THE HOUSEKEEPER, THE HEIRESS, AND THE WEDDING DRESS

Sloane's hand shook, but the knife was pointed directly at Ella.

"Put it down, Sloane," Nico warned, his gun now aimed squarely at his fiancée.

"I have nothing left!" Sloane screamed, tears ruining her perfectly applied makeup. "If I don't give Marcus the girl, he'll kill me! He gave me Clara's bracelet as a promise. He needs Ella as a hostage to get past your guards!"

"You bullied a thirteen-year-old girl, and now you want to hand her over to a murderer?" I asked, stepping between Sloane and Ella.

Sloane sneered. "She's a spoiled brat. She'll be fine."

She lunged forward.

I didn't think. I reacted with the heavy silver tray I had been holding since dessert. I swung it upward with both hands, catching Sloane squarely under the jaw.

She dropped the knife and collapsed to the marble floor in a heap of red satin. The gold bracelet clattered away, coming to rest at Ella's feet.

Ella reached down, her hands shaking, and picked up her mother's bracelet. She clutched it to her chest.

Nico looked at me, a profound respect replacing his usual cold demeanor. "Thank you, Jenna."

"Go get him, Mr. Falcone," I said.

Nico nodded and sprinted out the door toward the basement.

I grabbed Ella's hand. "Come on. We need to move."

We ran down the opposite hallway, heading for the reinforced panic room off the library. The house was eerily silent, save for the distant sound of Nico's heavy footsteps echoing from the lower level.

We reached the library. I punched the code into the keypad behind the bookcase. The heavy steel door hissed open.

"Get inside," I told Ella.

She stepped in, but before I could follow, the library doors burst open.

Marcus stumbled in, bleeding heavily from a gunshot wound to his shoulder. Nico must have clipped him in the basement.

Marcus saw us. He raised his gun, his eyes wild and desperate.

"Close the door, Ella!" I screamed, slamming my hand on the emergency lockdown button on the outside of the frame.

The steel door slammed shut just as Marcus fired.

The bullet shattered the wood paneling inches from my head. I dropped to the floor, scrambling behind a heavy leather armchair.

"Where is she?!" Marcus roared, kicking the armchair aside. He grabbed me by the collar of my uniform, dragging me to my feet and pressing the hot barrel of his gun under my chin.

"Open the door, housekeeper," Marcus spat, blood dripping from his chin. "Or I blow your head off."

I looked at the keypad. I knew the override code. I could open it and save myself.

I looked him dead in the eyes.

"No."

Marcus cocked the hammer.

But before he could pull the trigger, a voice rang out from the doorway.

"Let her go."

Marcus froze. He turned his head slowly.

Standing in the doorway, holding Nico's dropped gun with perfect, practiced stillness, was a woman in a torn white blouse.