“GET THAT OLD WOMAN BACK UPSTAIRS! AND IF YOU CAN'T FOLLOW SIMPLE ORDERS

The heavy roar of Luca’s car returning shook the front glass of the estate twenty minutes later.

The double doors of the mansion were thrown open with a crash that echoed through the marble foyer. The cold, wet wind blew inside, carrying the scent of ozone and rain.

Luca entered like an avenging angel carved from slate and fury.

His black tuxedo was drenched, plastered to his broad shoulders. Blood—not his own—stained the cuff of his white dress shirt. But his arms were wrapped with absolute, feather-light tenderness around the small figure clinging to his neck.

Sophie was bundled in Luca’s dry wool overcoat, her tiny face pale and damp with dried tears, her little arms locked around her father’s throat. She was breathing evenly now, each small exhale puffing against his wet neck. In her right hand, she clutched the scruffy brown teddy bear named Barnaby.

"Daddy’s here, baby. You're safe. You're home," Luca murmured against the little girl’s dark curls, kissing her temple over and over as he strode into the dining room.

The moment Sophie saw me, her swollen eyes lit up. "Hannah!" she cried, her voice raspy.

"Sophie," I choked out, taking two steps forward before catching myself and stepping back, suddenly remembering my place among the wealthy guests and armed men.

Luca didn't care about decorum. He walked straight toward me, ignoring the high-ranking mafia capos who parted like the Red Sea. He halted right in front of Teresa and me.

"Go to Hannah, sweetheart," Luca whispered gently to his daughter. "Let Daddy handle business."

Sophie reached out for me, and I took her into my arms without hesitation. The eight-year-old buried her face in my shoulder, sobbing softly as she inhaled the familiar lavender scent of the fabric softener I used on her sheets.

"She told me I’d never see you or Daddy again," Sophie whimpered into my collar. "She said you were leaving because you didn't love me."

Luca’s expression turned into something terrifying.

He slowly turned his back on us, shielding Sophie from what was about to happen. He reached down, unbuttoned his wet jacket, and tossed it to Matteo. His holster was empty; his gun was gone. He didn't need a weapon.

He walked over to Vanessa, who shrank back into the chair until the wood groaned against her spine.

"Luca... Luca, my love, please," Vanessa begged, her mascara running in black streaks down her face. "The Marcones made me do it! They threatened my brother! They said if I didn't deliver Sophie, they would kill him!"

Luca knelt down until his eyes were level with hers.

"You’re lying," Luca said, his voice flat, devoid of human warmth. "I took Marcone’s phone from his pocket before I put a bullet in his head. Do you know what was on it, Vanessa?"

Vanessa’s lips trembled silently.

"A transfer of five million dollars from your personal Swiss account to his offshore shell company," Luca said softly. "The wire went through at four o'clock this afternoon. You didn't give Sophie to an enemy to save your family. You sold my daughter to buy leverage for yourself. You wanted her out of the way so you could produce the only heir to the Moretti empire."

The guests gasped in revulsion. In the old-school Chicago Outfit, children were untouchable. Selling a capo’s child to rival wolves was a sin that could not be washed clean by any amount of money or influence.

"Luca..." Vanessa sobbed, shaking her head frantically. "I did it for our future—"

"And my mother?" Luca interrupted, pointing toward Teresa. "What did you do to my mother?"

Teresa leaned forward in her wheelchair, her voice finding strength in the fury that filled the room. "T-toxin," she slurred, her eyes blazing with fire. "The... tea. Every... morning. She put drops... in my tea."

The room seemed to spin.

I froze, my arms tightening around Sophie. For eleven months, Vanessa had insisted on preparing Teresa’s herbal morning tea herself, claiming it was an old family recipe meant to improve circulation. I had brought the tray to Teresa every morning, completely unaware.

Luca slowly stood up. His fists clenched so hard that the skin over his knuckles split, tiny beads of blood welling up.

"Matteo," Luca said, never taking his eyes off his fiancée.

"Yes, Boss."

"Call Anthony Bellini. Tell him to come collect his daughter's belongings. Inform him that the alliance between our families is dissolved. Effective immediately, any Bellini soldier found within five miles of my territory will be shot on sight."

"And Vanessa?" Matteo asked, his jaw hard.

"Take her to the cellar," Luca said, his voice dropping into a register that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "Call Dr. Vance. Have him test my mother’s blood immediately. If there is a single trace of poison in Teresa’s veins, Vanessa will drink every last drop of that tea herself before the sunrise."

"No! Luca! You can't do this to me! I am a Bellini! You can't touch me!" Vanessa shrieked as Matteo and two guards sliced her zip-ties, hoisted her up by her arms, and dragged her kicking and screaming down the stone corridor toward the basement stairs.

Her screams faded behind the heavy iron fire doors, cut off abruptly by a solid thud.

Luca stood in the center of the room, looking at the silent, stunned guests.

"The dinner is over," Luca announced, his voice ringing through the hall. "Get out of my house."

Nobody dared to argue. Within three minutes, the forty high-status guests had cleared out, slipping into their limousines in frantic silence, eager to escape the epicenter of an impending underworld war.

The mansion went dead quiet, save for the ticking of the grandfather clock and the soft patter of rain against the glass.

Luca stood alone in the grand dining room, staring at the floor where the spilled wine looked like dried blood. His broad shoulders sagged for the first time in his life, the crushing weight of betrayal finally bending the iron spine of the Moretti boss.

Sophie shifted in my arms, reaching out a small hand toward him. "Daddy?"

Luca looked up. When his eyes met mine, I didn't see the ruthless mafia don everyone feared.