Chapter 2 - THE SILVER LOCKET

I froze, staring at the small, shaking child holding a loaded weapon.

“Leo, please,” I said gently, keeping my voice as calm as possible. “Dr. Kane is the bad guy. He’s lying to you. Where is your mother? Where is Elena?”

Leo shook his head, retreating a step deeper into the shadows of the coat room. “They took her away. Dr. Kane took her upstairs. He said if I didn’t stay quiet, he would hurt her.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. Kane had separated them. He left the boy here as bait, guarded by the men I had just killed, while he took Elena somewhere else in the building.

“Leo, look at me,” I said, slowly sinking to one knee so I was at eye level with him. “I am not going to hurt you. I want to save your mom. But you have to put the gun down.”

“No!” he sobbed, his small finger tightening dangerously on the trigger. “You killed my dad! Dr. Kane said Santiago Moretti is a monster who murders people!”

I had murdered people. I was a mafia boss. The blood on my hands could fill a river. But I had never killed an innocent, and I had certainly never killed this boy’s father.

“I didn’t kill your dad, Leo,” I promised him.

I needed proof. A six-year-old raised in hiding wouldn’t trust a stranger in the dark.

I reached slowly into my jacket pocket. Leo flinched, raising the gun higher.

“I’m just getting something to show you,” I whispered.

I pulled out the tarnished silver locket Marco had given me.

I tossed it gently onto the floor, letting it slide across the dust until it stopped at Leo’s feet.

Leo looked down. His eyes widened. He recognized it immediately.

“My mom’s necklace,” he whispered.

“She dropped it,” I explained softly. “My brother, Marco, found it. He sent me to find you. Your grandmother is waiting for you at a safe house right now.”

Leo lowered the gun an inch. “Grandma Elena?”

“Yes. She’s alive, Leo.”

The boy’s lip quivered. He dropped the heavy silver revolver. It clattered loudly against the concrete. He fell to his knees, burying his face in his small, dirty hands, and began to cry uncontrollably.

I rushed forward, wrapping my arms around him, pulling him tightly against my chest. He was so small, so fragile. I felt a surge of protective instinct so fierce it took my breath away.

“I’ve got you,” I murmured, rubbing his back. “I’ve got you, buddy. We’re going to find your mom.”

As I pulled back, I noticed something dangling from a chain around his neck. It had slipped out of his shirt when he cried.

It was a tarnished brass pocket watch.

I stared at it. I recognized the intricate engraving on the casing immediately.

“Where did you get this?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Leo sniffled, clutching the watch protectively. “It was my dad’s. He gave it to me before he went away.”

My mind raced back seven years.

The brass watch belonged to Dante, one of my most trusted lieutenants. He had vanished without a trace seven years ago. I had assumed a rival family killed him. I had burned down three warehouses looking for his body.

“Your dad… was Dante?” I asked.

Leo nodded, wiping his nose. “Mommy said he was a brave knight. He died fighting the bad men.”

The pieces fell into place. Dante hadn’t been killed by rivals. He had found Elena. He had fallen in love with her, protected her, and fathered Leo. And when Kane finally tracked them down, Dante had sacrificed himself to give them time to run.

Dante was my brother-in-arms. And this was his son.

Suddenly, the brass watch in Leo’s hand clicked.

It wasn’t a ticking sound. It was a sharp, mechanical click.

I looked down. The face of the watch had popped open.

But it wasn’t a watch face inside.

It was a small, illuminated digital timer.

00:03:00.

Three minutes.

My blood ran completely cold.

The watch wasn’t just an heirloom. It was a proximity trigger.

“Leo, who gave you this watch today?” I demanded, grabbing his shoulders.