**THE MAFIA BOSS SAW HIS 78-YEAR-OLD MOTHER HIDING A LITTLE YELLOW SIPPY CUP BENEATH HER NAPKIN AT HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE KEPT DROPPING HER GLASSES, SO I GAVE HER SOMETHING SHE COULDN'T BREAK,” BEFORE LUCA EVEN ASKED WHY HIS MOTHER WAS CRYING.**

The rain was relentless, pounding against the windshield of Luca’s armored SUV as we tore through the dark streets of Chicago.

I sat in the backseat, clutching the leather armrest so tightly my fingers ached.

I wasn't supposed to be here. I was a housemaid. But when Luca told Marcus to gear up, I refused to stay behind at the mansion. If Carlo Bellini was planning to wipe out the Morettis, I knew I’d be collateral damage just for being in the house.

Plus, Teresa had grabbed my hand before we left and begged me to make sure Luca didn't do something that would get him killed.

“Where are we going?” I asked over the roar of the engine.

“The Bellini family’s legitimate front,” Luca replied, his voice tight. “An old meatpacking plant on the South Side. That’s where Carlo keeps the physical servers for the offshore accounts.”

“You think Vanessa will give him the passwords?” Marcus asked from the passenger seat, checking the magazine of his rifle.

“Vanessa is terrified of her uncle,” Luca said grimly. “She’ll give him whatever he wants to survive. And once he has the money, she’s a loose end. He’ll kill her.”

I shivered, thinking of the woman who had tormented Teresa just hours ago. I didn't like Vanessa. She was cruel and manipulative. But she didn't deserve to die in a slaughterhouse at the hands of her own uncle.

We pulled up to the abandoned meatpacking plant ten minutes later.

It was a massive, decaying brick building surrounded by rusted chain-link fences. Four black SUVs were parked near the loading docks. Carlo’s men were already inside.

“Marcus, take the back entrance,” Luca ordered, chambering a round in his pistol. “Take out the guards quietly. Do not engage Carlo until I have eyes on Vanessa.”

“Yes, boss.” Marcus slipped into the shadows, disappearing instantly.

Luca turned to me.

“Stay in the car, Lucy. Keep the doors locked. If things go wrong, drive to the precinct and ask for Detective Russo. Tell him I sent you.”

“I’m not staying in the car,” I said, unbuckling my seatbelt.

Luca glared at me. “This isn't a negotiation. You don't have a weapon, and you don't have training.”

“I know the layout of this building,” I shot back.

Luca froze. “What?”

“My grandfather used to work here when I was a kid,” I explained quickly. “Before the Bellinis bought it. There’s a network of old drainage tunnels beneath the kill floor. It leads directly into the basement where they keep the servers. You can bypass all the guards on the main floor.”

Luca stared at me, weighing the risk.

He didn't have time to argue.

“Show me,” he said.

We sprinted through the rain, keeping low along the brick wall. I led him to a rusted grate hidden behind a row of overflowing dumpsters.

It took all of Luca’s strength to pry the grate open.

The tunnel smelled of old blood and mildew. We crawled through the dark, damp space for what felt like miles. My knees were scraped, and my uniform was soaked in freezing mud, but I didn't stop.

Finally, the tunnel opened up into a massive underground concrete room.

The server room.

It was lit by harsh fluorescent lights. Racks of blinking computers lined the walls.

In the center of the room, tied to a metal chair, was Vanessa.

Her red satin dress was torn, her face bruised. She was sobbing, typing frantically on a laptop resting on a folding table in front of her.

Standing behind her, holding a suppressed pistol to the back of her head, was Carlo Bellini.

“Hurry up, Vanessa,” Carlo growled, checking his watch. “The transfer window closes in three minutes.”

“I’m trying, Uncle Carlo!” she cried hysterically. “The encryption is complex!”

“You have two minutes, or I put a bullet in your spine.”

Luca and I were hidden behind a stack of metal crates near the tunnel exit.

Luca raised his gun, aiming carefully at Carlo’s head.

But before he could pull the trigger, the heavy metal door to the server room swung open.

Three of Carlo’s heavily armed guards walked in.

“Boss, the perimeter is secure,” the lead guard reported. “No sign of Moretti.”

Luca cursed silently, lowering his weapon. He couldn't take out Carlo without getting shot to pieces by the guards.

We were stuck.

I looked around frantically for a distraction.

My eyes landed on a large, red electrical box mounted on the wall near our crates. It controlled the main power feed to the server racks.

I looked at Luca and pointed to the box.

He nodded, understanding immediately.

I grabbed a loose piece of rebar from the ground. I took a deep breath, praying I wouldn't electrocute myself.

I swung the rebar as hard as I could, smashing the electrical box.

Sparks showered the concrete.

The lights in the room instantly blew out, plunging the basement into absolute darkness.

The server fans died.

“What the hell was that?!” Carlo shouted. “My transfer! Get the backups online!”

“Flashlights!” a guard yelled.

Before the guards could click their lights on, Luca moved.

He didn't shoot. The muzzle flash would give away his position.

He slipped into the darkness like a ghost.

I heard a heavy thud, followed by the sickening crunch of bone. One guard down.

A flashlight flickered on, sweeping across the room.

The beam caught Luca standing directly behind the second guard. Luca grabbed the man’s head, twisted sharply, and dropped him to the floor.

The third guard panicked and fired blindly into the dark.

The bullets sparked off the metal servers, dangerously close to where Vanessa was tied to the chair. She screamed, ducking her head.

Luca lunged forward, tackling the third guard. A brutal hand-to-hand struggle ensued in the pitch black.

I couldn't wait.

I crawled on my hands and knees across the cold concrete, using the muzzle flashes as a guide. I bumped into the metal leg of Vanessa’s chair.

“Vanessa!” I hissed.

She gasped. “Who’s there?!”

“It’s Lucy. Hold still.”

I felt around until I found the heavy zip-ties binding her wrists to the chair arms. I pulled the rebar I had used to smash the power box and jammed it under the plastic, prying it upward with all my strength.

The zip-tie snapped.

Vanessa scrambled out of the chair, grabbing my arm in the dark.

“Where is he?” she panicked.

Suddenly, a massive hand grabbed my hair, yanking me backward.

“You little rat,” Carlo’s raspy voice growled in my ear.

He shoved the barrel of his pistol hard against my temple.

The emergency backup lights flickered on, bathing the room in an eerie red glow.

Luca stood over the unconscious body of the third guard, his own gun raised.

He froze when he saw me.