I walked into my mafia boss husband’s penthouse with our baby’s first ultrasound, only to find him kissing his secretary—and eleven days later, he discovered the one secret that could destroy his entire empire.

The ninth day brought blood.

Lorenzo sat in the underground interrogation room beneath an abandoned meatpacking warehouse in Queens. Tied to a wooden chair beneath the harsh glare of a single tungsten bulb was Vanessa.

Her makeup was smeared, her designer dress ripped at the shoulder, but the sneer on her face hadn't completely faded.

"You're crazy, Lorenzo," she spat. "You think you can hold me here? My brother is a senior partner at Morrison & Sterling! If I go missing, the police—"

"Your brother doesn't work at Morrison & Sterling," Lorenzo said coldly. He sat on an upturned wooden crate, rolling an unlit cigarette between his fingers. "Your brother is an operative for the Marcone family. He’s been funneling shipping manifest codes to Salvatore for eight months."

Vanessa’s jaw clamped shut. The color drained from her face.

Marco stepped out of the shadows, dropping a thick manila folder onto the metal table between them. "We cracked your encrypted cloud backup, Vanessa. You weren't sleeping with Lorenzo because you were in love with him. You were hired by Salvatore Marcone to create a wedge between Lorenzo and his wife."

Lorenzo leaned forward, his eyes burning with demonic intensity. "Salvatore knew Isabella was my only weakness. He knew that if she left me, I would lose my focus. He wanted me erratic. He wanted me hunting my wife so his men could hijack the Boston shipments."

Vanessa began to shake. "Lorenzo... please... it was just business. Salvatore threatened my family. He said if I didn't get you to break the marriage, he’d kill my mother—"

"Did you know she was pregnant?" Lorenzo whispered.

The question hung in the humid, metallic air like a swinging blade.

Vanessa swallowed hard, her eyes darting away. "I... I saw her in the hallway that morning. Before she reached your office door. She was holding a bag from the boutique baby store on Fifth Avenue."

Lorenzo’s hand tightened around the heavy steel wrench resting on his knee. "And what did you do?"

"I... I told her you were expecting me," Vanessa whimpered, tears of genuine terror now spilling over her cheeks. "I pulled you close right when I heard her footsteps outside the door. I knew she’d look through the glass. I kissed you, Lorenzo! You didn't push me away!"

"Because I was distracted by the shipment breach," Lorenzo roared, standing up so violently that the crate tumbled backward. "Because I thought you were handing me an emergency decryption key! And you played me like a fool!"

"Lorenzo, please!" she screamed as Marco stepped forward with a pair of heavy zip-ties.

"Don't kill her," Lorenzo commanded, turning his back to the room. "Deliver her to the federal courthouse in Brooklyn. Hand the feds the hard drive containing her communications with Salvatore Marcone. Let the Department of Justice tear the Marcones apart from the inside."

"And what about Salvatore?" Marco asked.

"Salvatore is mine," Lorenzo said, his voice dropping into icy stillness. "He took my wife from me. He took my children before I ever got to hear their hearts beat. Prepare the strike team. Tonight, the Marcone family ceases to exist."

"Boss," Marco said, checking his phone as it buzzed. "Our tech team found a hit on Isabella’s credit card."

Lorenzo swung around so fast his coat flapped like wings. "Where?"

"A grocery store in Havenport, Maine. She bought organic milk, prenatal vitamins, and firewood two hours ago."

Lorenzo closed his eyes for a single second, letting out a breath that tasted of salvation and terror.