THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED HIS FIANCÉE ORDER ME TO REMOVE AN ELDERLY WOMAN'S DINNER PLATE IN FRONT OF TWENTY-EIGHT GUESTS—THEN SHE SAID, “SHE'S ALREADY BEEN PAID TO KEEP QUIET

“Lucas?” I whispered, my voice cracking with absolute disbelief.

My brother’s hands were shaking violently as he pressed the gun against my hair. Tears were streaming down his face, but he didn't lower the weapon.

“I’m sorry, Soph,” Lucas choked out. “I’m so sorry.”

Adrian stood frozen, his pistol still raised, his eyes darting between Lucas and Vivienne on the warehouse floor below.

“You sold us out,” Adrian said, his voice dripping with venom. “You didn't stop the drugs because you grew a conscience. You stopped them because Vivienne told you to.”

Vivienne’s laughter echoed through the massive warehouse. She turned around, spotting us on the catwalk.

“Oh, Adrian, don't be so dramatic,” Vivienne called up to us. “The boy was just following orders. Bring them down, Lucas!”

Lucas shoved me forward. I stumbled down the metal stairs, my heart breaking with every step. Adrian followed, his gun now lowered, knowing any sudden move would get me killed.

We reached the warehouse floor. Vivienne’s armed guards instantly surrounded us, snatching Adrian’s weapon away.

“Why, Lucas?” I sobbed, looking at the brother I had sacrificed everything for. “Why are you doing this?”

Lucas couldn't look at me. “She has Mom, Sophie. Vivienne’s men took Mom an hour ago. She said if I didn't lure Adrian here and hand over Daniel, they would kill her.”

The air left my lungs.

Vivienne wasn't just a spoiled heiress. She was a ruthless, calculating monster who had anticipated our every move.

Vivienne walked over to Adrian, tracing the lapel of his expensive suit.

“I told you, darling,” Vivienne smiled. “You don't break an engagement with me. My family has spent two decades grooming the Moretti empire. We aren't walking away empty-handed.”

She held up the syringe filled with clear liquid.

“This is a lethal dose of potassium chloride,” Vivienne explained casually. “It will cause immediate cardiac arrest. Untraceable in a man who has been comatose for twenty years.”

Daniel groaned in the chair, his head rolling to the side. He was too weak to even lift his arms.

Vivienne looked at Adrian.

“Sign the transfer papers for the waterfront, Adrian. Relinquish your seat on the commission to my father. Do it right now, or your brother dies in front of you. And then the maid’s mother dies.”

Adrian looked at Daniel. Then he looked at me.

The powerful mafia boss, the man who struck terror into the hearts of Chicago’s elite, looked completely defeated.

“Give me the papers,” Adrian whispered.

Vivienne smiled triumphantly. She motioned to one of her guards, who pulled a leather folder from a briefcase and handed Adrian a pen.

Adrian reached for the pen.

But as his fingers brushed the folder, a massive, deafening explosion rocked the warehouse doors.

The heavy steel loading doors blew completely off their hinges, flying into the warehouse and crushing two of Vivienne’s guards.

Dust and smoke filled the air.

Vivienne screamed, dropping the folder.

Through the thick smoke, a dozen heavily armed men poured into the warehouse, their weapons raised.

But they weren't FBI.

They wore dark suits and carried themselves with brutal, practiced efficiency.

Walking behind them, stepping over the rubble with a cane, was an elderly man in a sharp pinstripe suit.

Adrian didn't look surprised. He smiled.

“You thought I brought a nursing student to a gunfight without a backup plan?” Adrian asked Vivienne.

Vivienne backed away, her face draining of color.

“Uncle Frank,” Adrian said respectfully, nodding to the elderly man.

Frank Moretti, the oldest surviving member of the syndicate council, looked around the warehouse in disgust.

“Adrian called me from the safe house,” Frank said, his gravelly voice echoing in the silence. “He told me the Cross family has been extorting our bloodline for twenty years. The council does not take kindly to extortion, Vivienne.”

Vivienne panicked. “He’s lying! He’s trying to steal my family’s assets!”

Frank looked at Daniel, tied to the chair.

“I know my own nephew when I see him,” Frank said softly. “Your father is dead, Vivienne. The council handled him at the hospital ten minutes ago. And now, we handle you.”

Frank’s men raised their weapons.

Vivienne realized she was trapped. In a desperate, final act of malice, she lunged toward Daniel with the syringe.

“If I can't have the empire, neither can he!” Vivienne screamed, driving the needle toward Daniel’s neck.

Before the needle could pierce Daniel’s skin, Lucas tackled her.

My brother slammed Vivienne into the concrete. The syringe shattered on the floor, the deadly liquid pooling in the dust.

Vivienne scratched and clawed, but Frank’s men yanked her off the ground, throwing her against the wall and zip-tying her hands.

Lucas knelt on the floor, breathing heavily, bleeding from a scratch on his cheek.

Adrian walked over to my brother and held out his hand.

Lucas looked at it, then took it, letting the mafia boss pull him to his feet.

“Your mother is safe, Lucas,” Adrian said. “Frank’s men secured her house before we ever left for the pier.”

I gasped, covering my mouth. Adrian had known about the threat to my mother all along, and he had protected her without telling us, ensuring Lucas’s cover wasn't blown.

Adrian knelt in front of Daniel, gently untying his brother’s wrists.

“You’re safe now, Danny,” Adrian whispered, tears falling freely. “I’ve got you.”

Daniel looked up at Adrian. The hollow stare was gone.

“Ade,” Daniel whispered, using his childhood nickname.

Adrian pulled his brother into a fierce embrace, sobbing into his shoulder.

I stood watching them, overwhelmed with relief.

But as I looked down at the shattered glass of the syringe on the floor, I noticed something glinting in the rubble where the loading doors had exploded.

I walked over and picked it up.

It was a small, silver locket.

It hadn't belonged to Vivienne. It must have fallen from Daniel’s pocket during the struggle.

I wiped the dust from the silver and pressed the tiny clasp.

The locket opened.

Inside was a faded, black-and-white photograph of a young woman holding a newborn baby.

I stared at the photograph, my heart stopping completely.

The young woman in the picture wasn't Adrian and Daniel’s mother.