"THE STRUGGLING WAITRESS THOUGHT SHE WAS A GHOST UNTIL SHE THREW HERSELF OVER A CRIME LORD’S LITTLE BOY—AND WHEN THE CRYSTAL SHREDDED HER BACK, ENZO VALENTI DECIDED HER LIFE WAS HIS TO PROTECT"

Before Enzo could leave the estate, Dante burst into the study holding a ringing burner phone. "It's Russo," Dante said grimly, handing the phone to Enzo. Enzo pressed the phone to his ear, his jaw locking tight. "You missed, Victor," Enzo growled into the receiver. "And now you are a dead man." I watched Enzo's expression shift from fury to absolute dread as he listened to the voice on the other end. Enzo hung up the phone and threw it violently against the stone fireplace, shattering it into pieces. "He didn't call to gloat," Enzo said, his breathing ragged. "He called to tell me he has my brother." I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth. Lorenzo, Enzo's younger brother, was a civilian who ran a winery in Tuscany. He had flown in for the gala and was supposed to be at a hotel downtown. "He wants a trade," Enzo explained, pacing the room like a caged animal. "Me for Lorenzo. At the abandoned shipyard on the east side." "It's a trap, boss," Marco warned instantly. "They will kill you both the second you show up." "I know it's a trap!" Enzo roared, sweeping everything off his desk with one violent motion. "But I cannot let my brother die!" I stared at the scattered papers on the floor, my mind racing. I used to work double shifts at a diner near that exact shipyard. "Enzo," I said quietly, stepping over the mess. "There are utility tunnels under those docks." The men stopped and stared at me. "The dockworkers used to come into the diner," I explained rapidly. "They talked about the old prohibition tunnels that run directly under Warehouse 4." Enzo's eyes widened, a dangerous, brilliant light sparking in the darkness. "If you go through the front gate, Russo will execute you," I told him. "But if Marco takes a team through the tunnels, you can hit them from beneath." Enzo walked over to me, gripping my face in both his hands and kissing me hard. "You are a terrifyingly brilliant woman, Clara Valenti," he whispered.