1.The Maid’s Little Girl Said Her Mommy Had Been Missing for Three Days, and the Mafia Boss Found a Betrayal Buried Beneath His Own Home

Deep in the subterranean vault, Nathan Cross sat in pitch darkness. The cold stone floor was soaked in damp moisture, and the air was thick with the smell of rust and old iron.

The heavy steel door suddenly groaned open, blinding Nathan with a sudden flood of harsh fluorescent light.

Dominic walked in. He wasn't wearing his suit jacket anymore. His white dress shirt was rolled up, stained with gunsmoke and blood. In his right hand, he held a heavy iron crowbar.

Nathan squinted, coughing dryly. "Dom... you survived the hit. I shouldn't be surprised."

Dominic didn't say a word. He stepped forward and swung the crowbar with terrifying force, smashing it into the wooden chair beside Nathan, shattering it into splinters inches from Nathan’s head.

Nathan flinched, pulling back against the stone wall. "Dom! Wait!"

"They took them," Dominic said, his voice flat, emotionless, and dead. "Victor Moretti took Mia and Harper."

Nathan’s eyes widened slightly. "What? Victor wouldn't... he promised me he only wanted you."

"You built your life on lies, Nathan. Did you really think a monster like Victor Moretti would keep his word to a traitor?" Dominic grabbed Nathan by his collar, dragging him effortlessly off the floor until their eyes were level. "Where did Victor take them? Tell me, or I will hand you over to Marcus, and he will spend the next three days making sure you feel every second of what Mia felt in that cellar."

Nathan panicked. He had known Dominic for seventeen years. He knew Dominic was a loyal, fair leader—until someone touched the people under his protection.

"The docks!" Nathan gasped, choking against his collar. "Port Newark! Pier 42! Victor has an underground container compound there! It's where he keeps his black-market shipments before they're cleared through customs! He... he uses it as a torturing facility!"

"Is that where Claire was supposed to meet him?"

"Yes! She was going to get her money at Pier 42 tonight!" Nathan stammered, tears of terror leaking from his eyes. "Dom, I swear to God, I didn't know he was going to target the kid! I swear!"

Dominic let go. Nathan crumpled to the floor like a sack of trash.

Dominic turned to Daniel, who was standing in the doorway with six armed men. "Leave him here. Lock the door. If we don't return by midnight, flood the vault."

"Dominic! No! Please!" Nathan screamed, scrambling toward the door, but the heavy steel panel slammed shut, plunging him back into absolute, inescapable darkness.

Dominic walked out into the courtyard where three armored SUVs were idling. Marcus was loading heavy assault rifles, thermal scopes, and breaching charges into the trunks.

"Boss," Marcus said, handing Dominic a tactical vest. "We have thirty men ready. The local police chief called—he heard the gunfire at the estate. I told him it was a gas explosion and sent him a hundred thousand dollars to keep his officers away for twelve hours."

"Good," Dominic said, strapping the vest across his chest. "Call our contacts in New Jersey. I want Pier 42 surrounded. No one enters, no one leaves."

As Dominic prepared to step into the lead SUV, a shadow moved near the side entrance of the estate.

Claire Bennett stood there, her clothes torn, her face stained with soil and tears. She had managed to escape through a window in the guest house during the shootout.

"Dominic..." she sobbed, holding her bruised wrist. "Please... don't leave me here. The Morettis... they'll kill me if they find out the attack failed!"

Dominic stopped. He walked slowly toward the woman he was supposed to marry in six weeks.

He looked at her expensive silk dress, her ruined makeup, her shaking hands. He felt nothing. No anger, no sadness, no regret. Only disgust.

"You traded a child's life for a Swiss bank account, Claire," Dominic said softly.

"I was scared!" she cried, reaching for his coat. "Nathan forced me! He threatened to kill me if I didn't help him!"

"You put the lock on the door," Dominic reminded her quietly. "Mia asked you for mercy, and you turned the key."

Dominic looked at Marcus. "Hand her over to the federal prosecutors. Give them the Apex Horizon ledgers Mia found. Let her spend the rest of her youth in a federal penitentiary."

"Dominic! No! You can't do this to me!" Claire shrieked as two guards grabbed her arms, dragging her toward a waiting security vehicle. "I loved you!"