THE MAFIA BOSS’S FIANCÉE TOLD ME TO THROW OUT THE OLD WOMAN’S SOUP—THEN LUCA MORETTI SMELLED IT AND SAID, “SARAH ATE THIS EVERY DAY BEFORE SHE DIED.”

We knew the war was far from over.

Vanessa’s threat was real: the Falcone syndicate—the Moretti family’s oldest and most ruthless rivals—were already moving their pieces across the city board.

At 9:00 AM, Luca called an emergency meeting in the grand dining room.

Evelyn sat at the head of the table, holding Lily on her lap while the little girl ate warm pancakes. I stood beside Luca, holding the files that held the power to destroy or save our lives.

“The digital vault Vanessa mentioned is hosted on a private offshore server routed through a bank in Geneva,” Luca explained to his inner circle of capos. “Sarah knew this day would come. Before she died, she established an encrypted counter-protocol with her family’s private attorneys in Switzerland.”

“What's the counter-protocol, Luca?” asked Antonio, Luca’s oldest underboss.

“Sarah deposited the original signed confession from the attending physician who was forced by Valentina to falsify the death records,” Luca said. “It proves Valentina acted as an undercover operative for the Falcone family to compromise the Moretti line from the inside.”

If we could retrieve that document and present it to the five-family Commission before noon tomorrow, Luca would not only retain his leadership—he would have full authorization from the syndicate council to eliminate the Falcone threat permanently.

“We need someone to go to Geneva immediately,” Antonio said. “The airports are being watched by Falcone scouts.”

“We are not using commercial flights,” Luca said. He looked at me.

“Claire will fly on our private Gulfstream out of the private Gary airfield in thirty minutes. She will carry Sarah’s personal authorization seal.”

I straightened my spine.

“I’m ready, Mr. Moretti.”

Luca walked over to me, looking down into my eyes with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.

“You are risking your life for this family, Claire. Why?”

I looked across the table at Lily, who was currently laughing as Evelyn wiped maple syrup from her chin.

“Because she is my sister’s daughter,” I said softly. “And because Sarah loved her enough to fight for her with her dying breath. I won't let them take that away from her.”