THE SOUND BEHIND THE LOCKED DOOR

Alarms shrieked through the estate, a high, piercing wail that vibrated in my teeth.

Luca didn’t flinch. He shoved the rosary back into my hand. “Stay here. Lock the door.”

“What about Leo?” I asked, panic surging.

Luca’s expression darkened. “I’ll get him.”

He sprinted down the hall.

I didn’t lock the door. I couldn’t just wait in the dark while a child was in danger. I grabbed a heavy iron fireplace poker from the hallway and ran toward the main staircase.

Through the massive glass windows of the foyer, I saw the security lights blazing across the lawn. The heavy iron gates had been rammed open by a black SUV.

In the driveway, surrounded by Luca’s guards with their weapons drawn, was a man on his knees. He was clutching his shoulder, blood seeping through his fingers.

It was the scarred man from the photograph. Marcus. Vanessa’s brother.

Vanessa was standing on the grand staircase, screaming. “Shoot him! Luca, he’s an assassin, shoot him!”

But Marcus wasn’t holding a weapon. He had his empty hands raised.

“I didn’t come to kill anyone!” Marcus shouted, his voice rough. He looked directly up at Vanessa. “I came to tell him the truth about you, Vanny.”

Vanessa’s face went pale. She turned to run back up the stairs—toward the East Wing. Toward Leo.

“Stop her!” I screamed, abandoning my hiding spot.

Luca heard me. He grabbed Vanessa’s arm, pinning her against the banister.

“Let me go!” she shrieked, thrashing wildly. “He’s lying! He killed your sister!”

Marcus coughed, spitting blood onto the driveway. “I didn’t kill her, Luca! I loved her! We were running away together!”

The foyer fell deathly silent, except for the wail of the alarms.

“What did you say?” Luca demanded, his voice a lethal whisper.

“Vanessa found out,” Marcus gasped. “She knew if your sister married me, the family inheritance would be split. Vanessa hired the men who ran us off the road. She killed the woman I loved so she could marry you and take it all.”

Vanessa laughed hysterically. “He’s insane! He’s trying to save himself!”

“I can prove it,” Marcus grunted. He reached into his bloody shirt and pulled something out. He threw it onto the marble floor of the foyer.

It slid to a stop right at my feet.