THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME KNEEL BESIDE HIS ELEVEN-YEAR-OLD NIECE AT HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER, TRYING TO PUT HER HEARING AID BACK IN

Answer one: Peterson wasn't working alone; he had infiltrated the estate's security and brought a tactical team disguised as catering staff.

Open two: How can a maid and a deaf child survive against trained killers? And where are the rest of Luca's loyal guards?

Gunfire echoed through the foyer, tearing into the antique furniture around us.

I kept Lily pressed flat against the cold marble floor behind the pillar. Dust and plaster rained down on our heads.

"Stay low, sweetheart," I whispered, though she couldn't hear me over the chaos. I signed it quickly. Stay low.

I looked at the electrical breaker box located behind the heavy velvet drapes near the kitchen entrance. It was fifteen feet away. If I could reach it, I could plunge the entire mansion into darkness, giving Luca a tactical advantage.

But I had to cross an open sightline to get there.

Suddenly, a deafening roar erupted from the grand staircase.

Luca emerged, firing his weapon with lethal precision. The mafia boss wasn't just a businessman in a suit anymore; he was a force of nature protecting his home.

Two of the masked mercenaries dropped instantly.

The third man pivoted, aiming his rifle at Luca.

It was the distraction I needed.

I sprinted from the pillar, diving behind the velvet drapes. I jammed the small brass key into the breaker box, twisted it, and ripped the heavy metal door open.

I didn't bother looking for the main switch. I grabbed a heavy iron fire poker from the hearth beside me and smashed it directly into the breaker panel.

Sparks showered over my hands in a brilliant, blinding flash.

The mansion instantly went pitch black.

The sudden darkness was absolute. The mercenaries, relying on the bright chandelier light, were completely blinded.

But I knew this house in the dark. I cleaned it before sunrise every morning.

"Luca!" I yelled into the blackness. "Three o'clock! Near the door!"

Two suppressed shots answered me. A heavy thud sounded near the entrance. The third mercenary was down.

"Rebecca!" Luca's voice called out, tight with panic. "Where is Lily?"

"She's safe! Behind the pillar!" I called back, feeling my way along the wall toward her.

I reached the marble pillar and dropped to my knees, feeling for the little girl. My hands met her small, trembling shoulders. She threw her arms around my neck, burying her face in my collarbone.

"I've got you," I breathed.

A flashlight beam cut through the darkness from the top of the stairs.

It was Peterson. Blood was streaming down the side of his face where the vase had hit him, but he still held his gun.

"Clever girl," Peterson’s voice echoed through the dark foyer. "But you're out of time, Luca. My men have surrounded the perimeter. The police are paid off. You have nowhere to run."

Luca stepped out from the shadows, illuminated only by the faint moonlight bleeding through the shattered front windows. He didn't raise his gun.

"You think you can take my house?" Luca said softly.

"I already have," Peterson sneered. He held up the silver key. "I have the key. Now, bring me the girl, or I start burning this estate to the ground with everyone inside."

I clutched Lily tighter. I would die before I handed her over to that monster.

But then, Lily pulled away from me.

She reached up and touched her left ear. Her hearing aid.

She pulled it out and pressed it into my palm.

I frowned in the darkness. Why? I signed.

She turned it over. In the dim moonlight, I saw a tiny, blinking red light on the inside of the casing.

A GPS tracker.

Lily signed quickly, her movements precise.

Vanessa put it there. To track me to the school.

My breath caught. Vanessa hadn't just arranged the school; she had bugged Lily's hearing aid to make sure she was delivered.

And if it was a tracker, it was transmitting a signal.

"Mr. Moretti," I whispered urgently in the dark. "The hearing aid. It has a tracker."

Luca, standing ten feet away, heard me. He didn't turn his head, keeping his eyes fixed on Peterson. But a dangerous, predatory smile touched the corner of his mouth.

"Peterson," Luca called out, his voice echoing in the dark. "Did Vanessa tell you about the tracker?"

Peterson paused, the flashlight beam wavering slightly. "What tracker?"

"The one she put in Lily's hearing aid," Luca said smoothly. "The one that transmits directly to the Chicago Mafia Commission's secure server. If anything happens to my niece, the Five Families know exactly where she is."

Peterson’s face tightened. "You're bluffing."

"Am I?" Luca asked. "Check your phone. I guarantee the perimeter isn't just surrounded by your men anymore."

Peterson quickly pulled his cell phone from his pocket. The screen illuminated his face.

His eyes widened in absolute horror.

Red and blue sirens began flashing silently in the distance, illuminating the trees outside the estate. But they weren't police cars. They were heavily armored SUVs belonging to the Commission.

Peterson realized he had walked into a trap. He dropped the flashlight and bolted toward the back of the house.

"Stay here!" Luca ordered me.

He took off sprinting into the darkness after Peterson.

The house fell silent again, save for the distant wail of approaching sirens.

I held Lily in the dark, waiting for the gunfire to end.