THE MAFIA BOSS WATCHED ME PLACE A DINNER PLATE IN FRONT OF HIS NINE-YEAR-OLD SON AT HIS ENGAGEMENT PARTY

The safe house was a secluded cabin deep in the woods, an hour outside the city.

By the time we arrived, Benjamin had fallen asleep in the backseat, exhausted by the terror of the night. Luca carried him inside and tucked him into a small bed in the back room.

I stood in the dusty kitchen, my hands trembling inside my apron pockets.

My fingers traced the wooden beads of the rosary.

How? How could my mother be connected to the mafia? To Caroline's death? My mother was a sweet, frail woman who worked at a grocery store. She had arthritis. She baked apple pies.

Luca walked into the kitchen. He looked exhausted, his tie loosened, dark circles under his eyes.

"My men are securing the perimeter," he said quietly. "Dominic and Vanessa have gone into hiding. But they won't get far."

"Mr. Moretti," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

He stopped, noticing my pale face. "Claire? What is it?"

I pulled the rosary from my pocket and placed it on the wooden table.

Luca stared at it. His brow furrowed. "Where did you get that?"

"It fell from your coat closet when I was grabbing Ben's jacket." I swallowed hard. "It belongs to my mother."

Luca slowly looked up at me. "Your mother?"

"She lost it three years ago. Around the exact same time Caroline died. Sir... I don't understand how it got into your house."

Luca didn't speak. He walked over to the table and picked up the rosary. He traced the silver crucifix with his thumb.

"I know this rosary," he said softly.

"You do?"

"Yes." Luca looked at me, a deep sadness in his eyes. "Caroline gave it to a woman she trusted. A woman who helped her."

"Helped her do what?"

"Hide."

The room spun. "I... I don't understand."

Luca sighed, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Three years ago, Caroline discovered that the Bellini family was stealing money from my empire. Millions. She found the ledgers. But she knew if she brought them to me, a war would start. A war that might put Benjamin in danger."

"So she tried to run?"

"She tried to take the evidence to the police anonymously. But Dominic Bellini found out. He and Vanessa cornered her."

Luca pointed to the rosary. "But before they caught her, Caroline hid the ledgers. She mailed them to a safe address. A woman she had met at a local charity kitchen. A woman who promised to keep them safe until Caroline could retrieve them."

"My mother," I breathed.

"Yes. Mary Sullivan." Luca looked at me. "Your mother didn't work at a grocery store, Claire. She volunteered at the battered women's shelter Caroline funded. Caroline trusted her with her life."

Tears spilled down my cheeks. My mother had lied to me. She had been protecting a mafia boss's wife.

"But why didn't my mother ever give the ledgers to you?" I asked.

"Because she didn't know who to trust," Luca said. "And because Vanessa Bellini threatened her."

I froze. "Vanessa threatened my mother?"

"Vanessa knew Caroline mailed the package, but she didn't know where. When Caroline died, Vanessa spent three years trying to find the missing ledgers. That's why she hired you, Claire."

My stomach dropped. "What?"

"Vanessa hired you as a maid six months ago. Not because you were qualified. But because she recognized your last name. She kept you close to spy on you, hoping you would slip up and reveal where your mother hid the documents."

I felt sick. Every interaction, every threat from Vanessa... it wasn't just about Benjamin. It was about controlling me to get to my mother.

Suddenly, my cell phone buzzed in my apron pocket.

I pulled it out.

The caller ID made my blood turn to ice.

It was Vanessa.

I looked at Luca. He nodded once.

I answered and put it on speaker.

"Hello?" I whispered.

"Hello, Claire," Vanessa's voice purred through the speaker. "I hope you and Luca are enjoying your little cabin retreat."

"What do you want?"

"I want the ledgers your mother has been hiding," Vanessa said. "And you are going to get them for me."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do." Vanessa sighed dramatically. "Because if you don't bring them to the old warehouse by the docks in exactly one hour... I am going to tell my men to burn your mother's apartment to the ground."

A muffled, terrified sob echoed through the phone.

"Claire?" my mother cried.