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.

The blood on the cashmere coat was slick and wet against Luca’s fingers.

He recognized the coat immediately.

"It's Vincent Falcone's," Luca whispered, his eyes locked on the dark stain. "The head of the Falcone family."

I stared at the coat in horror. "Why is the head of a rival mafia family at your engagement party?"

"He wasn't invited," Luca said grimly.

Luca pulled his gun, checking the chamber with a quiet, metallic click.

He pushed the heavy iron door of the greenhouse open.

It creaked loudly in the night air.

Inside, the smell of damp earth and rotting orchids was suffocating. The only light came from the distant security floods filtering through the muddy glass panels.

"Dad?" Luca called out softly.

A muffled groan came from the back of the greenhouse.

We hurried down the center aisle, pushing past dead vines.

At the very back, sitting in his wheelchair, was Antonio Moretti.

His head was slumped forward, and his breathing was shallow from whatever Vanessa had injected him with.

But he was alive.

Luca rushed to his father, dropping to one knee in the dirt.

"Dad. I'm here."

Antonio blinked, his eyes rolling lazily. He couldn't speak.

"We need to get him out of here," Luca said, grabbing the handles of the wheelchair.

"Leaving so soon, darling?"

The voice echoed from the shadows near the entrance.

Vanessa stepped into the dim light.

She was still wearing her stunning red silk gown. But she had kicked off her heels, and in her right hand, she held a suppressed 9mm pistol.

Beside her stood Vincent Falcone.

He was holding his bleeding left arm, his face twisted in a sneer.

"You ruined the plan, Luca," Vanessa sighed, stepping forward. "You were supposed to drink the champagne at the toast. You were supposed to die quietly, just like your mother."

Luca stood up, shielding his father with his body.

"You shot your own partner, Vanessa?" Luca asked, looking at Vincent's bleeding arm.

"Vincent got greedy," Vanessa smiled coldly. "He wanted a larger cut of the offshore accounts before we boarded the plane. I had to remind him who really orchestrated this entire takeover."

"You used my family," Luca said, his voice vibrating with rage.

"Your family is weak, Luca. Your father is a vegetable. Your mother was a sentimental fool. And you?" She let out a sharp laugh. "You're too soft. You actually care about the help."

She pointed her gun directly at my chest.

"Drop the weapon, Luca. Or I shoot the maid's good knee. And then I shoot her head."

I froze.

Luca looked at me. He saw the terror in my eyes.

Slowly, deliberately, Luca placed his gun on the dirt floor.

"Good boy," Vanessa mocked.

She walked closer, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

"Now, sign the transfer documents, Luca. Give me the legal rights to the estate, and maybe I'll let the old man live."

She reached into her small clutch purse and pulled out a folded document.

She handed it to Vincent, who sneered and walked toward Luca to deliver it.

But as Vincent reached out...

Antonio's hand suddenly moved.