THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME SERVE HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER

The next evening, the grand ballroom of the Moretti estate was bathed in the warm glow of crystal chandeliers. The rehearsal dinner was in full swing.

Violins played softly in the corner. Waiters in white gloves drifted through the crowd, carrying trays of champagne.

It looked like a fairy tale.

It felt like a graveyard.

I was standing in the shadows of the servant's corridor, wearing my black and white uniform, ignoring the agonizing pain in my taped ribs.

Through the cracked door, I watched Vanessa Bellini holding court. She looked radiant in a silver gown, laughing with the wealthy guests, playing the perfect, glowing bride-to-be.

She had no idea that we knew everything.

She had no idea that earlier that morning, Luca had quietly dismantled the false wall in the library, retrieved the melted hard drive, and sent it to a cartel accountant.

Luca stood at the head of the room, holding a glass of scotch. He was playing the part perfectly. The calm, devoted fiancé. But every few minutes, his eyes would flick toward the servant's door, checking on me.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open.

Marcus Bellini stepped into the corridor. His right arm was in a heavy cast, suspended in a sling. His face was bruised, but his eyes were filled with venom.

He pinned me against the wall before I could scream.

“Don't make a sound, you little rat,” Marcus hissed in my ear.

I gasped as pain flared through my injured ribs.

“Tomorrow morning. 8:00 AM,” Marcus whispered. “You are going to walk into the First Chicago Bank with me and my sister. You are going to put your thumb on the scanner, and you are going to open that box. If you scream, if you cry, if you try to signal the tellers…”

He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small, silver locket.

My breath caught. It was my mother’s.

“We found your safehouse an hour ago,” Marcus smiled, a sick, yellow grin. “Your mother and the old bat Dorothy are sitting in a van with two of my men right now. You open the box, they get to go back to their pathetic lives. You try anything clever, and we dump them in the river.”

Tears welled in my eyes. I nodded frantically.

Marcus patted my cheek. “Good girl. See you tomorrow.”

He turned and slipped back into the ballroom, leaving me trembling in the dark.

I was trapped. If I told Luca, a shootout would happen right here, and my mother would be killed.

I had to run. I had to go to the bank alone, surrender the money, and beg for my mother’s life.

I took off my apron, threw it on the floor, and ran toward the back exit. I pushed through the heavy kitchen doors, heading for the service alley.

But as I reached for the brass handle of the back door, a large hand clamped over mine.

I spun around, terrified.

It was Luca.

He didn't look angry. He looked entirely calm.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a heavy, solid gold pocket watch. He pressed it into my trembling palm and closed my fingers around it.

“I know what Marcus just told you,” Luca said softly.

I sobbed, shaking my head. “Luca, they have my mother. They have Dorothy. I have to go with them tomorrow. You can't stop this.”

“I’m not going to stop it,” Luca said.

I stared at him, confused and terrified.

“Tomorrow at 8:00 AM, you are going to go to the bank with Vanessa and Marcus,” Luca instructed, his voice steady. “You are going to put your thumb on the scanner. You are going to open the box.”

“But they’ll kill me!”

“No, they won't,” Luca said. He tapped the gold watch in my hand. “Keep this in your pocket. Do exactly what they say. Trust me for one more hour, Kate. Can you do that?”

I looked into his dark, unyielding eyes. The man who had protected me when I was just a maid. The brother I never knew I had.