THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED HIS FIANCÉE ORDER ME TO KNEEL AND PICK UP HER DIAMOND EARRING—THEN SHE SAID, “SHE FELL BY THE SERVICE ELEVATOR,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY I COULDN’T GET BACK UP. I could get down on my knees.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from David's smiling face.

My husband had died in a tragic hit-and-run accident when Leo was barely a year old. The police had never found the driver. I had spent the last five years believing it was just a horrible, random cruelty of the universe.

"What do you mean he wasn't just a mechanic?" I asked, looking up at Luca.

Luca’s expression was heavy with guilt.

"When my mother finally located you," Luca explained, "she wanted to make sure you were safe. But she couldn't approach you directly. So, she hired someone to watch over you. A young, loyal soldier from our family."

My blood ran cold.

"David?" I gasped. "David was in the mafia?"

"He was my best friend," Luca said softly. "I assigned him to protect you. His orders were to move into your neighborhood, get a job at the local auto shop, and make sure no harm ever came to you."

"He lied to me," I whispered, the betrayal burning in my chest. "Our entire marriage... it was an assignment?"

"No," Luca said fiercely, stepping forward and taking my hands. "No, Grace. The assignment ended the day he met you. He called my mother that night and told her he was going to marry you. He loved you more than he feared my father."

I looked down at the photo. David was looking at Leo with such pure, undeniable love.

"Then how did he die?" I asked, my voice cracking.

Luca closed his eyes.

"He found out about Vanessa. Before my mother did."

The air in the kitchen vanished.

"David discovered that Vanessa was funneling money to the Falcones," Luca said, his voice thick with anger. "He was coming to tell me. But Vincent Falcone found out. They intercepted David's car on the highway. It wasn't an accident, Grace. It was a hit."

I collapsed against Luca's chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

They took my husband. They took my aunt. They took my whole life.

Luca held me tight, burying his face in my hair.

"I'm so sorry," Luca whispered. "I didn't know. I swear to God, I didn't know until the FBI connected the dots this week."

We stood there in the kitchen, holding each other, mourning the people we had lost.

"Why did she hire me?" I asked, pulling back slightly. "If Vanessa killed David... why did she hire me as a maid eleven months ago?"

"Because she didn't know who you were," Luca said. "To Vanessa, you were just a random applicant from an agency. But my mother..."

Luca reached into his pocket one last time.

"My mother left one final instruction in her will. An instruction that my lawyer was only supposed to execute if the Falcone threat was eliminated."