Six days after giving birth to our daughter, my husband walked out of our house to celebrate his mistress's birthday. He promised he'd be home before nine, but hours later, I was still alone with our newborn when a voicemail from an unknown number appeared on my phone. By the time Roman Moretti finally came home, the nursery was empty—and the most feared mafia boss in Milwaukee was about to discover what it felt like to lose everything.

Roman nearly dropped his phone.

"First wife?" I asked.

He looked toward the road.

"I was married before I met you."

I stared at him.

"You told me you'd never been married."

"I told you I had never loved anyone before you."

"That's not the same thing."

"No," he admitted. "It isn't."

He explained that when he was twenty-four, his father arranged a marriage between Roman and the daughter of a rival family. Her name was Isabella. The marriage lasted less than a year before she disappeared during a violent dispute between the two organizations.

Roman had been told she was dead.

He had never seen a body.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because my father used the marriage to control me. I spent years trying to find out what happened to her, and every lead ended with someone threatening the people I loved."

I looked at Sophie.

"And you thought keeping secrets would protect us."

"Yes."

"It didn't."

He lowered his head.

"No."

Daniel's message contained coordinates for a closed hospital outside the city. We reached it just before sunrise, finding two abandoned vehicles and a trail of blood leading to a side entrance.

Roman went in first.

I followed.

Inside, we found Daniel sitting on the floor beside a medical cart, pressing a towel against a cut on his forehead. Nicholas slept in a nearby bassinet.

My brother looked up.

"You're late."

I hugged him so tightly he groaned.

Then I stepped back and slapped his shoulder.

"Never scare me like that again."

He managed a weak smile.

"I'll try."

Roman checked Nicholas, then turned toward Daniel.

"Why did you tell Aaron about Isabella?"

"Because she called me."

Roman went still.

Daniel handed him a phone.

A video showed a woman sitting inside a small apartment. She had dark hair, tired eyes, and a thin scar across her cheek.

Roman whispered her name.

"Isabella."

The woman looked directly into the camera.

"Roman, if you're watching this, your father has finally made his move. I have the original succession contract, the real DNA report, and evidence that Antonio arranged my disappearance."

She paused.

"But I need you to understand something. Laya isn't the mastermind."

Roman leaned closer to the screen.

"Who is?"

Isabella swallowed.

"The woman who delivered Sophie."

I felt the room tilt.

"The nurse?"

Isabella shook her head.

"No. The woman who delivered Sophie wasn't a nurse. She was a federal investigator working undercover inside the Moretti organization."

She looked frightened.

"And she didn't come to protect your daughter."