"THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE CALLED ME “A MEDDLING LITTLE MAID” WHEN I PUT HIS DAUGHTER’S DINNER BACK IN FRONT OF HER—BUT WHEN LUCA SAW THE RULES VANESSA HAD TAPED UNDER HER PLATE, HE STOOD UP.

The basement safe room was buried beneath three feet of reinforced steel and concrete, hidden behind the false wine cellar racks.

Luca carried Sophie inside, laying her gently on the leather cot. She stirred, blinking sleepily in the harsh fluorescent lighting.

“Daddy? What’s that noise?”

A muffled rumble echoed through the reinforced ceiling above—gunfire, distant and sharp, like the crackle of dry kindling.

“It’s just thunder, sweetheart,” Luca said with total calm, kissing her forehead. “Claire is going to stay right here with you. Play some cards, watch a movie on the tablet. I have to go check the storm shutters.”

Sophie clutched his sleeve, panic flashing across her features. “Don’t go, Daddy! What if Vanessa’s brother is out there?”

Luca knelt beside her, cupping her face in his large hands. “Listen to me, Sophie. No one enters this house without my permission. And no one hurts my family. Do you trust me?”

Sophie swallowed hard, then nodded. “I trust you.”

Luca looked up at me. He unholstered a compact 9mm pistol from his ankle rig, racked the slide with a clean metallic click, and placed it firmly in my hand.

“You know how to use this?” he asked.

“Point and pull,” I said, my voice steady despite the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

“Only if that door opens and it isn't me or Marco,” Luca commanded. He stepped closer, his hand reaching out to cup the back of my neck, pulling my forehead against his. For one brief, electrifying second, his lips brushed against my temple. “Keep her safe, Claire. I’ll be back for both of you.”

He turned and strode out, the heavy blast door sealing shut behind him with the hiss of hydraulic locks.

For twenty agonizing minutes, Sophie and I sat in silence.

I held Sophie in my lap, singing Sarah’s lullaby under my breath while the heavy thuds of combat vibrated through the foundation of the house. Outside, Luca’s men—the most elite tactical force in Chicago’s underworld—were dismantling the Bellini strike team.

Suddenly, the red emergency beacon above the safe room door flashed.

The ventilation duct above our heads rattled violently.

I scrambled to my feet, pushing Sophie behind the steel security console. I raised the pistol with both hands, aiming directly at the air shaft.

The metal grate tore free with a screech of shearing bolts.

A figure dropped to the floor, rolling smoothly onto the concrete. It wasn't Lorenzo Bellini.

It was Vanessa.

She wore black tactical pants and a dark jacket, her face smudged with soot and twisted with manic, unhinged fury. In her gloved hand, she gripped a pearl-handled revolver.

“You thought you could take everything from me?” Vanessa hissed, her eyes wild, aiming the gun directly at my chest. “You ruined my life, you pathetic little maid! My father is finished! My brother is dying in the courtyard! And it’s all because of you!”

“Vanessa, stop!” I shouted, keeping my weapon trained on her center mass. “Drop the gun! It’s over!”

From behind the console, Sophie screamed.

Vanessa’s eyes flicked toward the sound. “Sophie! Come here right now!”

“No!” Sophie cried, clinging to the steel desk.

“If I can’t have Luca’s empire,” Vanessa snarled, swinging her barrel toward the console, “then nobody will!”

*BANG.*

The deafening report of the gunshot echoed in the enclosed concrete room.

I didn't hesitate. Before Vanessa could pull her trigger, I squeezed mine. The recoil slammed into my wrists as the bullet struck Vanessa in the right shoulder, spinning her around and sending her pearl-handled gun clattering across the floor.

Vanessa crashed against the concrete wall, clutching her bleeding shoulder with a scream of agony.

Before she could reach for her weapon with her left hand, the heavy hydraulic blast door exploded inward.

Luca strode into the room, assault rifle slung over his shoulder, smelling of cordite and rain. Marco and three armed guards swarmed in behind him, instantly pinning Vanessa to the ground and kicking her weapon away.

Luca didn't even look at Vanessa.

His eyes locked onto me, then down to Sophie, who was sobbing behind the desk.

“Claire!” Luca dropped his rifle and crossed the room in two strides, gathering both Sophie and me into his massive, trembling embrace. “Are you hit? Are either of you hurt?”

“We’re okay,” I gasped, trembling as the adrenaline washed away, leaning against his solid, broad chest. “We’re okay. Sophie is safe.”

Luca buried his face against my neck, breathing me in, his arms locked around us like steel bands.