They called me a monster, but nothing prepared me for the moment I kicked open the door to my son's nursery, aimed a pistol at a trembling young maid with my dying infant pressed against her bare chest...

We couldn't stay at the cabin. The location was burned, and Vincenzo would undoubtedly send a larger force once he regrouped. I packed our supplies, loaded Harper and Luca into a secondary armored truck hidden in a shed out back, and drove us three states away to an underground bunker in Pennsylvania.

There, I met with Carlo and my three most loyal capos. They had heard the rumors that I was dead, that Vincenzo had taken control of the syndicate. When I walked into the dimly lit bunker, very much alive, with my healthy heir in Harper’s arms, the loyalty in the room was absolute.

"Vincenzo has claimed the head of the table, Boss," Carlo said, handing me a glass of bourbon. "He told the families you went insane from grief and shot yourself. He’s throwing a massive celebration tomorrow night at the main estate to solidify his leadership. Dr. Thorne and the Rossi family heads will be there."

"Perfect," I smiled, a dark, lethal expression that made even my hardened killers shiver. "They will all be in one room."

"We can launch a full frontal assault, Matteo," one of the capos suggested. "A hundred men. We burn the estate to the ground."

"No," I shook my head. "Vincenzo wants to be a king. I want him to know exactly who is taking his crown. I am going in alone. You will secure the perimeter to ensure no one escapes. But Vincenzo and the Doctor belong to me."

I turned to Harper. She was sitting on a cot, rocking Luca to sleep. She looked exhausted, but resilient. I walked over and knelt beside her, gently taking her free hand.

"I have to go back," I told her quietly. "I have to finish this. For Elena, for Luca, and for you."

"Are you coming back?" she asked, her green eyes searching mine.