*THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME PUSH A FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOY IN A WHEELCHAIR INTO HIS CHARITY GALA—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “HE'S FAKING HIS INJURIES FOR MONEY,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE BOY WAS HOLDING A BROKEN SMOKE DETECTOR FROM ONE OF HIS OWN BUILDINGS.**

The crackle of the burning building seemed to fade into the background.

I looked between the exhausted diner waitress and the powerful billionaire.

"Framed?" Luca repeated, the word sounding foreign in his mouth.

Elena Hart wiped her soot-stained cheek, her hands shaking violently.

"Don't pretend you don't know, Mr. Moretti," she said, her voice laced with fifteen years of poison. "I spent five years in a state penitentiary for stealing a diamond necklace I never touched. I lost my youth. I lost my reputation. All because your father needed a scapegoat to protect the Bellini family."

Daniel shifted uncomfortably, his hand resting near his holster.

Luca didn't move. He didn't look angry. He looked devastated.

"I was twenty-four years old when you were arrested, Elena," Luca said softly. "I was away at law school. My father told me you had a gambling problem. That you confessed."

"I confessed because Salvatore Bellini cornered me in the estate laundry room and told me if I didn't sign the police statement, my little brother would end up at the bottom of the Chicago River," Elena fired back, tears shining in her eyes.

She pointed a trembling finger at Caleb.

"That little brother was Caleb’s father. He died of a heart attack two years ago because he worked three manual labor jobs to keep my kids fed while I was rotting in a cell."

The weight of the tragedy hung in the smoky air.

Luca closed his eyes, the guilt of his family's empire pressing down on his shoulders.

"And now," Elena sobbed, pulling Lucy closer to her legs, "Vanessa Bellini is trying to burn my children alive just because I finally found the proof."

I stepped forward, my heart pounding. "Proof of what, Elena?"

Elena looked at me, then back at Luca.

"Proof that Willow Creek isn't just an apartment building," she said. "The foundation didn't buy this property to help the poor, Luca. Your fiancée convinced you to buy it because her father uses the basement levels to store the syndicate's unlaundered cash and offshore deeds."

Luca went completely rigid.

"What?"

"It's a vault," Elena said. "When they renovated the building six months ago, I recognized the Bellini contractors. I got a job cleaning the basement offices. I saw the safe. I saw the ledgers. They were using your charity as a tax-exempt shield to hide illegal assets."

"And you took something," Luca realized, his eyes narrowing.

"I took the master ledger," Elena confessed, her chin trembling. "Three weeks ago. I was going to give it to the FBI. I was going to clear my name and ruin Salvatore. But Vanessa found out."

"That's why she denied the maintenance request," I realized aloud, the horror washing over me. "She didn't just delay the smoke detector repairs to save money. She disabled the fire alarms on purpose."

"She needed an excuse to clear the building quickly so her father's men could tear the apartments apart looking for the ledger," Elena said. "When they couldn't find it today, they decided to burn the building down with my mother and children inside to send me a message."

Luca looked down at the silver locket in his hand.

The locket stolen from his mother's grave.

"The locket wasn't a threat against me," Luca whispered, the pieces finally clicking together in a horrific picture. "It was a promise."

"A promise for what?" Daniel asked.

"Salvatore is telling me that if I look into this fire, if I try to expose him, he will dig up every secret my family has buried," Luca said.

He looked at Elena.

"Where is the ledger right now?"

Elena hesitated, looking at her injured son and terrified daughter.

"If I tell you," she whispered, "you'll just give it back to them to protect your empire."

"My empire is built on blood, Elena," Luca said, his voice dropping to a terrifying, absolute calm. "And I am done bleeding for the Bellini family."

He walked over to Caleb’s wheelchair, retrieved it from the SUV, and brought it to the boy. He helped Caleb sit down, then gently lifted the unconscious grandmother into the back of the armored car.

"Daniel," Luca ordered. "Take Elena and her family to the Oak Park safe house. Secure the perimeter. Nobody goes in or out."

"Yes, Boss."

Luca looked at Elena. "You are under my protection now. Salvatore will never touch your children again. I swear it on my mother's soul."

Elena looked at the silver locket in his hand. Her hardened expression cracked, and she finally nodded.

"The ledger is at the charity gala," Elena whispered.

I gasped. "The gala?"

"I couldn't keep it in the apartment," Elena explained. "I knew they would search it. So yesterday, I slipped into the estate with the catering crew. I hid it inside the podium on the main stage."

My stomach dropped.

The main stage.

Where Vanessa was currently hosting the remainder of the event.

"She's standing right next to it," I said, panic rising in my throat.

Luca turned to me, his dark eyes locking onto mine.

"Rachel, get in the car. We are going back to the party."

I climbed into the passenger seat as Luca slid behind the wheel of Daniel’s backup sedan.

We sped away from the burning building, the wail of fire engines finally echoing in the distance behind us.

The drive back to the estate was silent and tense.

When we pulled through the front gates, the valet took the car.

Luca didn't bother putting his ruined suit jacket back on. He strode through the grand double doors in his soot-stained, torn white shirt, looking like a demon walking into heaven.

The ballroom was still packed. The string quartet was playing.

But as Luca entered, the music abruptly stopped.

The guests turned, staring in shock at the billionaire covered in ash and blood.

Vanessa was standing on the main stage, holding a microphone, smiling for a photographer.

When she saw Luca, the color drained entirely from her face.

She lowered the microphone.

Luca didn't say a word. He walked straight down the center aisle, the crowd parting for him like the Red Sea.

He walked up the short stairs to the stage.

Vanessa backed away, her hands trembling. "Luca... you're hurt."

He ignored her.

He walked directly to the wooden podium.

He reached underneath the heavy oak frame, feeling for the hidden shelf.