I HELD A SCREAMING MAFIA HEIR AGAINST MY BARE CHEST TO SAVE HIS LIFE — THEN HIS FATHER HEARD MY LAST NAME AND LOCKED THE DOOR

The bodies had been cleared away. The splintered door had been temporarily patched with a heavy security barricade. Downstairs, Marco and his remaining men secured the perimeters, ensuring no other rats would dare test the Russo name.

In the nursery, the air was still warm and heavy.

Daniel was sitting in the rocking chair where I had sat for days. He was still shirtless, the morning light catching the pale scars across his shoulders and chest, holding Leo securely against him. The baby hadn't stirred in hours, resting in the deep, restorative sleep he so desperately needed.

I sat on the edge of the crib across from him, exhausted, my muscles aching, nursing a cup of cold coffee Mrs. Vance had left outside the door hours ago.

"The men who breached the estate," I broke the silence, my voice hoarse. "They were sent because they knew about the baby, weren't they?"

Daniel didn't open his eyes, but his jaw tightened. "The Moretti family. They thought if they could take my heir, they could force me to hand over the North Side shipping lanes."

"And my brother?" I asked, the question hanging heavily between us. "Tommy stole from you. But he's small fry. Did the Morettis know about him too?"

Daniel finally opened his eyes, fixing his dark, intense gaze on me. "No one outside my inner circle knows about your brother. He’s still locked in the container downtown, exactly where I left him."

"We have two weeks left," I whispered, looking down at my hands. "Two weeks until the thirty days are up. Two weeks until you decide whether he walks or dies."

Daniel gently shifted Leo, transferring the sleeping baby back into the customized bassinet with a tenderness that still caught me off guard. He stood up, towering over me in the morning light, walking slowly until he stopped right in front of my chair.

"You think after last night—after everything we just survived together—that I'm still going to kill your brother?" Daniel asked quietly.

"I think you're Daniel Russo," I answered, looking straight back into his eyes. "A man who built an empire on blood, fear, and absolute discipline. You don't let people steal from you and walk away just because their sister knows how to hold a baby."

Daniel stared at me for a long, agonizing moment. Then, slowly, a strange, intense light flickered in his dark eyes.

"You're wrong about one thing, Miss Jenkins," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a low, hypnotic register. "I don't let people steal from me. But I do reward loyalty."

Before I could process his words, the heavy footsteps of Marco echoed from the hallway outside. The bodyguard pushed past the barricade, holding a secure encrypted phone in his hand, his face pale and tense.