At midnight, a barefoot three-year-old girl crossed a mafia boss’s mansion alone and knocked on the one door everyone had warned her never to approach. “Please,” she whispered when it opened. “My mommy won’t wake up.”

By noon, Clara had been moved from the medical suite into the master bedroom suite on the top floor—a room six times the size of her previous quarters, featuring a private terrace overlooking the cliffs.

Lily sat on the center of the massive king-sized bed, surrounded by a mountain of fresh plush toys that Marco had been instructed to buy from the finest toy store in the city. She was happily eating a bowl of warm oatmeal served on a silver tray.

Clara sat propped against the plush pillows, wearing a soft silk robe, watching her daughter with an overwhelming sense of relief.

Dante stood by the fireplace, talking quietly with Marco and two senior lieutenants from his organization.

“Callahan knows she’s alive now,” Marco was saying, pointing to a map of the northeast coast spread across the coffee table. “Mrs. Gable’s arrest hit the regional wire forty minutes ago. Callahan’s men in South Boston are mobilizing.”

“Let them mobilize,” Dante said, his tone flat and unbothered.

“Boss, Callahan has thirty heavy hitters coming down on three private charter flights,” one of the lieutenants warned. “They’re going to push for a meeting at the neutral territory down near the docks.”

Dante walked over to the bed, reaching down to gently pat Lily’s head. The little girl looked up, offered him a sticky smile, and handed him her stuffed rabbit. Dante took the worn toy without hesitation, tucking it casually into his suit jacket pocket.

“Set the meeting,” Dante ordered.

Clara’s eyes widened in alarm. “Dante, no! Callahan won't negotiate! He wants those ledger codes!”

Dante turned to look at Clara, his eyes cold and dark with absolute confidence.

“I am not going there to negotiate, Clara,” Dante said softly. “Callahan spent four years making you run through the dark while you were carrying my daughter. Today, I am going to end his family’s existence.”

He turned back to Marco. “Tell Callahan I will meet him personally at Pier 14 at four o'clock. Tell him to bring every man he has.”

“Understood, Boss,” Marco nodded, his eyes glowing with a dark excitement.