“GET ON YOUR KNEES AND APOLOGIZE TO MY FATHER, OR I'LL MAKE SURE

Answer one: Vanessa was the Cartel’s true mastermind, manipulating her "father" to weaken Luca from the inside.

Open two: How did Vanessa's men bypass the estate's heavy security so quickly? And how can we survive a siege with no weapons?

Panic clawed at my throat, but I forced it down.

I sprinted down the hall to Sofia’s room. "Sofia! Wake up!"

She bolted upright, instantly alert. "What's wrong?"

"The power is out, the phones are jammed, and there are vans outside. We have to hide."

Sofia didn't hesitate. She grabbed Mateo, wrapping him in a blanket. "The panic room. Luca showed me where it was twelve years ago. It’s behind the library fireplace."

We ran to my mother’s room, waking her gently but urgently. The four of us moved like shadows through the dark, sprawling mansion.

Downstairs, we could hear the heavy thud of boots on marble. Glass shattered in the conservatory.

"They’re inside," I whispered.

We reached the library. Sofia ran to the massive stone fireplace. She reached under the mantel, feeling for a hidden latch.

She pressed it. With a low grinding sound, the back wall of the fireplace slid open, revealing a dark, steel-reinforced corridor.

We hurried inside. Sofia hit the button to close the door just as flashlight beams swept into the library.

The heavy stone clicked shut, plunging us into total blackness until the emergency lights flickered on.

We sat on the floor of the small bunker. My mother was shaking, and I held her tightly. Mateo was crying silently into Sofia's shoulder.

"We’re safe here," Sofia whispered. "The door is titanium. It takes a specialized code to open from the outside."

We waited in terrified silence. Minutes felt like hours.

Suddenly, a loud, metallic clank echoed through the bunker.

Someone was typing on the keypad outside.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"No," Sofia gasped, backing away. "Only Luca knows the code."

Click.

The heavy titanium door slowly hissed open.

Standing in the doorway, bathed in the red emergency light, was Vanessa.

She looked immaculate, not a hair out of place from the opera house struggle. Flanking her were two heavily armed mercenaries.

"Hello, ladies," Vanessa smiled, holding a suppressed pistol. "Did you really think Luca never whispered his secrets to me in the dark?"

She pointed the gun directly at my chest.

"Hand over the emerald necklace, Emily. I know you found it."

I swallowed hard, backing up until I hit the cold steel wall. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Vanessa sighed. "Don't play games. That necklace has the Cartel's off-shore routing numbers engraved on the back of the gem. Claire stole it to blackmail me. I want it back."

"If you shoot us," I said, my voice shaking, "Luca will tear the city apart to find you."

Vanessa laughed. "Luca is currently surrounded at the docks by fifty of my men. He’s already dead."

Tears blurred my vision. Luca.

"Grab the boy," Vanessa ordered her men. "He’s leverage just in case."

One of the mercenaries stepped forward, reaching for Mateo.

But before his hand could touch the child, a deafening explosion rocked the mansion above us. The floor violently shook, throwing Vanessa off balance.

Smoke began pouring into the bunker.

Through the haze, a figure stepped into the doorway behind Vanessa’s men.

A tall man in a dark tailored suit, holding an assault rifle.