The mafia boss’s fiancée ordered me to throw away his father’s old Army jacket, but when Luca saw what fell from the pocket, he stopped the entire engagement dinner…

The clock was ticking. If Marco Valenti transmitted Isabella Moretti's compiled files to the Department of Justice, dozens of legitimate companies tied to the Moretti family would be frozen, bank accounts seized, and Luca would face federal indictments for crimes he hadn't even committed.

Worse, the revelation that Vito Moretti had murdered his own wife would tear the syndicate apart from within. Loyalty in the underworld was bound by a sacred code of family; a Don who butchered his own wife was an abomination even to the hardest killers.

"We can't storm that freighter with coast guard cutters," Dominic said, leaning over a nautical chart laid out in the briefing room. "The moment we breach the five-mile radar perimeter, Valenti hits 'send' on that satellite console. We need a blind approach."

"There is one," my father said, walking into the room carrying a rolled-up tube of architectural schematics. "In 1978, the city built an underwater intake crib for the water purification plant three miles out in Lake Michigan. It sits less than two hundred yards from where *The Santa Maria* is currently anchored."

Luca leaned over the table, studying the faded blueprint Arthur unrolled. "Is the intake tunnel still accessible?"

"From the shore station at Navy Pier," Arthur nodded. "It’s a maintenance pipeline. Two men could navigate it using dry-suits and underwater propulsion sleds, surface inside the intake crib, and swim the remaining distance to the ship below radar detection."

"Two men," Luca repeated. He looked at Dominic. "You and me."

"No," I stepped forward immediately, my voice unwavering.

Luca looked up, his jaw tightening. "Clara, this isn't an argument. You are staying here under heavy guard."

"You don't know the valve controls for the intake crib, Luca," I said, stepping right up to his chest, refusing to back down. "That crib was built with an internal pressure lock. If you open the wrong hatch from underwater, the lake will suck you into the intake turbines and turn you into chum before you even see the freighter."

"I am not letting you dive into freezing water into an enemy stronghold!" Luca snapped, his control breaking, genuine terror for my safety flashing in his dark eyes. "I just married you, Clara! I spent years living in the cold until you walked into my house. I will not lose you!"

"You won't lose me," I said, reaching up to cup his face in my hands, holding his fierce, furious gaze. "Because we are in this together. My father designed that station. He taught me every valve and ballast lock when I was sixteen. I guide you through the crib hatch, Dominic covers the engine room, and you deal with Valenti. We protect our family together, or we lose it all."

Luca stared down at me, his chest heaving, wrestling with the warring instincts of a possessive mafia boss and a husband who recognized the fierce strength in his wife's eyes.

Finally, he placed his large, warm hand over mine on his cheek.

"If you die out there, Clara," Luca whispered, his voice trembling with raw intensity, "I’ll burn the entire world to ash behind you."