""My eight-month-old triplets had been screaming for two hours, and not even two pediatric specialists could explain why. Then my housekeeper’s four-year-old daughter walked into the nursery, stared beneath one of the cribs, and whispered, “Mr. Moretti... your babies aren’t sick. They’re scared.”

"Found the nursery jackpot," one of the masked intruders muttered through his tactical comms, raising his rifle barrel directly toward the cribs.

"Don't you dare touch them!" I screamed, squeezing the trigger of the small pistol.

The recoil nearly knocked me off my balance, the bullet pinging harmlessly off the concrete pillar beside the intruder.

The lead operative laughed coldly, swinging his rifle muzzle toward me. "End of the line, lady."

Before he could pull the trigger, a massive, terrifying shape leaped out from the smoke-filled utility shaft behind them.

It wasn't a man.

It was Goliath—Adrien’s 160-pound mastiff guard dog—unleashed from the lower kennels by Marco. The beast slammed into the lead operative with the force of a freight train, knocking him flat onto the floor and ripping the rifle from his hands with a sickening crunch of metal.

The second operative panicked, swinging his weapon toward the dog, but before he could fire, a sharp, deafening CRACK echoed from the breached wall behind them.

The intruder slumped forward, dropping his weapon as a clean entry wound appeared through his tactical vest.

Standing in the smoking breach was Adrien Moretti.

His suit was torn, his face smeared with soot and blood, his rifle smoking in his hands. He looked less like a businessman and more like an avenging angel of death.

"Nobody," Adrien snarled, his voice dropping into a terrifying, murderous register as he stepped over the fallen operative, "touches my children. And nobody touches my house."

The remaining intruder dropped his weapon instantly, throwing his hands into the air as Marco and four enforcers swarmed through the breach, subduing him in seconds.

Adrien dropped his rifle, running across the room toward the cribs to check on the triplets. When he saw they were still fast asleep, untouched and safe, the terrifying tension in his shoulders finally released.

He turned around, his dark eyes locking onto mine across the dusty room. He crossed the distance between us in two strides, pulling me into a fierce, desperate embrace that knocked the breath right out of my lungs.