THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME WRAP MY COAT AROUND HIS LATE WIFE'S SEVENTY-SIX-YEAR-OLD MOTHER DURING HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER—THEN HIS FIANCÉE SAID, “SHE CAME HERE BEGGING FOR MONEY,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE ELDERLY WOMAN HAD BEEN LEFT STANDING IN THE RAIN FOR TWO HOURS.**

"Daniel."

Luca’s voice didn't shake. He didn't raise his hands.

He just stared at the man who had guarded his life for a decade.

"Put the gun down," Luca said softly.

"I can't do that, Luca," Daniel replied, his hand steady on the weapon. "The Bellini family promised me five million and a seat at the table. Your father built an empire, but you made it soft."

Vanessa stood up, smoothing her red dress. The panic was gone, replaced by arrogant victory.

"Take him to the basement, Daniel," Vanessa ordered. "Make it look like a struggle. The grieving widower couldn't handle the truth and took his own life. Tragic."

Sophia screamed from the stairs, trying to run back down, but Eleanor held her tightly.

"No! Daddy!"

"Don't look, baby!" Luca yelled, his eyes fixed on Daniel.

I stood frozen on the stairs.

I was just a maid. I didn't know how to fight. I didn't know how to stop a bullet.

But I looked at the heavy silver serving tray resting on the console table next to me.

Daniel stepped toward Luca. "Turn around, Boss."

"You're going to shoot me in front of twenty-four witnesses?" Luca asked, glancing at the terrified guests cowering in their seats.

Vanessa smiled. "They won't say a word. Because they know if they do, the Bellini family will visit their children next."

Daniel raised the gun higher.

I didn't think.

I grabbed the heavy silver tray from the table and hurled it over the banister with everything I had.

The tray spun through the air and crashed directly into the crystal chandelier above the dining table.

Glass shattered like a bomb.

The room plunged into darkness as the bulbs exploded.

A gunshot rang out.

Sophia shrieked.

"Luca!" Eleanor cried in the pitch black.

Chaos erupted. Guests screamed, chairs overturned, and the sound of a violent struggle echoed near the table.

I grabbed Sophia and Eleanor in the dark.

"Come on!" I whispered fiercely. "Up the stairs!"

We scrambled up the steps in the dark, my heart hammering against my ribs. We ran into the master bedroom and I slammed the heavy oak door, throwing the deadbolt.

Eleanor fell onto the bed, clutching her chest, breathing heavily.

Sophia was sobbing in my arms.

"Did he shoot Daddy?" Sophia cried. "Hannah, did he?"

"I don't know, sweetie. I don't know," I whispered, holding her tight.

My phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was my mother.

I answered it immediately. "Mom? Are you okay?"

"Hannah," my mother breathed, her voice filled with sheer panic. "There’s a car outside our apartment. Two men just got out. They're wearing dark suits."

My blood ran cold.

"Hide, Mom! Get in the bathroom and lock the door!"

"Hannah, they're breaking the lock—"

The line went dead.

"Mom! MOM!" I screamed into the phone.

Nothing.

I dropped the phone on the carpet.

Vanessa hadn't just ordered Luca's death. She was tying up loose ends.

Suddenly, heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway outside the bedroom.

Someone grabbed the handle of the bedroom door.

It rattled violently.

"Open the door!" a man's voice shouted.

It wasn't Luca. It was one of Daniel's men.

Eleanor pulled Sophia behind her on the bed, her frail body shaking.

I grabbed a heavy bronze lamp from the nightstand, raising it above my head as I stood by the door.

"Break it down!" another voice yelled from the hall.

A heavy thud slammed against the wood. The doorframe splintered.

Another thud.

The lock began to give way.

"Hannah, what do we do?" Eleanor cried.

Before the men could hit the door a third time, a deafening crash echoed from the hallway, followed by a sickening crunch of bone.

A man screamed.

Then, total silence.

I held my breath, gripping the bronze lamp so tightly my knuckles turned white.

A soft knock tapped on the wood.

"Hannah."

It was Luca.

I threw the deadbolt back and pulled the door open.

Luca stood in the hallway. His white shirt was torn and stained with blood. His knuckles were bruised, and he was holding Daniel’s gun.

Daniel's two men were unconscious on the floor behind him.

"Daddy!" Sophia ran and crashed into his legs.

Luca dropped the gun to his side and picked her up with his free arm, holding her so tight he closed his eyes.

"I've got you, baby. I'm here."

He looked at me. "Are you hurt?"

"No," I choked out, tears spilling down my face. "But my mother... they went to my mother's apartment. She hung up. Luca, they're going to kill her."

Luca's expression hardened into pure, terrifying focus.

"No, they aren't," Luca said.

He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

"Marco," Luca commanded. "Take a team to the Brooks residence. I don't care if you have to tear the building apart. Bring Mary Brooks to the estate alive."

He hung up and looked at me. "Marco is my father's oldest enforcer. He is loyal only to the bloodline. Your mother will be safe."

I nodded, sobbing in relief.

"Where are Vanessa and Daniel?" Eleanor asked, clutching her chest.

Luca’s eyes darkened.

"Daniel is tied to a chair in the basement," Luca said coldly. "But Vanessa slipped out during the blackout. She took my car."

Luca walked over to his dresser and opened the top drawer. He pulled out a heavy black coat and a small, worn leather book.

"She thinks she can run to her family for protection," Luca said, checking the magazine of the gun.

He turned back to us.

"But she doesn't realize she left her purse in the dining room."

Luca opened the small leather book.

"What is that?" I asked.

Luca flipped to the last page.