THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED HIS FIANCÉE SWITCH OFF A 63-YEAR-OLD COOK'S RINGING PHONE AT HIS ENGAGEMENT DINNER—THEN SHE SAID, “HER DAUGHTER'S HAVING A BABY, NOT DYING,” BEFORE HE EVEN ASKED WHY THE OLD WOMAN WAS CRYING AND BEGGING TO LEAVE. -

Chapter 10 – THE FLIGHT MANIFEST

“Vanessa?” Luca roared, the sound bouncing violently off the marble walls.

He stared at the piece of paper, his mind unable to process the betrayal.

“Vanessa was on the plane with him?” I asked, feeling sick. “She would have been… what, barely twenty years old?”

“Twenty-two,” Luca said, his voice turning deadly cold. “And she was already working for her father’s syndicate. She was the liaison between our families before we were engaged.”

Daniel stepped forward, shining his flashlight on the paper.

“Sir, if Salvatore is alive… and Vanessa helped him escape… then your engagement to her wasn’t a peace treaty between the families.”

“It was a trap,” Luca finished, his eyes burning with fury. “My father arranged the engagement. He told me it was his dying wish for me to marry Vanessa to unite the families.”

The Reversal was complete, and it was entirely sickening.

Salvatore hadn’t faked his death out of grief. He had orchestrated a shadow empire from Italy, using Vanessa as his puppet to control Luca and the Chicago syndicate without taking any of the risk.

“But why send the watch now?” I asked. “If they’ve been successfully lying for six years, why reveal the empty grave today?”

“Because we broke the engagement,” Luca realized. “We arrested Carmine. We ruined their pipeline. And I gave the legitimate businesses to you and Rose.”

Luca looked at the flight manifest again.

“He’s not hiding anymore. He’s coming back.”

Suddenly, Daniel’s radio crackled loudly in the silent crypt.

“Boss,” a frantic voice yelled over the static. “It’s the hospital! We have a breach!”

Luca grabbed the radio from Daniel. “What happened?”

“A team of mercenaries hit the VIP maternity ward,” the guard shouted, gunfire echoing in the background. “They bypassed our outer perimeter. They’re going for Megan and the baby!”

Luca’s face turned to stone.

“My father,” Luca said. “He knows Enzo’s grandson is the only true threat to his bloodline.”

“Let’s go!” Daniel shouted, pulling his weapon.

We sprinted out of the mausoleum, diving into the SUV. Daniel slammed on the gas, tearing through the cemetery gates and rushing back toward the city.

Luca sat in the back, checking the magazine of his pistol with terrifying calm.

“If he touches a hair on that child’s head,” Luca whispered, “I will put him in that empty casket myself.”

We arrived at the hospital in record time. The lobby was a war zone of shattered glass and terrified nurses.

Luca didn’t wait for the elevator. He hit the stairwell, taking the steps three at a time. I followed as closely as I could, my heart hammering in my chest.

When we reached the fourth floor, the hallway was eerily quiet.

Two of Daniel’s men were unconscious on the floor.

The door to Megan’s room was wide open.

Luca raised his gun and stepped inside.

I peeked around his shoulder, terrified of what I would see.

Megan and David were backed into the corner of the room, clutching the baby. Rose stood fiercely in front of them, holding a heavy metal IV pole like a baseball bat.

And sitting casually in the armchair by the window, flanked by two armed mercenaries, was a man with silver hair and a sharp, tailored suit.

He looked exactly like Luca, just thirty years older.

Salvatore Moretti.

“Hello, my son,” Salvatore smiled, resting a gold cane across his knees. “I see you found my watch.”