after his baby daughter mysteriously began sleeping peacefully for the first time since her mother died, a grieving mafia boss secretly installed a camera in her nursery to discover what was happening every night.

By 7:00 AM, the Vance mansion was usually a place of rigid, icy routine. Guards in dark suits patrolled the perimeter, the head housekeeper reviewed daily schedules, and Lucian sat alone in the formal dining room drinking black coffee while reading intelligence reports.

This morning was different.

The massive dining table—twenty feet of polished dark oak—sat empty except for two places set at the far end.

Lucian sat at the head of the table. Across from him, elevated on two stacked velvet sofa cushions, sat Maya. A bowl of warm oatmeal with sliced strawberries and honey sat in front of her. She was happily swinging her small legs, holding a silver spoon that looked entirely too large for her hand.

Maria stood three paces behind her daughter, rigid as a board, her hands clasped tightly, still unable to process why her boss—the most feared man in the state—had ordered breakfast for a servant’s child.

Lucian set his coffee cup down with a soft click. He looked at Maria. "Sit down."

Maria blinked, startled. "Sir... I am the kitchen staff. I cannot sit at the table—"

"Maria," Lucian repeated, his dark eyes fixing on hers. "Sit."

Maria swallowed hard and pulled out the chair next to Maya, sitting on the very edge as if expecting the chair to collapse.

"How long has she been going into Sophia's room?" Lucian asked.

Maria lowered her head, her voice trembling. "Three weeks, Mr. Vance. I... I lock our bedroom door at night, but Maya learned how to turn the brass latch last month. I woke up one night at 2:00 AM and found her bed empty. I nearly died of horror. I ran upstairs and found her sitting by the crib. Sophia was quiet. I tried to pull her away, but Sophia started crying the moment Maya took her hand off the rail."

Maria looked up, her eyes filled with maternal desperation. "She didn't mean any harm, sir. She just... she lost her father two years ago. She knows what it feels like when someone isn't there."

Lucian leaned back in his chair. The words hit him like a physical weight. She knows what it feels like.

Suddenly, heavy, rapid footsteps echoed down the marble hallway.

Gideon, Lucian’s second-in-command and chief security officer, stepped into the dining room. Gideon was a broad-shouldered man with a scar running across his jaw—a veteran of twenty years of mob warfare. He looked stressed, holding a secure satellite phone.

"Lucian," Gideon said, his voice low and urgent. "We have a problem at the south docks. The Valenti family is pushing into the shipping lane. Marco Valenti is claiming you're too distracted by... personal matters to hold the territory."

Gideon paused, his eyes drifting over to Maya, who was currently trying to feed a small piece of strawberry to her earless plush rabbit. Gideon’s brow furrowed in utter confusion, but he quickly looked back at Lucian.

"Valenti wants a sit-down at noon," Gideon continued. "He’s bringing his lieutenants. It’s a power play, Lucian. They think you've gone soft since Elena..."

Gideon stopped himself, but the name hung in the air like smoke.

Lucian’s expression turned to stone. The vulnerability he had shown in the nursery vanished, replaced instantly by the terrifying, cold authority that had made the Vance name an absolute law in the underworld.

"Tell Marco I will be there at noon," Lucian said softly. "And tell him if he speaks my wife's name again, he won't leave the dock alive."

Gideon nodded briskly. "Understood."

Lucian turned his attention back to Maya. The coldness in his eyes dissolved slightly as he watched her dab a spot of honey on the rabbit’s snout.

"Gideon," Lucian added without turning around.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Cancel the night nanny. Reassign two perimeter guards to the West Wing corridor outside the nursery. From now on, Maria and Maya are moving into the family suite on the second floor."

Gideon’s jaw dropped slightly. "The family suite? Lucian... that’s right next to your master room."

"Did I stutter, Gideon?"

"No, sir. It will be done."

Maya looked up from her oatmeal, her dark eyes bright with curiosity. "Am I staying near Sophia?"