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.

"She hid the boy?" I repeated, my voice barely a whisper over the sounds of Luca and Daniel fighting savagely in the background.

"Vanessa," Marco choked out, coughing into his hand. "When Daniel’s men came to the mansion to take the child… the girl in the red dress stopped them."

My mind completely stalled.

Vanessa? The woman who had treated me like dirt? The woman who had locked a caterer in a shed and stolen my rosary?

"She put the child in the trunk of her car," Marco rasped, his eyes losing focus. "She drove him to the docks. Brought him to me. Said Daniel was betraying everyone."

I cut the ropes binding Eleanor’s wrists, my hands shaking so violently I nearly sliced her skin. "Where is he? Where is Leo?"

"The harbormaster’s office," Eleanor pointed a trembling finger toward a small, elevated glass booth at the far end of the warehouse. "Up there. Locked inside."

I didn't wait.

I dropped the knife and ran.

Every step sent a blinding spike of pain through my right side, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the small, glass-enclosed room fifty feet above the warehouse floor.

Behind me, the sickening crunch of cartilage echoed as Luca drove his knee into Daniel’s stomach. Daniel stumbled, but he was holding a heavy metal wrench he had grabbed from the floor. He swung wildly, catching Luca in the shoulder. Luca went down hard.

"Luca!" Eleanor screamed.

I stopped at the base of the metal stairs leading up to the office, torn.

"Go get your boy, Emily!" Luca yelled, rolling away from another devastating swing of the wrench. "Go!"

I grabbed the rusted handrail and hauled myself up the stairs. The metal groaned under my weight.

When I reached the landing, the door to the office was deadbolted. The glass window was smeared with dirt and grime. I pressed my face against it, peering into the dark room.

Sitting in the corner, clutching his stuffed dinosaur, was Leo.

And standing directly in front of the door, her red dress torn, her face bruised, was Vanessa.

She was holding a heavy iron fire poker, aimed at the door.

"Vanessa!" I screamed, banging on the glass. "It's me! Let me in!"

She jumped, her wild eyes snapping toward the window. When she saw me, her shoulders collapsed in relief. She scrambled to unlock the deadbolt, throwing the heavy metal door open.

I fell to my knees, catching Leo as he barreled into my arms.

"Mommy!" he cried, burying his wet face in my neck.

"I got you, baby. I'm here." I squeezed his small body, inhaling the scent of his hair, tears pouring down my face.

I looked up at Vanessa. She was shivering, her beautiful dress ruined, a nasty bruise swelling along her jawline.

"Why?" I asked, breathless. "Why did you save him?"

Vanessa leaned against the doorframe, letting the iron poker drop. She let out a shaky, bitter laugh. "Because I’m a selfish, social-climbing bitch, Emily. But I’m not a monster."

Reversal.

I had misjudged her completely.

"When Daniel’s men came for him," Vanessa whispered, wiping blood from her lip, "I knew Daniel was tying up loose ends. He told me if I didn't bring Eleanor here, he’d expose my theft. But when I saw them grab a six-year-old kid… I realized he was going to kill all of us anyway. So I hit one of the guards with a lamp and grabbed the boy."

A massive crash shook the warehouse below.

We all looked down through the glass.

Luca had Daniel pinned against a forklift. Luca was exhausted, bleeding from his temple, but the raw, unhinged fury of the Moretti boss had finally taken over. He delivered a brutal, final punch to Daniel’s jaw.

Daniel’s head snapped back against the steel machinery, and he slumped to the floor, completely unconscious.

It was over.

The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the steady drumming of the rain against the metal roof.

Luca stood over Daniel, chest heaving. He wiped blood from his mouth, his dark eyes scanning the warehouse until they found me standing at the railing above.

When he saw Leo clinging to my leg, safe, a visible shudder of relief ripped through his massive frame.

He nodded at me. Just a small, exhausted nod.

I picked Leo up, gritting my teeth against the pain in my ribs, and slowly walked down the metal stairs. Vanessa followed quietly behind me.

When we reached the floor, Eleanor was kneeling beside Marco.

My father.

He was leaning against the shipping crate, his breathing shallow, his face ghostly pale. The cancer was eating him alive, and the stress of the night had pushed him to the edge.

I walked over to him, setting Leo down behind my leg.

Marco looked up at me, his eyes filled with a lifetime of regret.

"You have her eyes," he whispered. "Your mother’s eyes."

I didn't know what to feel. He was a cartel boss. He was a criminal. But he hadn't killed my husband. He had just wanted to find his daughter before he died.

"Take it," Marco said, his trembling hand reaching into his coat. He pulled out a thick, sealed envelope. "The deed to the Falcone estate. The offshore accounts. It's all yours, Emmeline. Everything I have."

He pressed the envelope into my hand.

Before I could process what he was giving me, a squad of police cars with flashing red and blue lights tore into the shipyard, sirens wailing.

Daniel’s backup hadn't arrived. The real authorities had.

Eleanor stood up, dusting off her coat with incredible dignity. "I called the commissioner," she said calmly to Luca. "Daniel will spend the rest of his life in federal prison."

Luca walked over to me, wrapping his arm securely around my shoulders, shielding me and Leo from the flashing lights.

"It's over," he murmured against my hair.

I closed my eyes, leaning into his solid warmth. We were safe.

But as the paramedics rushed in, Eleanor walked over to me. She didn't look relieved. She looked deeply, profoundly sorrowful.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, intricately carved wooden box.

"Marco gave me this ten years ago, Emily," Eleanor said softly, placing the box in my hands. "He told me to give it to you when you were ready to understand why your mother really left him."

I stared at the locked wooden box, a cold chill running down my spine.

"What's inside it?" I whispered.