A HOTEL SERVER TOOK THREE BULLETS FOR A CRIME BOSS’S SON—THEN SHE SAW THE SILVER SERPENT ON HIS RIVAL’S LAPEL

The world turned into a nightmare of movement.

Enzo didn't hesitate for a single second. He pulled a heavy silver semi-automatic handgun from his shoulder holster, racked the slide with a clean, terrifying clack, and pointed at Marco.

"Wake the boy," Enzo ordered.

"Boss, your medical team said she can't be moved—" Marco started.

"She goes with us!" Enzo barked, scooping six-year-old Leo into his left arm while keeping his pistol raised toward the doorway. "If Moretti hit my estate, he has eyes on this hospital. St. Jude’s isn't safe. We move now!"

Before Sarah could protest, Marco pulled out a pocketknife, slashed the soft leather restraints holding her to the bed rails, and disconnected her IV lines with ruthless speed.

Pain tore through Sarah’s abdomen like a jagged blade as Marco lifted her into a transport wheelchair. She squeezed her eyes shut, fighting back a scream, her fingers gripping the armrests until her knuckles turned white.

"Hold on to the kid," Marco grunted, dropping Leo into her lap.

The boy wrapped his arms around Sarah’s neck, burring his face into her chest, trembling violently. "Sarah... are the bad men coming back?"

"No, sweetie," Sarah gasped through gritted teeth, wincing as Marco shoved the wheelchair through the ICU doors into the service hallway. "No... we’re going for a ride."

They bypassed the main elevators, taking an industrial freight lift down to the basement parking garage.

The garage was quiet—too quiet. The smell of gasoline and damp concrete hung heavy in the air. Waiting beside the concrete pillars were three armored black SUVs, their engines idling with a low, gut-rumbling hum.

"Get them in the center vehicle!" Enzo yelled, taking the lead, his eyes scanning the shadow-filled shadows of the subterranean parking structure.

Suddenly, a loud POP echoed off the concrete walls.

The front windshield of the lead SUV shattered into a spiderweb of frosted glass as a high-caliber sniper round tore through the driver's headrest.

"Ambush!" Marco yelled, shoving Sarah’s wheelchair behind a heavy concrete pillar as a hail of automatic gunfire rained down upon the garage from the upper ramp.

Bullets pinged off the concrete, sending shards of stone flying through the air like shrapnel.

Enzo didn't flinch. He ducked behind the rear bumper of the lead SUV, returned fire with three precise, calculated shots up the ramp, and yelled to his men. "Smoke! Cover the center line!"

Two of Enzo’s bodyguards popped smoke canisters, dropping them onto the grease-stained floor. Within five seconds, a dense, suffocating cloud of grey fog filled the garage, masking their position.

"Move! Move!" Marco grabbed Sarah by the back of her hospital gown, physically lifting her out of the wheelchair and throwing her onto the leather rear seat of the middle SUV. Enzo tossed Leo in beside her, slammed the heavy, bulletproof door shut, and dove into the front passenger seat.

"Drive!" Enzo bellowed to the driver.

The heavy SUV accelerated violently, its tires screaming against the slick concrete floor as it smashed through the wooden parking gate and burst into the rainy, neon-lit streets of Manhattan.

Behind them, the sound of automatic gunfire echoed down the street, followed by the dull explosion of a vehicle catching fire.

Sarah lay across the back seat, breathing heavily, holding Leo tightly against her chest with her one working arm. Blood was seeping through her hospital gown where her stitches had pulled apart during the chaos.

Enzo turned around from the front seat, his face illuminated by the flashing streetlights passing outside. He looked at her bleeding shoulder, then down at his son, who was safely tucked under her arm.

"Where... where is Toby?" Sarah choked out, tears of pain blurring her vision. "You said he was at the estate!"

Enzo took out his cell phone, his face carved from ice as he dialed a secure line. He put it on speaker.

"Report," Enzo said into the receiver.

A voice answered through heavy static, accompanied by the distinct sound of crackling fire and distant gunshots. "Boss! They tried to take the house! Twelve men... heavily armed! But your security detail held the lower level! We secured the boy in the panic room three minutes before the power was cut!"

Sarah let out a choked sob of relief, her forehead resting against Leo’s damp hair.

"Is the boy hurt?" Enzo demanded.

"No, sir! Toby is unharmed! He’s inside the panic room with two of our best men. The perimeter is secure now. The attackers retreated into the woods."

Enzo closed his phone with a sharp click. He looked back at Sarah, his expression unreadable.

"Your brother is alive, Miss Miller," Enzo said softly. "Moretti thought he could leverage your brother against me to keep you quiet about what you saw in the ballroom. He failed."