THE MAFIA BOSS CAUGHT THE PLUS-SIZE GARDENER WHISPERING TO HIS PARALYZED SON—THEN MEN CAME TO SILENCE HER, AND HE CLAIMED HER BEFORE ALL OF NEW YORK

Lily didn't panic. She didn't run to Alessandro right away, knowing his immediate reaction would be to execute Rosa. Instead, she took Rosa straight to Alessandro’s private office, presenting both the evidence and the terrified maid.

When Alessandro heard the truth, his rage was quiet, absolute, and terrifying.

"Mateo," Alessandro commanded, pulling a heavy tactical shotgun from the wall safe behind his desk. "Assemble forty men. We take the foundry tonight. And we end the Moretti line once and for all."

"Alessandro, wait!" Lily urged, stepping in front of his desk. "Carmine expects you to come with heavy artillery! If he sees your strike team approaching, he will use Rosa's daughter as a shield!"

Alessandro looked at her, his jaw tightly clenched. "I will not let that bastard hurt a child, Lily. But I will not let him threaten my family either."

"Let me use the delivery van," Lily proposed fiercely. "Rosa is supposed to report back to him at midnight to confirm the tea was given. I will go in the van as Rosa's driver. Once I secure the girl inside the vehicle, your team hits the building."

Alessandro gripped her shoulders, his eyes wild with worry. "No! It's too dangerous! I won't risk your life!"

"You trusted me with your son's life, Alessandro," Lily said, placing her warm hand over his beating heart. "Trust me with this."

Alessandro stared into her dark, unyielding eyes, seeing the incredible strength that had made him fall in love with her. He pulled her into a fierce, breathless kiss, his lips pressing hard against hers.

"If anything happens to you," he whispered raggedly against her mouth, "I will burn this entire city to the ground."

An hour later, under a torrential downpour, a rusted delivery van pulled into the abandoned iron foundry near Dock 14.

Lily sat in the driver's seat, wearing a dark raincoat, her heart pounding in her chest. Beside her sat Rosa, pale and shivering.

Two armed Moretti guards approached the van, shining heavy flashlights into the cabin.

"Is the work done?" one guard barked.

"Yes," Rosa quavered. "The boy took the drink. Where is my daughter?"

"In the back office," the guard sneered, opening the side sliding door. "Get inside."

Lily stepped out of the van, holding a heavy iron wrench hidden beneath her long coat. She walked closely behind Rosa into the dark, damp foundry.

Inside the central office, a eight-year-old girl was tied to a wooden chair, crying quietly. Standing beside her was Carmine Moretti, wearing a long leather coat, holding a glass of scotch.

"Ah, Rosa," Carmine chuckled darkly. "Did the little gardener's tea kill the Romano heir yet?"

"No," a deep, clear voice echoed from the doorway. "But it's about to kill your career."

Lily stepped into the light, pulling the small girl free with her left hand while swinging the heavy iron wrench with her right, striking the nearest guard squarely across the jaw! The man collapsed like a sack of bricks!

"GET HER!" Carmine screamed in terror.

BOOM!

The corrugated steel walls of the foundry exploded inward as two armored tactical trucks smashed through the perimeter!

Alessandro Romano burst through the dust and smoke like an angry god of war, firing his shotgun with lethal precision. Mateo and thirty armed guards poured into the building, overwhelming Carmine's men within sixty seconds.

Carmine tried to run toward a rear fire escape, but Alessandro caught him by the collar, slamming his elderly, twisted body hard against a steel support beam.

"Alessandro! Please!" Carmine choked out, looking at the shotgun pressed beneath his chin. "We're syndicate brothers!"

"You poisoned my son," Alessandro said, his voice flat, emotionless, and cold as death. "You threatened my wife."