I watched the only photo of my unborn baby turn to ashes because the man I loved had just announced his engagement to another woman

The summer rain began to fall, heavy and cold, washing the blood and ash from the driveway of the farmhouse.

Gabriel Rossi scrambled to his feet, backing away toward the edge of the cherry orchard, his revolver raised with a shaking hand. "Stay back! Stay away from me, Dominic!"

Dominic didn't break his stride, stepping through the rain like an unstoppable force of nature. "You brought violence to my home, Gabriel. You threatened my daughter."

"Your daughter is the child of a monster!" Gabriel spat, his voice cracking with desperate rage. "You killed Victor! You destroyed forty years of our family’s work in Canada!"

"Victor made his choices," Dominic said, stopping ten feet from Gabriel. "And you made yours when you stepped onto this farm."

Gabriel fired two shots. Dominic moved with terrifying speed, sidestepping the first round while the second grazed his tactical vest. Before Gabriel could cock the hammer again, Dominic closed the distance, grabbing Gabriel’s wrist and twisting it upward.

The nickel-plated revolver discharged into the sky before clattering onto the wet gravel.

Dominic slammed Gabriel against the side of the burning SUV, his broad hand clamped around Gabriel’s throat. Gabriel clawed uselessly at Dominic’s forearm, his eyes bulging as he fought for air.

"You thought I was weak because I left the life," Dominic growled, his voice a dark, lethal whisper that cut through the sound of the rain. "You thought having a family made me soft. You were wrong. Having a family gives me something to destroy you for."

Gabriel choked out a desperate, bloody laugh. "It’s... it’s not over, Dominic... the offshore accounts... the other hit teams... they’ll never stop coming..."

"There are no other hit teams," a calm, clear voice echoed from the darkness.

Megan stepped into the light of the burning SUV, holding an encrypted satellite tablet. Her vest was muddy, her braid slightly pulled loose, but her posture was royal, absolute, and unshakeable.

Gabriel stared at her through his fading vision.

"Agent Ross’s federal task force just seized your offshore servers in Geneva ten minutes ago," Megan revealed, stepping beside Dominic. "Every asset you had was wiped out the moment you crossed the Michigan border. You didn't come here to kill us, Gabriel. You came here because you had nowhere else to run."

Gabriel’s eyes widened in total defeat. The grand revenge he had envisioned was nothing more than a desperate, suicidal trap he had walked into.

Dominic looked at Megan, seeing the absolute clarity in her eyes. He didn't need to kill Gabriel in cold blood. The threat was neutralized. The empire was gone.

Dominic shifted his grip, slamming Gabriel onto his stomach on the hood of the vehicle, pulling heavy flex-cuffs from his tactical belt and ratcheting them tight around Gabriel’s wrists.

A moment later, sirens wailed in the distance. The headlights of six federal vehicles crested the hill, cutting through the heavy rain. Agent Karen Ross stepped out of the lead vehicle, watching as her tactical team secured Gabriel Rossi.

Ross walked up to Dominic and Megan, taking in the scene—the defeated mercenaries, the secure perimeter, and the two standing together in the rain.

"It’s over," Ross said, her voice filled with deep respect. "Gabriel Rossi and every remaining asset of the Canadian syndicate are officially in federal custody. The files are sealed permanently. No one else is coming, Dominic."