SECRETS IN THE SYNDICATE

Dust and pulverized brick filled the air as Luca shielded Claire with his body.

"Leo!" Claire screamed over the deafening roar of gunfire.

"I'm okay!" Leo cried from beneath the heavy steel prep table where he had wisely crawled.

Luca rolled off Claire, pulling a Glock from his waistband. "Stay down! Don't move!"

He leopard-crawled to the edge of the kitchen doorway, peering into the shattered storefront. Two men in dark tactical gear were advancing through the broken glass, their rifles raised. Dante's men. They had tracked the SUV.

Luca didn't hesitate. He rose to one knee, firing three rapid, deafening shots.

The first man dropped instantly. The second man scrambled for cover behind a display case, returning fire. Bullets pinged against the stainless steel appliances around Luca.

"Claire!" Luca yelled, slapping a fresh magazine into his gun. "Take Leo out the back door! Go to the car!"

"I'm not leaving you!" she shouted back.

"Do it!" Luca roared, his eyes blazing with a fierce, protective fury. "Keep him safe!"

Claire crawled to the prep table, grabbed Leo's hand, and pulled the terrified boy toward the heavy metal back door. She pushed it open, dragging him out into the rain-soaked alley.

Inside, Luca laid down suppressing fire, forcing the remaining gunman to stay pinned. Luca advanced with terrifying speed, vaulting over the counter. A brief, violent struggle ensued in the dark. A final gunshot echoed, and then silence.

A moment later, Luca burst through the back door, his face streaked with dust, his white shirt ruined.

"In the car, now!" he ordered.

They piled into the SUV. Claire threw it in reverse, tires screaming against the wet asphalt, and shot backwards out of the alley. She spun the wheel, shifting to drive, and floored it into the night.

Adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her injured hand throbbed mercilessly, but she ignored it.

"Are you hit?" she asked breathlessly, glancing at Luca.

"I'm fine," he grunted, checking his weapon. He looked at her, his expression softening slightly. "You did good."

The tension from the bakery still hung heavy between them. The ledger. The cover-up.

"Claire," Luca said quietly, staring out the rain-streaked window. "My father paid to clean up the scene because Marco came to him panicking. Marco said it was an accident. My father covered it up to avoid a war with the police. But when he found out Marco had actually murdered her... he banished him. He faked Marco's death to protect the syndicate, but he exiled him to Europe with nothing. It wasn't justice for your mother. I know that. But it's the truth."

Claire gripped the steering wheel. The anger was still there, but it was shifting. The monster wasn't Luca. It was his father, and it was Marco.

Suddenly, a weak, gurgling groan came from the very back seat of the SUV.

Claire slammed on the brakes. The car skidded to a halt under a flickering streetlamp.

Luca instantly spun around, his gun raised over the seat.

Lying in the cargo area of the SUV, bleeding out onto the carpet, was Julian.

Luca lowered the gun, stunned. "Julian?"

Julian coughed, a spray of blood speckling his chin. He had two bullet holes in his chest. "Dante..." Julian wheezed. "Dante shot me. He... he double-crossed us."

Luca climbed into the back, checking Julian's pulse. It was fading fast. "You idiot. You thought Dante was going to let you run the city?"

"Vanessa..." Julian gasped, his eyes wild with panic. "Vanessa set me up. She used me to get the codes."

"What codes?" Luca demanded, grabbing his former best man by the lapels.

"Pier 4," Julian choked out. "The weapons shipment. Arriving tonight. She's selling it... to the Russians. She takes the cash... Dante takes the throne."

Julian coughed again, violently. His hand blindly reached out, grabbing Claire’s wrist over the seat. He pressed a heavy, blood-slicked object into her palm.

"She... she dropped this... when she shot me," Julian whispered.

His eyes rolled back, and Julian went still. The best man was dead.

Claire slowly opened her hand. Resting in her palm was Vanessa’s massive diamond engagement ring. The one Luca had given her.

But as Claire looked closer, she noticed something carved into the inner gold band.

It wasn't an inscription from Luca.