THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME PULL HIS TWELVE-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER'S LONG BROWN BRAID OUT OF THE TRASH BESIDE HIS ENGAGEMENT TABLE—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE ASKED ME TO CUT IT OFF,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE LITTLE GIRL WAS CRYING, HER HAIR HANGING UNEVENLY AROUND HER FACE

"Bring them in, Vincent," Luca said quietly.

Vincent pushed Caroline into the room. She stumbled, clutching Lily tightly against her side. Lily was crying silently, her eyes wide with terror as she stared at the gun in her uncle's hand.

I jumped out of my chair. "Let her go!"

Vincent ignored me. He was taller than Luca, with greying hair and a sharp, cruel face. He locked the study doors behind him and pocketed the key.

Answer One: Luca hadn't hired Vanessa. Vincent had. The voice on the recorder was a deepfake or a manipulated clip designed to frame Luca if things went wrong.

Open Two: Why was Vincent doing this? And why was Luca sitting calmly at his desk while his brother held a gun to his family?

"I must say, Emma," Vincent sneered, walking past me. "You are far more meddlesome than the last maid. I thought placing that recorder in Luca's coat would ensure you ran straight to the police. Instead, you tried to play hero."

"You planted it," I whispered, looking from Vincent to Luca.

Luca didn't move. He kept his eyes fixed on his brother. "Put the gun down, Vince."

"Not yet, little brother," Vincent said, aiming the weapon directly at Caroline's chest. "Not until you sign the transfer papers."

Caroline was shaking, but she stood tall, shielding Lily. "You're insane, Vincent. You think you can take over the syndicate by locking me up?"

"I think I already have," Vincent replied smoothly. He looked at Luca. "Vanessa was a fool. She let her jealousy ruin the plan. She was supposed to keep Caroline medicated at the clinic indefinitely. Once Caroline was declared legally incompetent, I would have used her shares in the legitimate businesses to force a board vote and push you out, Luca."

My mind raced. Caroline wasn't just an ex-wife. She held legal shares in the Moretti empire. That was why she couldn't just be killed.

"But then Vanessa got greedy," Vincent sighed. "She wanted the wedding. She wanted the little girl to love her. She made a mess."

"Where is Vanessa now?" Luca asked, his voice dead flat.

Vincent smiled. "Where do you think? She failed me. I had Marco take care of her."

My blood ran cold. Marco. The head of security. He belonged to Vincent.

That meant my mother...

"My mother," I choked out, stepping toward Vincent. "Marco said he sent men to protect her!"

Vincent laughed. "Oh, Emma. Marco sent men to your mother's apartment, yes. But they aren't there to protect her. They're there to make sure you behave."

My knees nearly gave out. I grabbed the edge of Luca's desk to stay standing.

"Sign the papers, Luca," Vincent ordered, tossing a manila folder onto the desk. "Transfer full operational control of the syndicate to me. You walk away with your daughter and your ex-wife, and you leave Chicago forever. If you don't, I kill Caroline right now. And then I kill the maid."

Lily screamed, burying her face in Caroline's stomach.

Luca looked at the folder.

He looked at his daughter, sobbing in terror.

He looked at Caroline, who was staring at him with a mixture of fear and defiance.

Then, Luca looked at me.

"Emma," Luca said calmly. "Do you remember what I told you when I hired you?"

I blinked, confused. My mind was spinning with panic for my mother. "Sir?"

"I told you that in this house, we protect our own," Luca said.

He picked up the silver pen resting on his desk.

He opened the folder.

"You win, Vince," Luca said quietly.

He pressed the pen to the signature line.

Vincent smiled triumphantly, lowering the gun just a fraction of an inch to watch his brother sign away an empire.

That fraction of an inch was all Luca needed.

Luca didn't sign the paper. He grabbed the heavy crystal whiskey decanter from his desk and hurled it directly at Vincent's face with terrifying speed.

The heavy glass shattered against Vincent's skull.

Vincent roared in pain, stumbling backward, his gun firing blindly into the ceiling.

Plaster rained down.

"Emma! Get them down!" Luca shouted.

I dove across the room, tackling Caroline and Lily to the Persian rug, covering their bodies with my own.

Luca vaulted over the mahogany desk. He hit his brother with the force of a freight train. The two men crashed into the bookshelves, sending heavy leather-bound volumes tumbling to the floor.

Vincent was bigger, but Luca was fueled by the absolute rage of a father protecting his child.

Luca wrenched the gun from Vincent's hand, throwing it across the room. It slid under the leather sofa.

Vincent threw a brutal punch, catching Luca in the jaw. Luca staggered back, bleeding from his lip, but he didn't fall. He countered with a devastating blow to Vincent's ribs, followed by an uppercut that sent his older brother crashing through the glass coffee table.

Vincent lay groaning among the shattered glass.

Luca stood over him, breathing heavily, his fists clenched.

"It's over, Vince," Luca spat.

Suddenly, the locked study doors rattled violently.

"Boss! Step away from him!" a voice shouted from the hallway.

It was Marco. And he wasn't alone. I could hear several men outside.

"Marco is going to break the door down," Caroline panicked, clutching Lily tightly. "Luca, he has men out there!"

Luca didn't panic. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"He has men," Luca said, tapping a single button on his screen. "But I have an army."

Three seconds later, the sound of breaking wood echoed from the hallway, but it wasn't the study door.

It was the front doors of the estate being kicked in.

Gunfire erupted outside the study. Men shouted. Heavy boots pounded on the hardwood floors.

Marco yelled an order, but it was cut off by a sickening thud.

Silence fell over the hallway.

A heavy knock sounded on the study door.

"Mr. Moretti?" a deep, unfamiliar voice called out. "It's Rossi. The perimeter is secure. The traitors are neutralized."

Luca looked at Vincent, who was staring at the door in absolute shock.

"You thought you bought my security team, Vince," Luca said coldly. "You bought half of them. The other half have been watching you for six months."

Luca walked to the door, unlocked it, and pulled it open.

A massive man in a tactical vest stood in the hallway. Behind him, Marco and four other guards were on their knees, zip-tied and bleeding.

"Take him," Luca ordered, pointing at Vincent.

Rossi's men hauled Vincent out of the broken glass and dragged him from the room.

I scrambled to my feet, my heart pounding so hard it hurt.

"Mr. Moretti!" I cried. "My mother! Vincent said Marco's men are at her apartment!"

Luca turned to Rossi. "Status on the 4th Street extraction."

Rossi checked his earpiece. "Team Three secured the mother ten minutes ago, sir. Two hostiles detained. The mother is safe and currently en route to the safehouse."

I collapsed to my knees, burying my face in my hands, sobbing with absolute relief.

Suddenly, I felt a small pair of arms wrap around my neck.

I looked up. Lily was hugging me tightly, her uneven hair brushing against my cheek.

"Thank you, Miss Emma," Lily whispered. "Thank you for not leaving us."

I hugged her back, tears streaming down my face.

I looked over Lily's shoulder. Luca was kneeling beside Caroline on the floor.

He reached out slowly, his hands trembling, and gently touched her pale cheek.

"I'm sorry," Luca whispered, his voice breaking completely. "I'm so sorry, Caroline. I didn't know. I swear to God, I didn't know."

Caroline looked at him. The fear was gone, replaced by an exhaustion so deep it seemed to settle in her bones.

"I know, Luca," she said softly.

Luca pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her shoulder.

The nightmare was finally over.