THE LOCKED ROOM AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS

The steel-reinforced panic room suddenly felt smaller than a coffin.

Rebecca’s screams bounced off the metal walls, high and terrified.

"Oh, God," Caroline whispered, shrinking back against the security monitors. "She's having it now?"

I dropped to my knees beside my sister, panic threatening to paralyze me. "Becca, look at me. Breathe. You have to breathe."

"I can't!" she shrieked, arching her back in agony. The sedatives Valentina had pumped into her system were fighting against the violent, natural adrenaline of childbirth. Her body was tearing itself apart.

Luca stood by the heavy vault door, his gun lowered. For the first time, the mafia boss looked entirely out of his depth.

"Emily," Luca said tightly. "I have medical supplies in the cabinet. Towels. Sterile water. What do you need?"

"Everything," I stammered, my hands shaking as I tried to support Rebecca’s head. "I don't know how to do this! I'm just a maid!"

"You're her sister," a voice said firmly.

I looked up.

Valentina Moretti was on her knees opposite me.

The woman who had publicly humiliated me, who had poured champagne on my head, was stripping off the skirt of her custom red designer gown. She tore the expensive silk into long, wide strips with her bare hands.

"Take her shoulders, Emily," Valentina ordered, her voice completely steady. "I'll take the delivery."

I stared at her in shock.

"Do it!" Valentina barked, arranging the silk strips under Rebecca to catch the fluids. "I delivered Caroline in the back of a car while hiding from a rival gang twenty-nine years ago. I know what I'm doing."

I scrambled behind Rebecca, pulling her back against my chest, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.

Outside the heavy steel door, the terrifying sound of a high-powered thermal drill began to whine. Sparks flew from the edges of the doorframe. Daniel’s men were cutting through.

"They're breaching," Luca warned, gripping his weapon.

"Let them cut," Valentina said without looking up. "Rebecca, listen to me. You are going to push on the next contraction."

"I'm scared," Rebecca sobbed, her head lolling against my collarbone. "Daniel is going to take my baby."

Valentina stopped. She looked at the terrified woman she had kept locked in a guest room.

Slowly, Valentina reached up and unclasped the heavy gold rosary from her neck. It was a beautiful, ancient family heirloom.

She pressed the gold cross into Rebecca’s sweaty palm and wrapped her fingers tightly around it.

"Squeeze this," Valentina said softly, her eyes filled with genuine remorse. "My brother is standing at that door. I promise you, by the Holy Mother, nobody is touching your child tonight. Now, push!"

Rebecca screamed, gripping the gold cross so hard her knuckles turned white.

The heat in the room was rising rapidly. The thermal drill was melting the steel hinges of the vault. Smoke began to curl into the room, stinging our eyes.

"The hinges are failing!" Caroline yelled, coughing over the smoke.

"One more, Rebecca!" Valentina shouted, her hands covered in blood and amniotic fluid. "The head is out! Give me one more!"

Rebecca let out a final, guttural cry, bearing down with everything she had left.

The sound of the drill suddenly stopped.

A heavy, terrifying silence fell over the room.

And then, a sharp, beautiful cry pierced the smoke.

"It's a boy," Valentina laughed, tears cutting through the soot on her face. She quickly cleared the baby's airway and wrapped him tightly in a clean towel Luca had tossed her.

Rebecca collapsed against me, weeping with pure exhaustion and joy.

Before Valentina could hand the child to his mother, a massive explosion rocked the library outside.

The heavy steel vault door groaned, then blew violently inward, crashing onto the concrete floor.

Thick, black smoke poured into the sanctuary.

Through the haze, Daniel stepped into the doorway. He held a suppressed handgun, stepping over the ruined steel door.

He looked at Valentina holding the crying newborn.

Daniel smiled.