THE MAFIA BOSS'S BROKEN VOWS

"I won't do it!" Vanessa spat, clutching her bruised wrist. "My father is right. If we hand over the boy, we have no leverage. The Falcones will kill us for failing!"

Luca stepped away from Marcus, letting his security team—who had just poured into the room—subdue the older man. Two massive guards dragged Marcus into a chair and bound his hands.

Luca walked slowly toward Vanessa. He crouched down so they were at eye level.

"You're very focused on what the Falcones will do to you," Luca said, his voice dangerously calm. "You should be focused on what I am going to do to you."

Vanessa swallowed, her bravado finally cracking.

"If you make the call, and the boy is brought to the gates unharmed," Luca said, "I will let you and your father walk out the front door. You leave Chicago. You never return. I don't retaliate against you."

"Luca, no!" Adrian yelled, stepping forward. "They deserve to die!"

Luca stood up and backhanded Adrian across the face. The crack echoed loudly. Adrian stumbled back, shocked.

"You don't speak," Luca hissed. "You sold out your family. You sold out my life to hide your sins. You are alive right now only because your wife is standing in this room."

He turned back to Vanessa. He held out the phone.

"Make the call, Vanessa. Tell them the plan has changed, and to bring the boy to the estate for a hostage exchange."

Vanessa looked at her father. Marcus shook his head frantically.

But Vanessa looked at Luca’s eyes. She saw the absolute certainty there. If she refused, she wouldn't survive the night.

With shaking hands, she took the phone. She dialed a number and put it on speaker.

Ring.

"Yeah, boss?" a gruff voice answered.

Vanessa cleared her throat. "It's Vanessa. Plans have changed. Bring the package to the Moretti estate. Now."

There was a long pause on the other end.

"Vanessa?" the voice said slowly. "Marcus said no changes without his voice."

"My father is... compromised," Vanessa lied, her voice trembling. "Luca knows. Bring the boy here so we can negotiate our way out."

Another pause.

"Sorry, princess," the voice growled. "If Marcus is compromised, protocol is a burn out. We tie up loose ends. The boy doesn't leave this house."

The line went dead.

Vanessa dropped the phone, horrified.

Adrian fell to his knees, letting out a sound of pure agony. "No. No, no, no."

Allison dropped to her knees beside him, grabbing his shoulders. Despite everything—the affair, the lies, the betrayal—she held the man who had shattered her heart.

Luca picked up the phone. He stared at the screen for three long seconds.

Then, he turned to me.

"Emily," he said.

"Yes, sir?" I whispered.

"You know the city. You take the train every night. What's the fastest way to the shipyard district?"

"The underground service tunnels," I said immediately. "They run from the old subway lines straight into the warehouse basements. My uncle used to work maintenance there."