THE MAFIA BOSS SLAPPED HIS SEVEN-MONTHS-PREGNANT WIFE FOR HIS MISTRESS—THEN SHE VANISHED WITH HIS DARKEST SECRET

Dante found Sofia's empty bedroom that evening and knew immediately where she had gone.

His mother had never been a brave woman in the way his father understood bravery. She had survived by remaining silent, by letting powerful men make decisions, and by telling herself that keeping the family together was the same as protecting it.

But she had kept Michael Hayes's letter.

And now she had gone to Emma.

Dante called Marco.

"Find my mother."

"We already checked her usual places."

"Then check the unusual ones."

Marco hesitated.

"Boss, there's something else. We traced the transfers in the old ledger. Most of the money went through companies associated with Victor Russo."

Dante's jaw tightened.

"How much?"

"Enough to destabilize the organization if the records reach the authorities."

"And my signature?"

"Appears on several documents."

Dante closed his eyes.

At nineteen, he had signed papers his father placed in front of him without reading them. The night Michael Hayes died, he had been told the accountant was a traitor who intended to sell the family's secrets. Dante had driven to the warehouse expecting a confrontation.

Instead, he had heard a gunshot.

His father had ordered him to destroy the records and keep quiet.

Dante had obeyed.

For eleven years, he had told himself he had been too young to understand.

Now his pregnant wife possessed proof that could expose everything.

Marco lowered his voice.

"Victor has contacted two rival crews. I think he's preparing to move against you."

"Why?"

"Because he believes Emma has the original ledger."

Dante looked at the photograph of Emma he kept in his desk. She was laughing at a summer festival, her hair blowing across her face.

He had taken that picture before their wedding.

Before the money.