THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE ORDERED ME TO THROW AWAY HIS LATE FATHER’S OLD ARMY JACKET—BUT WHEN LUCA SAW WHAT FELL FROM THE POCKET, HE STOPPED THE ENTIRE PARTY.

The old Bellini estate was a decaying stone mansion on the edge of Lake Michigan. The iron gates were rusted open, and the grounds were overgrown with dead vines.

Luca parked the SUV a quarter-mile down the road. The rain had stopped, leaving a heavy, chilling fog rolling off the water.

“We go in quiet,” Luca whispered as we approached the side entrance.

The heavy oak door was unlocked. We slipped inside. The house smelled of dust and damp wood. Only a single light burned at the end of the long hallway.

We crept toward it, our footsteps silenced by the thick, rotting carpets.

As we neared the illuminated room, I heard a voice.

A child’s voice.

“I want to go home,” the boy said, his voice trembling. “Please. I don’t like it here.”

“Hush, Leo,” Vanessa’s voice snapped, sharp and cruel. “Your new father is coming to pick you up. If you behave, I’ll let you keep the shiny watch.”

Luca’s hand clamped down on my shoulder. I could feel the rage vibrating through his entire body. He drew his gun, stepping silently into the doorway.

I peered around his arm.

It was a dusty library. Vanessa sat in a high-backed leather chair, a glass of wine in her hand.

Standing in the center of the room, looking small and terrified, was Leo.

He was wearing a school uniform, his dark hair messy. And there, hanging around his neck on a heavy chain, was my father’s silver pocket watch.

But my eyes caught something else. Around the boy’s small wrist was a thick silver bracelet. It looked heavy. Too heavy for a child.

“Drop the glass, Vanessa,” Luca said.

Vanessa didn’t flinch. She took a slow sip of her wine, then set the glass down on a side table. She looked up at Luca, a wicked, triumphant smile spreading across her face.

“Right on time, darling,” she purred.

Leo gasped, backing away from Vanessa. He looked at Luca with wide, frightened eyes.

Luca kept his gun trained on Vanessa’s chest. “Let him go. Now.”

Vanessa laughed, standing up and smoothing her red dress. “Oh, Luca. Always so dramatic. Shoot me, and your son dies.”

“You’re bluffing,” Luca growled.

“Am I?” Vanessa pointed a manicured finger at Leo’s wrist. “Look closely at the bracelet I bought him for his birthday.”

Luca’s eyes flicked to the heavy silver band on Leo’s wrist. A tiny red light blinked on the side of it.

My stomach plummeted to the floor.

“It’s a proximity monitor,” Vanessa said smoothly. “Linked to my heart rate monitor.” She tapped a small device clipped to her bra strap. “If my heart stops, or if the bracelet leaves this property without my override code… it injects a lethal dose of digitalis into his bloodstream. It will look like a tragic, sudden heart attack.”

Luca froze. The gun in his hand trembled.

“You monster,” I breathed out, stepping into the room.

Vanessa’s eyes shifted to me. She sneered. “Ah. The little maid brought the jacket. Good.”

She held out her hand. “Give it to me.”

I clutched the green wool tightly around myself. “Why? Why do you want it so badly?”

“Because, you idiot,” Vanessa spat, losing her cool composure for a second. “That jacket belonged to Michael Moretti. It has his DNA on it. And once I have it, I have the final piece of evidence I need to legally prove Leo’s lineage. I will own the boy, and I will own the syndicate.”

She walked toward the desk and picked up a thick stack of legal documents.

“Sign the transfer papers, Luca,” Vanessa commanded. “Sign everything over to me. The businesses, the accounts, the properties. Do it, and I take the bracelet off the boy. Refuse, and I’ll bury Clara’s bastard child right next to her.”

Luca looked at Leo. The little boy was crying silently, clutching my father’s watch.

The most powerful man in Chicago slowly lowered his gun. He dropped it to the floor.

He walked toward the desk, picking up the pen.

“Don’t hurt him,” Luca said, his voice entirely broken.

He bent over the desk to sign away his empire.

But as he did, I looked closely at my father’s pocket watch hanging around Leo’s neck. My dad had always told me there was a trick to that watch. A reason he loved it so much.

“It’s not just a timepiece, Emma,” my dad used to say. “It’s a vault.”

“Wait,” I said loudly.

Vanessa glared at me. “Shut up, maid.”

I ignored her. I walked straight toward Leo. The little boy flinched, but I dropped to my knees in front of him, keeping my eyes completely soft.

“Hi, Leo,” I whispered. “I’m Emma. Your mom’s sister.”

Leo sniffled, looking at me with Clara’s bright, beautiful eyes. “You’re my aunt?”

“I am.” I smiled through my tears. “Can I see your watch?”

I gently took the heavy silver timepiece in my hands. I flipped it over. The back was engraved with my grandfather’s initials.

I pressed my thumbs against the rim and twisted the back plate counter-clockwise.

With a soft click, the back of the watch popped open.

Vanessa took a step forward. “What are you doing?”