Chapter 1
I knew something was wrong before Sofia cried my name.
The terrace was too quiet.
Forty people had been invited to the summer party.
Capos.
Their wives.
Business associates.
Men whose laughter usually carried across the entire south lawn.
But when I stepped through the glass doors overlooking the pool, conversations were dying one by one.
Nobody looked at me.
They looked toward the far side of the terrace.
I followed their eyes.
And saw my daughter inside a cage.
Not a real animal cage.
A decorative metal enclosure Veronica had bought for some ridiculous garden display.
That distinction did absolutely nothing to calm me.
Sofia was sitting inside it.
Three years old.
Elegant yellow summer dress.
Tears on her cheeks.
Both hands gripping the bars.
I don't remember crossing the terrace.
I remember the lock breaking in my hand.
I remember Sofia hitting my chest so hard when I lifted her that I nearly lost my balance.
“Daddy…”
Her arms locked around my neck.
“I'm here.”
She wasn't looking at me.
She was pointing.
Frantically.
Toward the pool.
“Daddy… Audrey.”
I turned.
Audrey Sloan was in the water.
Still wearing her maid uniform.
Completely soaked.
One hand clung to the shallow-end rail.
Her other arm trembled so badly she could barely keep herself upright.
Nobody was helping her.
And standing ten feet away was the woman I was supposed to marry in six weeks.
Veronica.
Perfect dress.
Perfect jewelry.
Perfect expression.
She looked at Sofia.
Then Audrey.
And said the sentence that ended our engagement before she knew it.
“They're still not dead?”
The terrace went silent.
Not quieter.
Silent.
I handed Sofia to one of my bodyguards and crossed to the pool.
Audrey tried to climb out.
Her leg slipped.
I caught her arm.
Two guards helped pull her onto the stone.
She was coughing when Sofia ran toward us.
“Audrey wouldn't let her cage me.”
My daughter was crying again.
“So she pushed her.”
I looked at Veronica.
Her face didn't change.
Preston's did.
Her brother stepped between us.
“Renato.”
I ignored him.
Veronica's eyes remained on Sofia.
Not like a woman worried about a child.
Like a woman calculating whether the child remembered too much.
That was when I saw fear.
Not in Sofia.
In Veronica.
I took one step toward her.
Preston shoved me.
Then swung.
Bad decision.
I caught his arm, turned with the momentum and sent him shoulder-first into the umbrella rack.
Metal folded.
Umbrellas spilled across the terrace.
Preston disappeared beneath the collapsing frame.
Veronica moved immediately.
Not toward him.
Toward Sofia.
Her fingers closed around my daughter's arm.
I tore her hand away.
Redirected her backward.
She crashed onto one of the wicker daybeds, sending cushions and towel baskets across the stone.
My guards surrounded her before she could stand.
I removed my jacket.
Placed it around Audrey's shaking shoulders.
Then I looked at Veronica.
“From now on, you and the maid switch places.”
Her face changed.
Finally.
Fear.
But Audrey wasn't looking at Veronica.
She was looking at me.
“Boss.”
Her voice barely worked.
“What?”
She glanced toward Sofia.
Then toward Preston.
“Don't let them separate you from your daughter.”
My eyes narrowed.
“Why?”
Audrey swallowed.
“Because Sofia heard them.”
I looked down at my little girl.
“Heard what?”
Audrey's answer was almost a whisper.
“Your name.”
May you like
Pause.
“And the name of the man they want you to kill.”
