THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED HIS FIANCÉE SWITCH OFF A 63-YEAR-OLD COOK'S RINGING PHONE AT HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER—THEN SHE SAID, “HER DAUGHTER'S HAVING A BABY, NOT DYING,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE OLD WOMAN WAS CRYING AND BEGGING TO LEAVE.

I stared at the glowing screen of my phone, the words blurring together.

They're burning the house down.

"Mr. Moretti," I interrupted, my voice shaking so badly I could barely speak.

Luca turned away from the baby, instantly reading the terror on my face.

He crossed the room in two strides and took the phone from my hand.

He read the text. His jaw clenched tight enough to crack bone.

"Daniel," Luca snapped, tossing the phone to his head of security. "Lock down this hospital floor. Nobody gets in or out without my permission. Leave two men on this door."

"Sir," Daniel said, looking at the message. "If Carmine Bellini is at the estate, we need to strike back. We have men—"

"No," Luca said firmly. "My father spent his life spilling blood to keep that house. I won't lose my family to save it."

He looked back at the bed.

Rose was holding little Enzo, her face buried in the baby's soft blanket, completely unaware of the war erupting miles away.

"We're not going back," Luca said quietly.

"Where will you go?" I asked.

Luca looked at me. "Do you still have the keys to your mother's apartment?"

I nodded. My mother lived in a small, quiet complex on the South Side. It wasn't a fortress, but nobody in the mafia world knew about it.

"We wait there," Luca decided. "Daniel, move Megan and the baby to a private, secure floor. Hannah, you and I are leaving."

"I want to stay with my mom," I said, panic rising in my chest.

"You're not safe here," Luca insisted. "Vanessa knows you're loyal to Rose. They'll use you to get to her. Come with me."

Ten minutes later, we were in the back of an unmarked hospital transport van Daniel had secured.

We drove through the dark streets of Chicago in complete silence.

The glow of the city lights flickered across Luca's face. He looked out the window, watching the smoke rising in the distance.

His legacy was burning to the ground.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Luca didn't look away from the window.

"It's just brick and wood, Hannah. Real family is what's sitting in that hospital room."

We arrived at my mother's apartment complex twenty minutes later.

I unlocked the door to the small, two-bedroom unit. My mother was working the night shift at the diner, so the place was empty and quiet.

Luca stepped inside, looking around the modest living room.

There were framed photos of me graduating high school, a worn floral couch, and a small kitchen table.

"It's not much," I apologized, turning on a small lamp.

"It's perfect," he said softly, sinking onto the couch.

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the sheer volume of blood he had donated was finally catching up to him.

I went to the kitchen and poured him a glass of water.

When I handed it to him, I noticed something sticking out of the inside pocket of his suit jacket.

A string of black wooden beads.

"Is that a rosary?" I asked, pointing to it.

Luca opened his eyes and pulled it out.

It was a beautiful, ancient-looking rosary with a silver crucifix.

"My mother gave this to me," Luca said softly, running his thumb over the smooth wooden beads. "She told me to keep it close when the world felt too heavy."

He held it out, offering me a closer look.

I took it gently.

As I turned the crucifix over in my hand, my heart stopped completely.

Engraved on the back of the silver cross were three small words.

To my Sophia.

I dropped the glass of water. It shattered against the cheap linoleum floor.

"Hannah?" Luca sat up immediately, wincing as his arm pulled. "Are you okay?"

I couldn't breathe.

I stared at the silver cross, the room spinning around me.

"Where did your mother get this?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Luca frowned, confused by my panic.

"She brought it with her from Italy when she married my father," he explained. "It belonged to her younger sister. Her sister died in a car accident before they emigrated."

The Reversal hit me so hard my knees actually buckled.

I sank to the floor, ignoring the broken glass.

"My mother's name is Sophia," I whispered.

Luca stared at me. "What?"