THE GROOM WAS NEVER THE REAL DANGER

I froze, staring at the man standing behind Daniel.

Arthur Vance. He had been the Moretti family attorney for twenty years. He was the one who had drawn up Grace’s separation papers. He was the one who had advised Luca to freeze Grace out to “protect her” from the feds.

“Arthur?” Luca said, his voice dropping into a dangerous, lethal register. “You?”

Arthur adjusted his glasses, looking entirely unbothered. “It’s strictly business, Luca. The Moretti era is over. The Rossettis are consolidating the city. I simply chose the winning side.”

Daniel stood up, casually slipping his hand into his tuxedo pocket. “You have to admire the efficiency, Luca. Arthur drafted the fake documents that framed Grace, held the blackmail on Lily, and just now, he located your father’s master ledger.” Daniel patted the green leather book in Arthur’s hands. “With this, we own every shell company, every offshore account, every dirty politician in Chicago.”

“You don’t have the key,” Luca said coldly.

Daniel smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the silver rosary.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

“How did you get that?” I gasped. “Vincenzo dropped it at the warehouse!”

“My men swept the warehouse after you scurried away like rats,” Daniel sneered. He held up the tiny piece of microfilm he had extracted from the cross. “I have the ledger. I have the master password. You have nothing, Luca. Your brother is dead. Your wife is bleeding out in a van. Your daughter is a traitor.”

Daniel raised the suppressed pistol, aiming it at Luca’s chest.

“It’s time to step down, old man.”

Luca didn’t flinch. He didn’t beg. He just stared at Daniel with a calm that was absolutely terrifying.

“You’re right about one thing, Daniel,” Luca said softly. “The Moretti era of doing things politely is over.”

Before Daniel could pull the trigger, the floor-to-ceiling window behind him shattered in an explosion of glass.

A high-caliber sniper bullet tore through the loft, striking Daniel in the right shoulder. The suppressed pistol flew from his hand as he screamed, collapsing onto the hardwood floor.

Arthur screamed, dropping the ledger and diving behind the leather sofa.

I hit the floor, covering my head as the wind howled through the broken window.

Luca didn’t drop. He sprinted forward, kicking Daniel’s dropped pistol away before grabbing the green ledger from the floor.

I looked back toward the broken window. Hovering just beyond the balcony in the rainy night was a black helicopter. And leaning out the side door, holding a smoking sniper rifle, was a man I had never seen before. He had a scar over his left eye and wore a tactical vest bearing the Moretti family crest.

Luca pulled a walkie-talkie from his belt.

“Nice shot, Dom,” Luca said into the radio.

“Always a pleasure, Boss,” the voice crackled back over the radio. “The Rossetti compound is currently burning. The old man has surrendered. The city is yours again.”

I stared at Luca in shock. He hadn’t been running blindly all night. He had been buying time for his loyal men to execute a massive counter-strike.

Luca walked over to Daniel, who was writhing on the floor, clutching his bleeding shoulder. Luca knelt down, picking up the silver rosary and the piece of microfilm.

“You thought I didn’t know there were rats in my house?” Luca whispered, his voice like ice. “I’ve known Vincenzo was plotting with your father for six months. I let you think you were winning. I let you plan this ridiculous wedding. Because I needed all the traitors in one place so I could wipe you all out at once.”

Daniel stared at him in horror. “You used your own daughter? Your own wife?”

Luca’s face flashed with genuine pain. “I didn’t know about Lily’s blackmail. And I didn’t know Arthur had framed Grace. That… that was a mistake I will spend the rest of my life paying for. But you? You don’t have a rest of your life.”

Luca stood up, turning his back on Daniel.

“Dom,” Luca said into the radio. “Clean up the loft.”

“Copy that.”

Luca grabbed my arm. “Come on, Emily. We’re going home.”

We walked out of the loft, ignoring Arthur’s pathetic begging and Daniel’s screams. We rode the elevator back down to the garage in silence.

When we reached the van, Michael had already carried Grace out. She was lying on a makeshift bed of coats in the back, pale but breathing steadily. An underground mob doctor was already there, packing her wound and hanging an IV bag from the van’s ceiling handle.

Lily was sitting in the corner, her face buried in her hands.

Luca walked over to the van. He looked at his daughter for a long time.

Then, slowly, he reached out and placed a hand on Lily’s head.

Lily looked up, her eyes red and swollen.

“The tape of the accident,” Luca said softly. “I had Dom raid Daniel’s safe. It’s destroyed. Nobody is ever going to know. You’re safe, Lily.”

Lily broke down, throwing her arms around her father’s waist, burying her face in his ruined shirt. Luca closed his eyes, holding his daughter tight.

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she sobbed. “I’m so sorry.”

“I know, sweetheart,” Luca whispered. “We’re a mess. But we’re still a family.”

He looked past Lily, locking eyes with Grace. She offered him a weak, exhausted smile. The truth was out. The manipulation was broken. They had survived.

Luca turned to me and Michael.

“You two saved my wife’s life tonight,” Luca said. “Your mother’s medical bills are paid in full. Tomorrow, you’re moving into the guest house on the estate. You’re done cleaning floors, Emily. You’re under my protection now.”

I felt tears prick my eyes. For the first time in my life, I didn’t have to worry about surviving the month.

It was a violent, bloody, terrifying night. But as the van pulled out of the garage, carrying us back to the Moretti mansion, I finally felt safe.

The nightmare was over.

Or so I thought.

Because three days later, while packing up Grace’s old apartment to move her back home, I found something hidden inside the lining of her winter coat.

A brass pocket watch.