"Tease Me One More Time..." the Mafia Boss Said—She Had No Idea Who He Was

They have your mother.

The ink blurred beneath a drop of Emily’s tears.

“No,” she whimpered, clutching the bloody napkin to her chest. “She’s in Ohio. She texted me this morning.”

“Vincenzo’s men are efficient,” Dante said quietly, standing up and pulling her to her feet. “They took her, forced her to send the text to keep you compliant, and flew her to Greece to use as leverage against me. Vincenzo knows I protected her fifteen years ago. He’s using her to draw me out.”

“We have to save her,” Emily pleaded, grabbing the lapels of his expensive black suit. “Dante, please.”

Dante looked down at her. The vulnerability in her eyes pierced the armor he had worn for a decade. He raised a hand, gently wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb.

“I promise you,” Dante vowed, his voice a low, lethal rumble. “Vincenzo will not touch a single hair on her head.”

He guided her onto the idling luxury boat.

The captain, a burly Greek man with a thick beard, nodded respectfully to Dante.

“Athens, Boss?” the captain asked.

“Full speed, Kostas,” Dante commanded.

The boat tore away from the dock, the powerful engines roaring as they sliced through the black Aegean Sea. The wind was brutal, cold and tasting of salt.

Dante led Emily down into the plush, mahogany-lined cabin below deck. He poured her a glass of amber liquid from a crystal decanter and forced it into her hands.

“Drink,” he ordered.

She took a sip. The whiskey burned her throat, but it stopped her hands from shaking quite so violently.

“How do we find them in Athens?” Emily asked, sitting on the edge of the leather sofa.

“Vincenzo will contact us,” Dante said, pulling a sleek, encrypted satellite phone from his jacket. “He wants the watch. He believes the routing numbers are still inside.”

“But the watch is empty,” Emily said, pulling it from her pocket. “It just had the photo.”

Dante sat beside her, his thigh brushing against hers. The heat radiating from him was grounding in the terrifying chaos.

“Your father was a genius, Emily,” Dante explained, gently taking the watch from her hands. “He knew a piece of paper could be destroyed or found. He didn't hide the numbers inside the watch.”

Dante turned the antique silver timepiece over. He ran his thumb over the intricate, floral engravings on the back casing.

“Look closely at the vines,” Dante instructed, holding it up to the cabin light.

Emily leaned in, her shoulder pressing against his chest.

The engraved vines weren't just decorative. Hidden within the tiny, microscopic leaves were faint, etched numbers. It was a masterpiece of concealment. The watch itself was the ledger.

“Two hundred million dollars,” Dante murmured, staring at the engravings. “Enough to dismantle Vincenzo’s entire empire.”

Before Emily could process the magnitude of the object in her hands, the boat lurched violently, pitching them both forward.

Emily crashed into Dante’s chest. His strong arms instantly wrapped around her, shielding her from the impact as the boat slammed to a sudden, grinding halt in the middle of the sea.

“Kostas!” Dante yelled, disentangling himself and drawing his weapon in one fluid motion.

He pushed Emily behind the leather sofa. “Stay down.”

Dante crept up the cabin stairs, kicking the door open to the deck.

The wind howled, but the engines were dead silent.

“Kostas, what happened?” Dante demanded, stepping onto the deck.

A sharp, metallic click echoed in the dark.

“What happened, Boss, is that Vincenzo pays better,” a voice sneered from the shadows of the helm.

The boat captain stepped into the moonlight.

Kostas wasn't holding the steering wheel.