**THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE REMOVED HIS ELDERLY FATHER’S HEARING AID AT DINNER AND CALLED HIM USELESS—BUT WHEN A PREGNANT MAID PUT IT BACK, THE OLD MAN SAID SOMETHING THAT MADE HIS SON CANCEL THE ENGAGEMENT TOAST.**

The greenhouse was silent save for the dripping of condensation from the glass roof.

"The FBI," Dante repeated, the words tasting like ash in his mouth. "Mark went to the feds."

"He wanted immunity," Elena explained, wrapping her trench coat tighter around herself. "He told them about Vivienne’s plan. He told them Arturo Romano's daughter was placed in the house. He gave them enough circumstantial evidence to convince a judge that the Genesis ledger is hidden on these grounds."

"It's not hidden anymore," I whispered, thinking of the black flash drive sitting on Dante's desk.

Elena looked at me, a tragic sort of pity in her eyes. "If they find it, the Romano family is finished. The assets will be frozen, Dante will be arrested for racketeering, and you, Caroline... they will take your baby the moment it's born, claiming it was raised in a criminal enterprise."

My hands flew to my stomach. "No. They can't do that."

"They can, and they will," Dante said, his voice suddenly very hard. He looked at his sister. "How do you know all this, Elena?"

Elena hesitated. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a gold badge. She held it up in the moonlight.

Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Dante stared at the badge, betrayal warring with shock on his face. "You're a fed?"

"I had to survive, Dante," Elena pleaded, stepping toward him. "When Mother threw me out, I had nothing. The Moretti boy I loved was killed. I changed my name. I went into law enforcement to protect myself from our world. But I never forgot you. I never stopped watching over this family."

"So you're here to arrest me," Dante said coldly, taking a step back.

"I'm here to save you!" Elena fired back, tears welling in her eyes. "I'm the lead agent on the raid tomorrow. I volunteered for the task force to control the timeline. I bought you six hours, Dante. You need to take Father, take Caroline, and run. I have a plane waiting at a private airstrip."

Dante looked at the ground. He looked at the vast, beautiful estate he had bled to maintain. He looked at the legacy his father had built.

Then, he looked at me. He saw the terror in my eyes. The exhaustion. The desperate need for a safe place to raise my daughter.

"I'm not running," Dante said softly.

Elena grabbed his arm. "Dante, you can't fight the federal government! They will bury you!"

"I'm not going to fight them," Dante said, his voice steadying with sudden, absolute resolve. "And I'm not going to run. I'm going to end it."

He turned on his heel and walked out of the greenhouse.

I hurried after him, with Elena trailing behind us. "Dante, what are you doing?" I asked, struggling to keep up with his long strides.

"What my uncle Arturo had the courage to do twenty years ago," Dante said over his shoulder.

We walked back into the mansion and straight into the library. Henry was still waiting there, looking terrified.

Dante walked to his desk and picked up the black flash drive containing the Genesis ledger. He plugged it into his laptop. His fingers flew across the keyboard, opening encrypted files and massive offshore accounts.

"Son, what are you doing?" Henry asked, wheeling closer.

"I'm giving it all away, Dad," Dante said, not looking up from the screen.

Elena stood in the doorway, her eyes wide. "Giving it away?"

"The blood money," Dante said. "The extortion rackets, the illegal casinos, the shell companies. Every dirty dollar this family has ever made."

He highlighted a massive block of accounts.

"I'm transferring the illegal assets into a blind trust controlled by the Federal Government," Dante said. "I'm surrendering the syndicate's wealth anonymously. They want the money? They can have it."

"Dante, if you do that, you lose your power," Henry whispered. "The other families will tear us apart."

"Let them try," Dante growled. "I am keeping the legitimate businesses. The real estate, the shipping companies, the legal investments. It's enough to keep us wealthy, and more importantly, it's clean. I'm severing the Romano name from the mafia. Tonight."

I watched him, my heart swelling with an overwhelming amount of love for this man. He was giving up an empire of darkness just to build a fortress of light for me and my baby.

Dante hit the Enter key.

The screen flashed green. Transfer Complete.

Billions of dollars, gone in a second.

Dante unplugged the flash drive, threw it on the floor, and crushed it beneath the heel of his shoe.

He looked at Elena. "The Genesis ledger is gone. The illegal money is in federal accounts. There is no evidence of racketeering in this house anymore. Just a legal businessman, his retired father, and his cousin."

Elena stared at the shattered drive on the floor. A slow, awe-struck smile spread across her face. "You actually did it. You broke the curse."

"Call off the raid, Agent," Dante said softly.

Elena nodded, pulling out her phone. "I'll tell the Director that Mark Hayes’s intel was faulty. The accounts are empty. The warrants will be pulled by dawn."

She looked at Henry, her voice cracking. "I have to go."

Henry reached out his hand, tears streaming down his face. "Elena. Please. My little girl."

Elena paused. She walked over, dropped to her knees, and buried her face in her father’s lap, sobbing for the twenty years they had lost.

I leaned against Dante’s side. He wrapped his arm tightly around my waist, kissing my forehead.

We had survived the night.

But suddenly, a sharp, agonizing pain ripped through my abdomen. It wasn't a cramp from fear this time. It was a vicious, tightening wave that stole the breath from my lungs.