"The most feared mafia boss in the city stood over me with a gun aimed at my heart while I cradled his dying baby against my bare chest. He was convinced I had betrayed him—until his son swallowed for the first time in weeks, and I realized someone inside his own mansion might have been trying to let that little boy die.

Dante slowly pulled his empty hand from his coat, his face slick with cold sweat.

“You can’t kill me, Lorenzo,” Dante hissed, his arrogant mask slipping away to reveal the slimy villain underneath. “The Commission won't allow it! You have no direct proof that holds up in syndicate court!”

“I don't need syndicate court,” Lorenzo replied coldly. “I am the head of the Rossi family.”

Before Lorenzo could pull the trigger, a loud explosion rocked the glass conservatory at the edge of the estate.

BOOM.

The sound of shattering glass echoed across the estate, followed by the heavy rattle of automatic gunfire.

Inside the conservatory, the world turned into chaos.

Glass panels rained down like sharp diamonds as bullets chewed through the tropical plants. I threw myself to the floor, wrapping my body completely around baby Leo, protecting his head with my arms.

“Get the girl!” a voice shouted through the smoke outside. “Dante said kill the wet nurse and take the baby!”

Two men in tactical gear smashed through the side frames of the conservatory, their rifles raised.

I scrambled backward on my knees, clutching Leo against my chest as terror surged through my veins. I was trapped against a brick planter with nowhere to run.

One of the gunmen stepped over a shattered orchid pot, leveling his weapon at my head. “Drop the kid, bitch.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, holding Leo tighter, preparing to take the bullet in my back.

BANG! BANG!

Two sharp gunshots rang out. The gunman in front of me dropped his rifle, collapsing forward onto the stone floor.

I opened my eyes. Lorenzo was standing in the doorway of the glasshouse, his face twisted into a mask of terrifying, demonic rage. He held a heavy combat shotgun, rack-clicking another shell into the chamber before firing at the second gunman, blasting him through the shattered outer glass wall.

Lorenzo sprinted across the ruined conservatory, sliding onto his knees beside me.

He grabbed my face in his bloody hand, his thumb trembling slightly against my cheek. “Are you hit? Are you hurt?!”

“We’re... we’re okay,” I sobbed, gasping for air as Leo began to cry from the noise. “We’re okay, Lorenzo!”

Lorenzo pulled us both against his chest, his breathing heavy and ragged. He buried his face in my hair for a brief, intense moment, holding us like a man who had almost lost everything he cared about in the world.

“Dante escaped during the distraction,” Marco yelled, running into the conservatory with three security guards behind him. “He took two cars and headed toward the river docks!”