Industrial bleach had ruined Sadi Hayes’s hands. At twenty-four, her knuckles were cracked, red, and bleeding from scrubbing stains no one at the Castello estate dared explain.

The news of Victor Costello claiming a simple maid as his high-profile partner sent shockwaves through the city's criminal underworld.

While many feared Victor too much to speak out, old enemies saw a weakness.

Two weeks after the gala, Sadi was sitting in the high-tech oncology room at St. Jude's Hospital. Her brother, Sam, looked remarkably better. The top-tier treatments funded by Victor were already shrinking his leukemia markers, and color had returned to his face.

"So... the big mob boss, huh?" Sam teased, sitting up in his hospital bed while playing a video game on the high-end console Victor had bought him.

Sadi blushed, peeling an apple for him. "He's not just a mob boss, Sam. He's... he's different with me."

"He saved my life, Sadi," Sam said, his playful tone turning serious. "He’s got four armed guards standing outside my door who bring me pizza and check my vitals every hour. I don't care what the papers call him. He’s a good man to us."

Before Sadi could answer, the hospital room door burst open.

It wasn't Victor’s guards.

Three men in heavy leather jackets rushed into the room, guns drawn. Leading them was Julian Falcone's younger brother, Marco Falcone—a hot-headed lieutenant looking to make a name for himself by striking at Victor’s new vulnerability.

"Don't move!" Marco barked, aiming his pistol straight at Sam.

Sadi instantly stood up, stepping directly in front of her brother's bed, holding her apple knife out with shaking hands. "Get out of here!"

"Shut up, girl!" Marco sneered. "Victor Costello took down our shipping docks yesterday. Now we take his shiny new prize. You're coming with us."

Before Marco could take a step forward, a heavy silenced shot cracked through the room—thump!

Marco's lead guard dropped to the floor, disarmed and groaning.

The heavy wooden bathroom door inside the suite swung wide. Victor stepped out, dressed in his black suit, holding a high-caliber silenced pistol with terrifying calm.