PEOPLE DISAPPEARED FROM MY WORLD FOR ONLY TWO REASONS. THEY BETRAYED ME. OR THEY WERE AFRAID OF ME.

“If you touch her,” I said, my voice eerily calm, “I will dismantle you. Not your business. Not your crew. You. Piece by piece.”

Silas chuckled on the other end of the line. The sound made my blood turn to ice.

“Big words for a man who didn't even know what was sleeping under his own roof,” Silas mocked. “She’s quite a fighter, your little maid. She broke two of my men’s jaws before we got the zip ties on her. The boy, though… he’s quiet. Has your eyes, Marcus. Takes after his father.”

The confirmation hit me like a physical blow. My son.

“What do you want, Silas?”

“Twenty-three years ago, Elias stole something from me before he took your bullet,” Silas said, his voice hardening. “The deed to the shipyard. The offshore accounts. You never found them because Elias hid them. But his daughter knows where they are. She’s stubborn, though. Won't talk.”

“She doesn't have it,” I lied.

“Then you better find it, Marcus. Pier 49. Midnight. Bring the bearer bonds and the deed, or I send them both back to you in boxes.”

The line went dead.

I lowered the phone. My hands were shaking. I hadn't shaken in twenty years.

“Boss?” Brendan asked, watching me carefully.

“Get Dorothy on the phone,” I ordered, sprinting down the stairs. “Tell her to go to Tessa’s room. Now.”

Ten minutes later, we were speeding back toward the estate. I had Dorothy on speakerphone.

“Dorothy, listen to me,” I said, gripping the leather seat. “Tessa knew Silas was looking for Elias’s assets. She wouldn’t have run without leaving a contingency. Did she leave anything else behind? Anything out of the ordinary?”

“Just the lavender plant,” Dorothy said, her voice frantic. “The one she asked you to water.”

“Water,” I repeated. “Why would she ask me to water a plant on Monday morning if she was running away on a Tuesday night?”

“Wait,” Dorothy said. I heard the sound of dirt shifting, the scrape of a ceramic pot. A sharp gasp over the line.

“What is it?”

“Marcus… there’s a false bottom in the pot. Wrapped in plastic. It’s… it’s a ledger. And a safety deposit box key.”

“Keep it safe. We are five minutes out.”

I hung up. We had what Silas wanted. A trade. My empire for my family. It was the easiest decision I had ever made.

But as we pulled through the wrought-iron gates of my estate, my headlights swept across the front steps.

Sitting dead center on the marble stairs was a small, white cardboard box.

“Stop the car!” I yelled.

I threw the door open before the SUV fully stopped. I ran to the steps. The box was tied with a black ribbon.

I fell to my knees, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I didn't want to open it. I was terrified of what was inside.

With trembling fingers, I pulled the ribbon. I lifted the lid.

It wasn't a finger. It wasn't an ear.

It was a lavender rosary.

Tessa’s rosary. I recognized it. I had seen it slipping out of her apron pocket a dozen times over the last four years. I had never asked her about it.

The wooden beads were covered in fresh, sticky blood.

Tucked beneath the cross was a printed note.

Time is running out, Marcus. She bleeds fast.

I closed my eyes, letting the cold rain wash over my face. I didn't feel the chill. I only felt a fire igniting in my chest—a raging, all-consuming inferno.

I stood up, the bloody rosary clutched in my fist.

“Brendan,” I said.

“Yes, boss.”

“Call everyone. Empty the armory. We aren’t making a trade tonight.”