The sound of shattering glass was deafening.

I dove to the floor, grabbing Owen and pulling his small body under the metal desk.

I covered his ears, shielding him from the chaos.

Owen couldn’t hear the gunshots, but he could feel the violent vibrations shaking the concrete floor. He buried his face in my chest, trembling uncontrollably.

In the darkness, the warehouse erupted into a tactical warzone.

Muzzle flashes illuminated the vast space like strobe lights. Men were shouting in panic.

Adrian Marzano hadn’t come to negotiate. He had come to eradicate.

“Rachel!”

A voice cut through the gunfire.

It was Adrian.

“Under the desk!” I screamed back.

A flashlight beam pierced the smoke, sweeping across the ruined office. It landed on me and Owen.

Adrian stepped through the shattered doorframe. He was moving with terrifying efficiency, his weapon raised, his eyes scanning every shadow.

He dropped to his knees, sliding his gun into his holster, and pulled Owen into his arms.

The mafia boss buried his face in his son’s hair, letting out a ragged breath that sounded like a sob.

Owen clung to his father, signing frantically against his chest. “I was scared. The lady lied.”

“I know, I know,” Adrian signed back with one hand, kissing the boy’s head. “I’ve got you.”

He looked up at me. His eyes were cold again, but there was a profound gratitude beneath the ice.

“You protected him,” Adrian said softly.

“We need to move,” I said, pointing to the shadows. “Eleanor is still here.”

Adrian’s jaw tightened. “I know.”

He stood up, keeping Owen behind him.

“Eleanor!” Adrian’s voice echoed across the quieted warehouse. His men had clearly neutralized the syndicate guards. “Show yourself!”

From behind a stack of wooden crates, Eleanor slowly stepped out.

She wasn’t holding a weapon. She was holding a thick, black leather-bound ledger.

She walked toward the glow of Adrian’s flashlight, entirely unfazed by the bodies of the syndicate men on the floor.

“You brought the war to my doorstep, Aunt Eleanor,” Adrian said, his voice dangerously low.

“I brought the truth to your doorstep, Adrian,” Eleanor replied, her voice steady. She tossed the heavy black ledger onto the hood of a nearby forklift. “You were too blinded by Brielle’s smile to see she was selling your shipping routes to the Chicago outfit.”

Adrian didn’t look at the ledger. He looked at his aunt.

“You forged medical papers to lock my son in a psychiatric ward.”

“Brielle forged those papers,” Eleanor corrected sharply. “I intercepted Thomas before he could deliver Owen to the facility. I saved your son, Adrian.”

Adrian shook his head. “Then why hold him ransom?”

“Because if I just told you, you wouldn’t have believed me. You would have confronted Brielle, and she would have vanished with half your assets. I needed you to feel the loss of your child so you would wake up and see the viper in your house.”

I watched Adrian process this. The betrayal of his fiancée. The drastic, twisted loyalty of his aunt.

Adrian walked over to the ledger. He opened it.

His eyes scanned the pages, illuminated by the beam of his flashlight.

The offshore accounts. The routing numbers. The steady bleed of his empire into Brielle’s brother’s gambling debts.

He closed the book.

“Where is Brielle?” Adrian asked.

“She’s packing her bags at your house right now,” Eleanor said. “She knows Thomas failed. She knows you’re coming for her next.”

Adrian pulled out his phone. He dialed Marcus.

“Marcus. Ground Brielle. Nobody leaves the estate.”

He hung up, turning to me.

“Take Owen to the car. My men will escort you to the safehouse with Lucy and your daughter.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

Adrian looked down at the black ledger.

“I am going to go home and break an engagement.”

As he turned to walk away, I noticed something glinting in the beam of the dropped flashlight on the floor.

It had fallen out of Eleanor’s coat pocket when she tossed the ledger.

I bent down and picked it up.

It was a gold watch.

Sarah’s watch. The one missing from Lucy’s drawer.

I looked at Eleanor. Then at Adrian.

“Answer one, open two,” I whispered.

If Brielle was the mastermind who forged the papers, why did Eleanor have the dead wife’s watch?

TITLE: THE GOLD WATCH AND THE GHOST IN THE HOUSE