THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME STRUGGLE TO WHEEL HIS FIANCÉE’S $40,000 WEDDING GOWN INTO THE DINING ROOM—THEN SHE SAID, “SHE FELL AT THE FRONT GATE,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY MY STOCKING WAS COVERED IN BLOOD. Four more steps.

Clara collapsed onto the metal grating, clutching her bleeding shoulder, her gun clattering uselessly away.

She stared up at Daniel in absolute, horrifying shock.

"You betrayed me!" Clara shrieked, coughing blood. "I paid you!"

Daniel lowered his rifle, looking entirely unfazed. "You paid me to open a holding cell, Clara. You didn't pay me to kill the boss."

Luca didn't stop moving.

He sprinted across the catwalk, kicking Clara’s fallen weapon off the edge, and scooped Leo into his arms.

"I got you, buddy. I got you," Luca murmured, holding the trembling boy tight against his chest.

"Mama!" Leo cried, burying his face in Luca’s neck.

Lucy scrambled up the metal stairs, ignoring the searing pain in her leg, and threw her arms around both of them. She buried her face in Leo’s dark curls, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm here, baby. Mommy’s here," she wept, kissing his face over and over again.

Luca held them both, serving as a massive, impenetrable shield on the narrow catwalk. He looked over Lucy’s head at Daniel.

"Nice shot," Luca said quietly.

Daniel offered a small, sheepish shrug. "Sorry for the theatrics, Boss. When she broke out of the holding cell and grabbed the kid, I knew she had backup outside the estate. If I had stopped her then, a firefight would have caught the boy in the crossfire. So I played along. Waited until she felt safe."

Reversal.

Daniel hadn't betrayed him. He had played a dangerous, high-stakes game of undercover infiltration to protect the child.

Clara groaned, trying to crawl toward the stairs, leaving a smear of blood on the metal grating.

Luca gently untangled himself from Lucy and Leo.

He walked over and placed his heavy boot squarely on the middle of Clara’s back, pinning her to the floor.

"You're done, Clara," Luca said, his voice as cold as the steel beneath them. "The police are already waiting outside. You’re going to federal prison for identity theft, extortion, and kidnapping."

Clara laughed weakly, spitting blood onto the metal. "You think the Moranos are going to let you keep that kid, Luca? He’s their bloodline. They’ll hunt him until the day he dies."

"No, they won't," a new voice echoed through the massive paper mill.

Luca looked down.

Standing on the main floor, surrounded by a dozen of his own men, was Vincenzo Morano. The old boss was sitting in a wheelchair, breathing heavily through an oxygen tube, but his presence commanded absolute silence.

Vincenzo looked up at the catwalk, his eyes locking onto Leo, who was hiding behind Lucy’s leg.

The old man’s face softened. For a fleeting second, the ruthless cartel boss disappeared, replaced by a grandfather seeing the only piece of his dead son left in the world.

"Bring the boy down here, Moretti," Vincenzo wheezed.

Luca hesitated. He looked at Lucy.

She was terrified, but she held Leo’s hand tightly and nodded. They walked slowly down the metal stairs, Luca staying firmly between them and Vincenzo’s guards.

When they reached the main floor, Vincenzo wheeled himself forward slightly.

"What is your name, child?" Vincenzo asked, his voice unexpectedly gentle.

Leo peeked out from behind his mother’s leg. "Leo."

Vincenzo nodded slowly. He looked at Lucy, taking in her bruised face and bloody uniform.

"You protected him well, girl. Julian was a fool to push you away."

"He didn't just push me away," Lucy said, her voice shaking but defiant. "He tried to force me to end Leo's life. I won't let you turn my son into someone like him."

The Morano guards bristled, but Vincenzo held up a hand.

"I am dying," Vincenzo said quietly. "My empire is crumbling. My nephew Tony proved tonight that my family is infested with snakes. This boy..." Vincenzo looked back at Leo. "This boy deserves better than the life I built."

Vincenzo reached into his coat pocket.

He pulled out a small, heavy velvet box.

He held it out to Lucy.

She hesitated, then took it. She opened the lid.

Inside was a massive, ancient gold signet ring. The Morano family heirloom. The ring worn by the head of the family for four generations.

"Take it," Vincenzo said, his breathing ragged. "Sell it. Hide it. Do whatever you want with it. But as of tonight, the Morano bloodline ends with me. I relinquish all claims to the boy. He is yours, Lucy. Raise him in the light."

Lucy stared at the ring, tears welling in her eyes. It was the ultimate surrender. Absolute freedom.

Vincenzo looked at Luca.

"You fought for my grandson tonight, Moretti. When you should have let Clara kill him to wipe out my legacy. I owe you a debt I can never repay."

"Consider the debt paid by leaving them alone," Luca replied firmly.

Vincenzo nodded. He signaled his men, and they wheeled the old boss out of the decaying mill, disappearing into the rainy night.

The silence that followed was deafening.

It was over.

Lucy let out a shuddering breath, closing the velvet box. She looked down at Leo, who was yawning, completely oblivious to the fact that he had just inherited—and avoided—a cartel empire.

Luca stepped closer, wrapping his arm around Lucy’s shoulders. She leaned into his solid warmth, exhausted beyond measure.

"Let's go home," Luca murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple.

They walked out of the mill.

But as they stepped into the alleyway, the flashing red and blue lights of a dozen police cruisers illuminated the night.

Daniel had called them for Clara.

But standing at the front of the police barricade wasn't a detective.

It was a woman in her late sixties, wearing a damp gray coat and holding a brown suitcase.

Margaret.

She saw Luca and Lucy emerge from the mill.

Margaret dropped her suitcase and walked toward them, her eyes fixed on Lucy.