The private jet touched down at Long Island MacArthur Airport under a sky that had turned from pewter to the bruised purple of an oncoming snowstorm.

Night fell over Long Island accompanied by a violent spring thunderstorm. Lightning illuminated the darkened sky as heavy rain battered the mansion.

At two in the morning, the entire estate lost power. The emergency lights flickered red for a single second before dying completely. The backup generators had been sabotaged from the outside.

Adrien opened his eyes instantly. Reaching under his pillow for his pistol, he moved swiftly into the corridor. Bruno was already standing waiting, his ears pinned back, a low growl rumbling in his chest.

"Elena! Mia!" Adrien whispered as he hurried toward their quarters.

The door burst open. Elena was holding Mia tightly, her eyes wide with fear. Mia still clutched her ragged rabbit, Bunny, against her chest, though she wasn't crying.

"Adrien, what's happening?" Elena asked, her voice trembling.

"Stay inside," Adrien ordered softly. "No matter what you hear, do not leave this room."

Before Adrien could step back into the hall, heavy footsteps echoed down the grand corridor. Over a dozen armed men dressed in tactical gear, equipped with suppressed rifles, poured into the mansion. Leading them was Leo Moretti, an automatic weapon resting in his grip.

"Long time no see, cousin," Leo sneered, casting a blinding tactical flashlight onto Adrien's face. "You've built quite the happy home here, haven't you? Quite a retirement for the Devil of New York."

Adrien raised his weapon, stepping directly in front of Elena and Mia's doorway. Beside him, Bruno bristled, teeth bared.

"Leo," Adrien said, his voice dropping below freezing. "Take one more step, and I will put a bullet through your skull."

"Try it," Leo smirked. At his signal, two mercenaries stepped forward, dragging a woman whose hands were bound tightly behind her back.

It was Vivien. Her clothes were disheveled, her face gaunt from her time in federal custody. Leo had used his money and remaining influence to break her out hours earlier.

"You know, Adrien?" Vivien rasped, her eyes burning with unhinged madness. "That girl—that maid's daughter—ruined my life! She talked! Tonight, I am going to end her myself!"

Leo signaled his gunman to shove Vivien aside and leveled his rifle directly at Adrien. "Hand over the master access codes to the family’s Swiss accounts, Adrien. Or I will make you watch as I eliminate the maid and her child right in front of you."

Inside the room, Mia peeked through a crack in the door. She saw the cruel woman who had tried to take Bruno away holding a weapon. Mia felt no fear for herself; she saw only Adrien standing alone against danger.

Mia gently slipped her hand out of Elena's grip.

"Mia, no!" Elena whispered in panic, but the quick-thinking child had already scrambled through a small service access panel beneath the vanity table—a narrow duct that led straight behind the corridor wall.

"I'll give you three seconds," Leo began counting. "One..."

Adrien tightened his grip on the gun. He knew that if he surrendered the codes, they would all be executed. If he fired now, the gunmen would spray the room behind him with bullets.

"Two..."

Suddenly, from the shadows behind the side hall, a small piece of decorative trim creaked. Vivien turned her head and spotted Mia standing near the edge of the wall. Vivien's unhinged face twisted into a grotesque grin.