“Vanessa escaped?” I gasped, staring at the screen.

Luca snatched the phone from my hand, his jaw clenching so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek. He instantly dialed Daniel.

“Daniel,” Luca barked. “Check the study. Now.”

There was a tense silence on the line. I heard the sound of a heavy door opening, then a sharp curse.

“Boss,” Daniel’s voice came back, tight with anger. “The window is smashed. She’s gone. But that’s not all… Mrs. Gable is gone, too.”

My breath hitched. “Mrs. Gable? The head housekeeper?”

Luca’s eyes darkened. “Mrs. Gable hired you. She knew your schedule. She knew your family’s address. Vanessa didn’t just have Trench working for her. She had the woman running my house.”

“And they took Chloe,” I whispered, panic clawing at my throat.

Luca hung up, tossing my phone onto the passenger seat of the SUV. “Get in.”

“She said come alone!” I protested, terrified that Vanessa would hurt my sister if she saw Luca’s armored cars pulling up to her family estate.

“You are not walking into a trap alone, Emma,” Luca said, his voice leaving no room for argument. “Vanessa is desperate. Desperate people do not leave witnesses.”

He grabbed a heavy tactical vest from the trunk of the SUV and tossed it to me. “Put this on under your jacket.”

Ten minutes later, we were speeding toward the sprawling Bellini estate on the outskirts of the city. The rain had stopped, leaving a heavy, suffocating fog rolling over the dark roads.

“Why didn’t she just run?” I asked, my hands trembling as I buckled the Kevlar vest over my chest. “She had a head start. She could have taken the money and left the country.”

“Because of pride,” Luca replied, his eyes fixed on the road. “She’s the heir to the Bellini name. If she runs, she admits defeat. She wants the ledger key so she can destroy the proof of her debt to the Russos. If she wipes her slate clean, she thinks she can still salvage her reputation.”

We pulled up to the wrought-iron gates of the estate. They were wide open.

Luca parked the SUV in the shadows of a massive oak tree, a hundred yards from the front door.

“We go in quietly,” Luca said, checking the magazine of his weapon. “Stay behind me. If shooting starts, you drop to the floor and do not move.”

I nodded, clutching the small black USB drive in my pocket.

We slipped through the fog, approaching the massive stone mansion. The house was completely dark, save for a single light burning in the basement windows.

The wine cellar.

Luca tested the side door leading to the kitchen. It was unlocked.

We stepped inside. The air was thick and smelled of dust and aged wood.

Slowly, silently, we descended the stone steps into the basement.

The wine cellar was enormous, lined with thousands of bottles stretching back into the shadows. In the center of the room, sitting in a wooden chair with her hands bound, was my sister, Chloe.

She was gagged, tears streaming down her terrified face.

Standing behind her, holding a suppressed pistol, was Mrs. Gable.

And standing in front of her, wearing a soaked trench coat over her ruined red engagement gown, was Vanessa.

“I knew you wouldn’t come alone,” Vanessa sneered, not even flinching as Luca stepped into the light with his weapon raised.

“Let her go, Vanessa,” Luca said, his voice cold and steady. “It’s over. You have nowhere to run.”

“I’m not running, darling,” Vanessa smiled, a manic, broken expression on her face. “I’m cleaning house.”

She held out her hand, looking directly at me. “Give me the key, Emma. Or Mrs. Gable puts a bullet in your sister’s head.”

Mrs. Gable aimed her weapon at Chloe.

“Wait!” I screamed, stepping out from behind Luca. I pulled the black USB drive from my pocket. “I have it! Just don’t hurt her!”

“Throw it to me,” Vanessa ordered.

I looked at Luca. He gave me a barely perceptible nod.

I tossed the USB drive across the stone floor. It skittered to a halt at Vanessa’s feet.

She smiled triumphantly, bending down to pick it up.

“Thank you, Emma,” Vanessa purred. “You really are a good little maid.”

She turned to Mrs. Gable. “Kill them both. The sister and the maid.”

Chloe screamed through her gag.

But Mrs. Gable didn’t shoot.

Instead, the older housekeeper lowered her gun, a cruel, mocking smile spreading across her face.

“I don’t think so, Vanessa,” Mrs. Gable said.

Vanessa frowned, turning around. “What are you doing? I pay you! Shoot them!”

Mrs. Gable laughed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a silver rosary.

It was a Russo family rosary.

“You don’t pay me, Vanessa,” Mrs. Gable said smoothly. “Dominic Russo pays me. He has for five years.”

Vanessa’s face went completely white. “No…”

“Dominic knew you were planning to double-cross him,” Mrs. Gable said, stepping away from Chloe and aiming her weapon directly at Vanessa. “He told me to let you do the dirty work. He told me to let you get the key from the girl.”

Mrs. Gable held out her hand. “Hand over the USB, Vanessa. The Russos are collecting their debt.”

Vanessa panicked. She lunged backward, knocking over a massive wooden wine rack.

Hundreds of glass bottles shattered against the stone floor, spraying expensive red wine everywhere.

In the chaos, Mrs. Gable fired a shot, missing Vanessa but hitting the stone wall.

Luca didn’t hesitate. He surged forward, firing twice. Mrs. Gable dropped her weapon, clutching her shoulder, and fell to the floor.

I didn’t care about the guns or the mafia politics. I sprinted through the shattered glass, sliding to my knees beside Chloe. I pulled the gag from her mouth and began desperately untying her hands.

“Emma!” Chloe sobbed, burying her face in my shoulder.

“I’ve got you,” I cried, holding her tight. “You’re safe.”

But as I held my sister, a terrifying sound echoed through the cellar.

The heavy steel door at the top of the stairs slammed shut.

The lock clicked heavily into place.

I looked up. Vanessa was gone.

And a thin trail of smoke was beginning to curl under the doorframe.