THE MAFIA BOSS LET A TERRIFIED STRANGER SIT ON HIS LAP—THEN DISCOVERED HER DEAD MOTHER WAS ALIVE

Salvatore chose Pier 19, where the Valenti shipping empire had begun three generations earlier. He demanded that Dante come alone and bring the original drive.

"He won't honor the deal," Elena said.

"He doesn't need to," Dante replied. "He needs me to show up."

Brooks organized surveillance and a controlled operation. The evidence had already been copied and authenticated, but Salvatore didn't know that. Dante insisted on taking the risk. I insisted on being part of the planning, though I stayed at the command center with Amelia.

"I don't want to lose another person," I told him before he left.

He brushed a loose strand of hair from my face, then stopped, waiting. I nodded. His hand rested against my cheek.

"You won't owe me anything for what happens tonight," he said.

"I know."

"I want you to hear it anyway."

I kissed him first. Briefly, fiercely, with the fear of the night between us. When I stepped back, he looked almost astonished.

"Come back," I said.

"I'll try."

At midnight, fog rolled over the river. The surveillance feed showed Dante walking toward a warehouse where Salvatore stood beneath a hanging light. Two guards held a woman between them.

My mother.

Her hair had gone nearly white at the temples. She looked exhausted, but she was standing.

I pressed my palm to the screen.

Salvatore spread his arms. "My boy. I knew you'd come."

"Let Evelyn go."

"Always impatient. Your father was the same."

"You killed Luca."

Salvatore's smile disappeared. "Luca was going to hand our records to the authorities. He thought he could save everyone."

"He could have saved us from you."

"I built this family."

"You burned it down."

Salvatore demanded the drive. Dante held it up. As the guards shifted, Evelyn twisted free and ran toward the loading door. A shot cracked through the warehouse.

I screamed. On the screen, Dante dropped behind a steel container. Agents moved in. The feed dissolved into confusion, radio calls, and flashing lights.

"Where's my mother?" I shouted.

Nobody answered fast enough.

Then Brooks's voice came through: "Evelyn secure. One suspect down. Salvatore fleeing east exit."

Amelia started crying beside me. I held her while the team searched the docks.

Dante appeared on another camera, blood darkening his sleeve. He had been grazed, but he was moving. He saw Salvatore at the end of the pier and stopped rather than chase him into the dark.

"It's over," Dante called. "Give yourself up."

Salvatore turned. "You'd let strangers put your uncle in a cage?"

"You put my brother in a grave."

For a terrible second, Salvatore raised his weapon. Then floodlights ignited. Agents surrounded him. He dropped the gun.

When the operation ended, my mother was taken to a hospital under federal protection. Dante arrived with a bandaged arm and tired eyes.

I didn't care who was watching. I ran into him.

"You came back."

"You asked me to."

But our relief lasted less than an hour. Evelyn woke long enough to tell Brooks that Salvatore had only been one part of the conspiracy.

"Richard Hale kept the money," she whispered. "Victor Sloane kept the prisoners."