Serena’s laughter was a sharp, grating sound that cut through the cavernous foyer, mocking the soft, agonized gasps escaping from Ethan.

Just as peace seemed to settle over their lives, the bloody reality of the underworld struck back.

Julian Montigue, Serena’s volatile younger brother, refused to accept his family’s humiliating exile. While his father had fled to Europe, Julian had stayed behind in secret, gathering a rogue faction of disgraced syndicate hitmen who wanted to destroy Victor Blackwood.

It was a Tuesday evening.

Victor was held up downtown, finalizing the takeover of the Montigue shipping docks, leaving Dante and six heavy guards at the estate perimeter.

Inside the nursery, Lily was humming a quiet lullaby, rocking Ethan to sleep in her arms.

Suddenly, the lights flickered and died.

The entire mansion plunged into pitch-black darkness.

A second later, the loud, deafening roar of automatic gunfire echoed from the front courtyard, followed by the shattering of heavy glass downstairs.

Lily’s blood ran cold.

Attack.

"Mikhail!" Lily shouted, clutching Ethan tightly against her chest as she scrambled out of the rocking chair.

The nursery door burst open. Mikhail stepped inside, a heavy machine pistol in his hand, his arm bleeding from a bullet graze.

"Miss Lily! Secure room, now!" Mikhail yelled over the sound of shouting and gunfire echoing up the grand staircase. "Rogue Montigue hitmen! They breached the east gate!"

Lily didn't waste a second. She ran through the hidden door behind the mahogany wardrobe into the master suite’s safe room—a reinforced steel bunker equipped with independent air filtration and security monitors.

Mikhail slammed the heavy steel door shut from the inside, locking the electronic bolts just as heavy boots thundered down the hallway outside.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Heavy bullets slammed against the reinforced steel door, but the six-inch ballistic plating didn't even dent.

On the security monitors inside the dark safe room, Lily could see the main foyer on live camera feeds.

A dozen men in tactical gear were storming the grand entrance, firing wildly at Victor’s house security. At the center of the group was Julian Montigue, holding a combat shotgun, his face twisted in psychotic rage.

"BLACKWOOD!" Julian’s voice screamed through the internal intercom system. "Where is your brat?! Where is the nanny?! I'm going to send them back to you in pieces, Victor!"

Lily held Ethan tight, her body shaking violently, her heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Ethan began to cry, frightened by the noise.

"Shh... baby, shh," Lily whispered, burying her face in his soft hair, rocking him in the dark corner of the bunker. "Lily’s here... I'm here..."

Suddenly, the security monitors flashed.

A sleek black armored SUV rammed directly through the grand glass front doors of the mansion, crashing into the center of the marble foyer in a shower of flying stone and iron.