out to Vincent.

As Vincent reached for it, I didn't hand it to him.

I threw the heavy silver key as hard as I could directly at the face of the tactical guard standing to Vincent’s right.

The heavy metal struck the guard in the eye. He cried out, dropping his weapon.

In that split second of distraction, Adrian exploded into motion.

He didn't try to fight Vincent. He threw his entire body weight backward, slamming Vincent into the wall and breaking his grip.

"Run, Emily!" Adrian bellowed.

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed Sofia, threw my weight against the hidden seam in the oak paneling, and pushed.

The wall gave way with a heavy click, revealing a pitch-black, narrow stone corridor.

I shoved Sofia inside and jumped in after her.

"Adrian!" I screamed, reaching my hand out.

Adrian dove toward the opening just as Vincent recovered and raised his gun.

A shot rang out.

Adrian grunted, stumbling forward into the darkness.

I grabbed his coat, hauling him inside, and slammed the heavy oak panel shut just as bullets splintered the wood from the other side.

The passage plunged into absolute, suffocating darkness.

"Daddy!" Sofia cried out in the pitch black.

"I'm here, piccola," Adrian’s voice came, strained and breathless.

I fumbled in the dark, pulling my phone from my pocket and turning on the flashlight.

The beam illuminated the narrow stone walls, covered in decades of dust and cobwebs.

Then the light fell on Adrian.

He was slumped against the stone wall, pressing his hand tightly against his upper chest.

Dark red blood was seeping through his fingers, staining his white dress shirt.

Vincent had shot him.

"Oh my god," I gasped, dropping to my knees beside him. I tore my apron off and pressed it hard against the wound.

Adrian hissed in pain, his head falling back against the stone.

"It's bad," I panicked, feeling the warm blood soaking rapidly through the fabric. "Adrian, we have to get you to a hospital."

"No hospitals," Adrian coughed, forcing a weak smile for his daughter. "Just a scratch, Sofia. Daddy's fine."

He looked at me, his eyes losing focus.

"The passage," he breathed. "It leads to the old wine cellar. There's a reinforced panic room down there. The old boss built it. Get her there."

"I'm not leaving you," I said fiercely, pressing harder on the wound.

"You have to," Adrian said, his hand reaching up to grab my wrist. His grip was surprisingly strong. "Vincent won't stop. He wants to wipe out the bloodline. You are the bloodline now, Emily."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, heavy object.

He pressed it into my bloody hand.

I looked down.

It was a solid gold pocket watch. The DeLuca family crest was engraved on the front.

"It belonged to Elias," Adrian whispered, his voice fading. "He gave it to me when I took over. I never opened it. He told me... it was for the true heir. For emergencies."

Adrian’s eyes closed. His head slumped forward.

"Adrian!" I screamed, shaking him.

He didn't answer.

Sofia began to sob uncontrollably in the dark.

I looked down at the heavy gold watch in my hand.

With trembling, blood-slicked fingers, I pressed the latch.

The cover popped open.

There was no clock face inside.

There was only a small glass vial filled with clear liquid, and a folded piece of paper.

I unfolded the paper.