THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME STRUGGLE TO CARRY HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER WITH ONE ARM PRESSED AGAINST MY RIBS—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE FELL IN THE SERVICE COURTYARD,” BEFORE HE HAD EVEN ASKED WHY I COULDN’T STAND STRAIGHT. Four more steps.

I stopped breathing.

The world shrank to the narrow, dimly lit hallway of the Moretti estate.

At the far end stood Mark.

My husband. The man I had grieved for three years. The man whose grave I had visited every Sunday, placing cheap carnations over an empty plot.

He looked older, his face hardened, a nasty scar running down his cheek. He was wearing tactical gear, the heavy assault rifle resting easily in his hands.

And swinging from his fingers was the matching half of the cartel locket.

"Mark?" The word tore from my throat, a ragged, pathetic sound of disbelief.

He offered a small, humorless smile. "Hey, Em. You cut your hair. Looks good."

Reversal.

Everything Eleanor had said, everything Marco had claimed, twisted violently. Mark wasn't a victim. He wasn't a martyr who died trying to protect me.

"You're alive," I whispered, the betrayal burning hotter than the physical pain in my ribs. "You let me mourn you. You let Leo grow up without a father. We starved, Mark. We couldn't pay rent."

"I was doing a job, Emily," Mark said, his voice flat, completely devoid of the warmth I used to love. "I was embedded. The Falcones needed Lorenzo Moretti’s bastard daughter monitored. You were the insurance policy."

He looked at Luca.

"Put the gun down, Moretti. Marco sent me to clean up the mess. The old man is tired of playing games."

Luca didn't lower his weapon. He stood squarely in the doorway, shielding me from my own husband.

"You faked your death to avoid my mother’s hit," Luca stated calmly. "And now you're back to collect the bounty on Emily."

"Nothing personal, Em," Mark shrugged. "The Falcones pay better. Now hand over the wooden box, and I let you and the kid walk."

"You would shoot the mother of your child?" Eleanor gasped from behind me.

Mark’s cold eyes shifted to Eleanor. "Leo isn't my kid. Em was two months pregnant with some college boyfriend’s baby when I got assigned to her. I played the good step-dad. Kept the cover solid."

My stomach heaved.

The memories of Mark teaching Leo to walk, kissing my forehead, holding my hand... it was all a perfectly executed lie.

"You bastard," I hissed, a sudden, blinding rage washing away the fear.

"Language, Em," Mark mocked. He raised the rifle, aiming it directly at Luca’s chest. "Box. Now. Or the new boss dies right here."

Luca didn't flinch.

He glanced at the silver locket lying on the floor. Then, he looked at Mark.

"You made one miscalculation, Mark," Luca said smoothly.

"Oh yeah? What’s that?"

"You assumed I play by the old rules."

Without warning, Luca didn't shoot at Mark. He aimed straight up and fired a single round into the hallway ceiling.

The gunshot was deafening.

Instantly, the estate’s automated security protocol, triggered by the indoor gunshot, plunged the entire mansion into total darkness.

The emergency blast doors at the end of the hallway violently slammed shut, separating Mark from his backup squad in the main hall.

"Emily, down!" Luca roared in the pitch black.

I hit the floor just as Mark’s rifle opened fire, the muzzle flashes illuminating the hallway in terrifying strobe-light bursts. Bullets tore through the drywall, showering me in plaster.

I crawled backward into the bedroom, blindly feeling for the heavy oak door.

Eleanor was already there, pulling me inside. She slammed the door shut, locking the deadbolt in the dark.

"Luca!" I screamed, realizing he was still out in the hallway.

The sound of gunfire stopped, replaced by the brutal, sickening sounds of hand-to-hand combat.

Luca had tackled Mark in the dark.

"Stay here," Eleanor whispered, pushing me toward the bed where Leo was stirring, crying out in confusion at the noise.

I scrambled onto the mattress, wrapping my body completely over my son, shielding him. "Shh, baby. It's okay. Mommy’s here."

Outside the door, a heavy body slammed against the wood.

There was a choked gasp, the sound of tearing fabric, and then a heavy thud.

Silence.

My heart pounded so hard I thought my ribs would snap. I stared at the locked door in the pitch-black room, clutching Leo.

"Luca?" I called out, my voice trembling.