THE FOOTSTEPS ON THE CONCRETE STAIRS

The red laser sight of the pistol burned a terrifying circle right between my eyes.

Lily screamed and clamped her hands over her ears. I shoved her hard behind my legs, shielding her small body with my own.

“Leo!” Roman roared. His voice was no longer that of a calm businessman. It was the terrifying, guttural roar of the ruthless Castellano boss the city feared.

“She’s lying!” Leo shouted, his hand trembling as he kept the gun trained on me. “Blair wouldn't do that! This little bitch is covering for the thief! She’s probably in on it!”

My breath hitched. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the crack of the gunshot. I thought of my father, sitting in his wheelchair at the care facility, staring out the window, waiting for a daughter who would never come to visit him again.

But the gunshot never came.

Instead, a shadow moved faster than my eyes could track.

Roman didn't draw a weapon. He didn't yell for security.

He stepped directly in front of me, placing his own broad chest perfectly in the path of the laser sight.

The red dot settled over Roman’s heart.

“You want to shoot the girl who takes care of my daughter?” Roman asked, his voice deadly quiet. “You go through me, little brother.”

Leo swallowed hard. The gun shook violently in his grip. “Roman... move. You’re violating council rules. If you protect a thief—”

“I don’t give a damn about the council,” Roman interrupted, his voice dropping to a terrifying whisper. “My housekeeper just told me my fiancée planted family jewelry on my wife. And you just pointed a loaded weapon at the woman shielding my eight-year-old child.”

Roman took one slow, deliberate step forward.

“So I’m only going to say this once, Leo,” Roman said. “Drop the gun. Or I will bury you under this concrete.”

For three agonizing seconds, nobody breathed. The only sound was the heavy rain pounding against the steel garage doors.

Leo’s jaw tightened. Slowly, he lowered the weapon.

Roman immediately turned his back on his brother—a supreme insult in their world—and walked straight toward Sara.

She shrank back against the black SUV, pulling the faded green coat tighter around her shivering body. She looked utterly terrified of the man she had once married.

“Sara,” Roman said softly, reaching out to touch her bruised cheek.

Sara flinched violently, slapping his hand away.

“Don't touch me!” she sobbed, her chest heaving. “Don't act like you care! You got what you wanted! You replaced me!”

Roman stood frozen, his hand suspended in the air. “Sara, I never wanted you to leave. Six months ago, I woke up and your closet was empty. Blair said you couldn't handle the pressure of the syndicate anymore. She said you walked away.”

Sara let out a broken, hysterical laugh. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the rainwater.

“Walked away?” she choked out. She reached into the deep pocket of her coat. Her hands shook as she pulled out a crumpled, water-stained piece of paper. She shoved it hard into Roman’s chest. “You coward. You couldn't even look me in the eye when you banished me from my own child’s life!”

Roman unfolded the wet paper.

I peeked around his shoulder. It was a formal typed letter on Castellano syndicate stationary. It declared that Sara was permanently exiled from the family, forbidden from ever contacting Lily again under penalty of death.

And at the bottom, signed in thick black ink, was Roman’s signature.

“I didn't sign this,” Roman whispered, his face draining of color.

“Stop lying!” Sara screamed, sliding down the side of the car until she hit the cold floor, burying her face in her knees. “You sent Leo to my room that night! You told him to drag me out into the street like garbage!”

Roman looked at his brother.

Leo had backed away toward the stairwell, his face pale, realizing the truth was spilling out.

“Leo,” Roman said, his voice void of all emotion. “Did you throw my wife out of my house?”

Leo didn't answer. He turned to run up the concrete stairs.

But as he placed his foot on the first step, the heavy steel door at the top of the stairwell slammed shut with a deafening boom.

The heavy deadbolt clicked into place from the outside.

We were locked in.

And then, Blair’s voice echoed through the basement intercom, sickly sweet and dripping with venom.