THE OBSIDIAN OATH

"Mommy!" Leo screamed, struggling against Marcus's grip.

"Leo!" Evelyn lunged forward, but Lorenzo threw an arm across her chest, holding her back. The physical restraint was the only thing keeping her from throwing herself onto Marcus's gun.

"A trade, Enzo," Celeste said, her eyes gleaming with triumph. "You and the waitress surrender to my men. You give me the key to Arthur Vance's safety deposit box. And I'll let the child walk out that door."

"You're lying," Evelyn choked out, tears streaming down her face. "You'll kill him."

"I'm a businesswoman, Evelyn," Celeste said haughtily. "Children are a liability. I just want the key. The key to the money your father stole from my family before he died."

Lorenzo slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out the brass key. It caught the dim emergency lighting, gleaming like gold.

"Let the boy go first," Lorenzo commanded.

"Throw it," Celeste countered, leveling her gun at Leo’s head.

Evelyn stopped breathing.

Lorenzo looked at Evelyn. He didn't say a word, but his eyes conveyed a silent, desperate promise. Trust me.

Lorenzo tossed the key.

It arced through the air, clattering onto the polished marble floor halfway between them.

Celeste’s eyes tracked it hungrily. She gestured to Marcus with her chin. "Get it."

Marcus stepped forward, dragging Leo with him. He bent down to pick up the key.

That was the mistake. He took his eyes off the room for one second.

From the ceiling ventilation grate directly above Marcus, a massive tile crashed down, followed instantly by the heavy, steel-toed boots of Dante, the old enforcer, who hadn't been dead after all.

Dante landed squarely on Marcus's shoulders, driving the traitor into the marble floor.

Leo was thrown free.

"Run, Leo!" Evelyn screamed.

The boy scrambled toward his mother. Celeste, shrieking in fury, swung her gun toward the child.

Lorenzo didn't fire his weapon. He threw his massive body forward, diving across the floor, shielding the boy with his own back just as Celeste pulled the trigger.

BANG.

Lorenzo grunted, his body flinching violently.

"No!" Evelyn screamed.

Before Celeste could fire again, Evelyn charged. She didn't have a gun, but she had a mother's fury. She slammed her entire body weight into the heiress, driving Celeste backward into the sharp edge of the mahogany bar.

Celeste gasped as the wind was knocked out of her. The gun clattered away. Evelyn grabbed a heavy crystal decanter from the bar top and smashed it across Celeste’s temple.

The golden girl of Chicago crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Evelyn spun around, her chest heaving.

Lorenzo was on his knees, clutching his shoulder. Blood was seeping through his white shirt, but he was breathing. And tucked securely under his uninjured arm was Leo, perfectly safe.

Evelyn ran to them, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around both of them.

"I've got you," Lorenzo murmured, his forehead resting against Evelyn's. "He's safe. You're safe."

Evelyn reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a small, black leather book.

Lorenzo stared at it in shock. "How?"