THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME CARRY A SMALL HOMEMADE BIRTHDAY CAKE ACROSS HIS DAUGHTER'S LAVISH DINNER WITH THE WORD “MOM” SMEARED INTO THE WHITE FROSTING—THEN HIS OLDER SISTER SAID

The waiting room felt like it was shrinking.

“They’re coming up the elevators,” Marco said, his eyes darting toward the heavy reinforced doors. “Boss, we have two minutes. You need to get out of here. If they arrest you for attempted murder, Victoria takes control of the syndicate by default while you await trial. She’ll own the family again.”

Dominic looked at the closed surgery doors. Caroline was bleeding on an operating table on the other side.

“I’m not leaving her,” Dominic said, his voice like granite.

“You can't help her from a federal prison!” Marco argued. “Victoria framed you perfectly. The men who dumped Caroline out of the SUV? They were driving a car registered to one of your shell companies. She set you up!”

I stood frozen, clutching my dead father’s watch.

The Moretti family was tearing itself apart. I should have walked away. I should have walked down the stairs, found the police, and told them everything Dominic had just confessed about my father.

But I looked at Emily. The ten-year-old girl was waking up on the couch, rubbing her eyes, completely unaware that her father was about to be taken away in handcuffs, just hours after she found out her mother was alive.

If Dominic went to prison, Emily would fall right back into Victoria’s hands.

“Mr. Moretti,” I said.

Dominic and Marco both looked at me.

“There’s a service elevator in the back hallway,” I told them, my voice surprisingly steady. “It’s used for medical waste and laundry. It goes straight to the underground loading dock. The police won't lock it down immediately because it requires a staff keycard.”

Marco frowned. “And how do we get a staff keycard?”

I reached into my pocket and pulled out a white plastic badge. “My mother used to work as a janitor in this hospital before her arthritis got too bad. She forgot to turn in her master keycard. I keep it in my wallet to scrape ice off my windshield.”

Dominic stared at me. “Nora… if you help me escape, you become an accessory. Why would you help me? After what my family did to yours?”

I looked at Emily, who was now sitting up, looking terrified.

“Because Victoria killed my father,” I said, my voice hardening. “And if she takes over this family, she’ll kill Caroline, too. I’m not doing this for you, Mr. Moretti. I’m doing this for the little girl who just got her mother back.”

Dominic nodded once, a look of profound respect crossing his face. He walked over to the couch, scooped Emily into his arms, and grabbed his jacket.

“Marco, stay here. Guard Caroline’s room. If Victoria’s men or the police try to move her, you stop them.”

“With my life, boss,” Marco promised, chambering a round in his weapon.

“Let’s go,” Dominic told me.

I swiped the keycard at the heavy fire doors, leading Dominic and Emily down a narrow, sterile hallway toward the back of the hospital. We could hear the ding of the main elevators opening in the waiting room behind us. Heavy boots pounded against the linoleum. The police had arrived.

We reached the service elevator. I swiped the card. The light flashed green, and the metal doors slowly slid open.

We stepped inside. The doors closed just as shouting echoed down the corridor.

The elevator descended, bypassing the lobby, dropping straight into the concrete basement.

When the doors opened, the loading dock was dark and empty, save for a few parked delivery vans. The rain was still pouring outside, rushing through the metal grates.

“My car is parked three blocks from here,” Dominic whispered, setting Emily down. “Keep your head down, baby. We’re going for a walk.”

We moved through the shadows of the concrete garage, the cold air biting through my wet clothes. We reached the exit ramp leading up to the street level.

But before we could step out into the rain, the headlights of a black Lincoln Town Car flicked on, blinding us in the dark.

The car had been idling in the shadows, waiting.

The driver's side door opened.

A tall man with silver hair and an impeccable black suit stepped out. He was holding an umbrella in one hand, and a suppressed pistol in the other.

Dominic immediately pushed Emily behind me, shielding both of us with his body.

“Uncle Frank,” Dominic said, his voice laced with absolute venom.

Frank Moretti, Dominic’s uncle and the patriarch of the family’s old guard, smiled a thin, humorless smile.

“Hello, Dominic,” Frank said smoothly. “Victoria called me. She said you might try to make a run for it.”

“Victoria is tearing the family apart, Frank,” Dominic said, keeping his eyes on the gun. “She framed me for the hit on Caroline.”

“I know she did,” Frank replied casually. “Because I’m the one who provided the car.”

Dominic’s jaw clenched. “You’re working with her?”

Frank sighed, stepping closer under the protection of his umbrella. “Victoria is emotional. Unstable. But she understands business. You, Dominic? You’ve gone soft. You’ve been trying to legitimize our operations for four years because you missed your runaway wife. The commission is tired of losing money because of your broken heart.”

Frank pointed the gun directly at Dominic’s chest.

“Victoria gets the empire. You get the blame for Caroline’s murder. And the police find you resisting arrest in a parking garage.”

Emily screamed, clutching my leg.

Frank’s eyes shifted to the little girl. “Shame about the kid. But loose ends are loose ends.”

He raised the gun higher.

I didn't think. I didn't plan. I just reacted.

I threw my father’s heavy gold pocket watch directly at Frank’s face.

The heavy metal struck him square in the forehead, shattering the remaining glass and cutting his brow. Frank stumbled backward, dropping his umbrella, the gun firing a suppressed shot into the concrete ceiling.

Before Frank could recover, Dominic lunged forward like a feral animal. He tackled his uncle against the hood of the Lincoln, twisting Frank’s wrist until a sickening crack echoed through the garage. Frank screamed, dropping the weapon.

Dominic pinned Frank by the throat, his fist raised, ready to cave the old man’s skull in.

“Daddy, no!” Emily cried.

Dominic froze. His fist hovered inches from Frank’s bloody face. He looked back at his daughter, who was trembling in terror, not of Frank, but of the violence she was witnessing.

Dominic slowly lowered his fist. He wasn't a monster. Not anymore.

He pulled a pair of zip-ties from the trunk of the Town Car—mobsters always carried them—and bound Frank’s wrists to the steering wheel.

Dominic grabbed the gun, picked up the gold watch, and handed it back to me.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

We ran out into the rain, leaving Frank bleeding in the dark.

We reached Dominic’s hidden car and drove to a safe house on the outskirts of the city. For three days, we hid. We watched the news as Victoria painted Dominic as a fugitive. We waited for word from Marco about Caroline.

On the fourth morning, Dominic’s burner phone rang.

He answered it. He listened for ten seconds. Then he dropped the phone on the table and fell to his knees, burying his face in his hands.

“Mr. Moretti?” I asked, terrified. “Is she…?”

Dominic looked up, tears streaming down his face.

“She’s awake. The surgery was a success. Caroline is alive.”

I let out a breath I felt like I had been holding for days. Emily cheered, hugging her father.

But then, Dominic’s expression darkened. He stood up, wiping his face, his eyes locking onto the handgun resting on the kitchen counter.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

Dominic picked up the weapon and slid it into his waistband.

“To take back my family. And to make sure my sister never hurts anyone again.”

He walked toward the door, but stopped, turning back to me.

“Nora. There’s something you need to know before I go. Something I found in Victoria’s files while we were digging through the safe house records.”