TAKE OFF THAT UNIFORM AND GIVE IT TO HER! SHE'S THE ONE WHO DESERVES YOUR JOB!” THE MAFIA BOSS'S FIANCÉE HUMILIATED HIS 25-YEAR-OLD MAID IN FRONT OF FORTY DINNER GUESTS

"How long?" I screamed, the protocol of a housemaid entirely forgotten.

Luca scrambled off the bed, clutching his bleeding side. "Three minutes. Maybe less. She rigged it under the desk before I tied her to the chair. I found the tripwire just before I left to fight the Commission."

"You left her with a bomb?" Natalie yelled.

"I didn't have time to disarm it!" Luca roared back, panic finally breaking through his stoic exterior. He lunged toward Caroline, grabbing her wrist and examining the silver shackle. There were no seams, no hinges, just a solid block of metal with a tiny, blinking red light and a transparent tube pressing into her vein.

"If that bomb goes off, Vanessa’s heart stops. The bracelet triggers instantly," Luca said, his hands shaking as he touched the metal. "We can't cut it off. Any tampering will trigger the injection."

"Then we have to stop the bomb!" I said, already moving toward the door.

"Emily, no!" Natalie cried, but I was already in the hallway.

I didn't think about the danger. I thought about Leo hiding in the carriage house, waiting for the mother he hadn't seen in six years. I thought about the sheer cruelty of Vanessa winning after all this.

I bolted down the stairs, slipping on the slick marble, my apron stained with the New York mobster’s blood from the hallway. I reached the first floor. The dining room doors were open, revealing absolute carnage, but I didn't look. I sprinted toward the west wing.

Luca's office door was still cracked open.

I burst inside.

Vanessa was still strapped to the leather chair, but she wasn't screaming anymore. She was smiling. A serene, twisted smile that made my stomach turn.

Beneath the heavy oak desk, a crude bundle of red dynamite was strapped to a timer.

00:45.

Forty-five seconds.

"You're too late, little maid," Vanessa laughed, throwing her head back. "They're both going to die. Caroline will join me in hell, and Luca will be broken forever. He will never love anyone else."

I ignored her, dropping to my knees and crawling under the desk.

I know nothing about bombs. I was a housemaid who sent money home to her sick mother. But as I stared at the tangle of red, blue, and yellow wires, a bizarre, desperate calm washed over me.

00:30.

"Which wire?" I demanded, my hands hovering over the mess.

Vanessa giggled. "Cut the wrong one, we blow up early. Let the timer run out, we blow up. Either way, I win."

I looked closer at the bundle. Tucked behind the digital timer was something strange. A small, crumpled photograph.

I pulled it out.

It was a picture of Luca and Vanessa, taken years ago when she first arrived in Chicago. But Vanessa had taken a black marker and violently crossed out Luca’s face. On the back, written in her frantic scrawl, was a single sentence:

The red wire bleeds like my heart.

00:15.

"The red wire," I whispered.

"Don't do it!" Vanessa shrieked, suddenly realizing I had found her morbid clue.

I didn't hesitate. I grabbed the heavy gold letter opener from Luca's desk, wedged the sharp edge under the thick red wire, and slammed my palm down on the hilt.

The wire snapped.

The timer froze at 00:03.

The silence in the room was absolute.

I collapsed backward onto the rug, gasping for air, my whole body shaking violently.

"No!" Vanessa screamed, thrashing so hard the heavy leather chair tipped over, sending her crashing to the floor. "No! I was supposed to win! I am the only one who deserves him!"

Before I could move, heavy footsteps rushed into the office.

It was Luca, pressing a blood-soaked towel to his side, with Marcus right behind him. Luca looked at the frozen timer, then down at me on the floor.

"You did it," Luca breathed, leaning against the doorframe, his dark eyes filled with absolute awe. "Emily... you saved her."

Marcus stepped forward, hauling the chair with Vanessa strapped to it back upright. "What do we do with her, Boss?"

Luca looked at his sister. The woman who had murdered their parents, tortured his wife, and nearly destroyed his life. All the rage was gone from his face, replaced by a cold, permanent apathy.

"Take her to the authorities," Luca said softly. "Give them the Swiss psychiatric files and the bomb. Let her rot in a maximum-security asylum for the rest of her miserable life."

"No!" Vanessa shrieked as Marcus wheeled her out of the room. "Luca! You can't leave me! I love you! I AM YOURS!"

Her screams echoed down the hallway until the heavy front doors slammed shut.

Luca slowly walked over to me and offered his hand. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. He didn't say a word. He just pulled me into a tight, fierce hug.

"Thank you," he whispered into my hair. "You gave me my family back."

"We need to get the bracelet off Caroline," I said, pulling back, my adrenaline still surging.

"Marcus called a specialist. They'll be here in ten minutes to remove it safely," Luca said, his face softening with immense relief. "Come on. Let's go tell her."

We walked back up the stairs together. When we reached the master suite, Natalie had helped Caroline change into a soft, clean robe. The terror was gone from Caroline's eyes, replaced by a cautious, fragile hope.

"The bomb is disarmed," Luca said, walking over and kneeling beside her. "Vanessa is gone. She can never hurt you again."

Caroline closed her eyes, tears of pure relief falling down her cheeks.

"I want to see him," Caroline whispered, grabbing Luca's hand. "Please, Luca. I want to see my baby."

Luca smiled, a genuine, beautiful smile I had never seen on him before. He looked at me.

"Emily. Would you do the honors?"

I beamed. "I'll be right back."

I ran downstairs, ignoring the mess, and headed straight for the kitchen's hidden tunnel. I opened the door and hurried down the dark passage to the carriage house.

When I opened the heavy wooden door, Leo was sitting on the floor, clinging to Maria. He looked up, his dark eyes wide with fear.

"Leo," I said gently, crouching down to his level.

"Are the bad men gone?" he asked, his lip quivering.

"They're gone," I promised. "And your mommy is waiting for you upstairs."

Leo dropped his bear. He didn't wait for me. He bolted past me, his little bare feet slapping against the concrete tunnel, running faster than I thought possible.

I followed him back up to the house, up the grand staircase, and to the door of the master suite.

Leo stopped in the doorway.

Caroline was sitting on the edge of the bed. When she saw him, a sob tore from her throat that sounded like a physical piece of her soul breaking free.

"My beautiful boy," she cried, holding out her arms.

Leo ran to her. He crashed into her chest, burying his face in her neck. Caroline wrapped her arms around him, rocking him back and forth, kissing the top of his head over and over again.

Luca stood behind them, wrapping his large arms around both his wife and his son, resting his chin on Caroline's head, weeping silently.

Natalie stood next to me by the door, holding my hand, both of us crying.

It was perfect. The nightmare was finally over.

Or so I thought.

Because as I stood there watching the family reunite, I saw something that made my blood run entirely cold.

When Leo ran into the room, he had dropped something on the floor. A piece of paper that had been tucked into his pajama pocket.

I bent down and picked it up.

It was a child's drawing. Crayon on wrinkled paper.

It was a drawing of a man, a woman, and a little boy.

But it wasn't Luca, Caroline, and Leo.