My daughter thought she didn’t belong among the women in silk and diamonds—until Gabriel Caruso heard her answer and made her an impossible promise.

The lights flickered once, twice, and then plunged the entire grand hall into terrifying, pitch-black darkness.

Screams erupted from the high-society crowd. Champagne flutes shattered against the marble floor as hundreds of panicked guests began rushing toward the exits.

"Gabriel!" I cried out, my hands reaching into the dark.

Instantly, a pair of strong, familiar arms wrapped around me, pulling me hard against a solid chest. "I’m here," Gabriel’s voice was calm, cutting through the hysteria. "Stay close to me. Keep your head down."

The red emergency exit lights hummed to life, casting an eerie, bloody glow over the chaos. Through the crimson haze, I saw three men in dark tactical gear moving with lethal precision through the crowd, heading straight toward us.

"Marco!" Gabriel barked into his ear-mic. "Report!"

Static crackled back, followed by gunfire over the receiver. *"Boss! We hit an ambush at Grand Central! Daniel Cross wasn't working with Thorne—he betrayed Thorne! Daniel’s crew is inside the museum!"*

My stomach dropped into a bottomless pit of terror. "Daniel is here?"

Before Gabriel could answer, a man stepped out of the shadows behind the Roman pillar. He was taller than I remembered, thinner, with hollow cheeks and feverish, desperate eyes. He wore a rumpled suit, but the gun in his right hand was steady.

"Elena," Daniel Cross said, his voice raspy and choked with madness. "Long time no see, sweetheart."

"Daniel," I whispered, the ghost of my past standing five feet away from me.

"You brought my daughter to this pig?" Daniel snarled, pointing the barrel toward Gabriel. "You let him put his mother’s jewels on your neck while I’ve been living in rat-holes for five years?!"

"You abandoned us!" I screamed, the five years of accumulated pain and rage exploding from my chest. "You left Lucy when she was a baby! You left us to die!"

"I came back for what’s mine!" Daniel shouted, his finger tightening on the trigger. "The key, Elena! Where is key 4812?!"

"It's already gone, Cross," Gabriel stepped smoothly in front of me, putting his towering body between Daniel's gun and my chest. "You're too late."

"Then you die first, Caruso!" Daniel hissed, raising the weapon.