The quiet room felt as though the air had been entirely replaced by ice. Dominic Moretti stood frozen in the center of the mahogany-paneled study.

Three miles away, Dominic was in the middle of a meeting with three neutral syndicate bosses at a private club when his radio blared Elena’s terrified voice.

"DOMINIC! THEY'RE INSIDE THE HOUSE!"

Dominic’s face went entirely white.

He didn't say a word to the syndicate bosses. He didn't grab his coat. He drew his custom twin pistols, turned on his heel, and sprinted out of the club toward his car like an enraged demon.

"MARCO!" Dominic roared into his mic as his Maybach tore through the snow-slicked Brooklyn streets at ninety miles an hour, ran through red lights, cutting off traffic. "GET ALL UNITS TO THE BROWNSTONE NOW! THEY'RE AT ATTACKING LILY!"

"I'm three blocks away, boss!" Marco shouted back over the radio, the sound of gunfire already echoing in the background. "Romano's men smashed the gates! We are engaging them now!"

Inside the brownstone, Vince’s hitmen were sweeping the ground floor, kicking open doors, looking for the basement entrance.

"Find the kid!" the lead hitman shouted through his gas mask. "Vince wants the child alive as leverage!"

Suddenly, the front doors of the brownstone were literally torn off their hinges as Dominic’s armored Maybach slammed straight into the grand foyer!

CRASH!

Wood, marble, and glass exploded everywhere!

Before the smoke even cleared, Dominic erupted from the driver’s side door. His face was a mask of absolute, god-like fury, his eyes burning with a terrifying, lethal light.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Dominic fired with surgical, ruthless precision. Four hitmen collapsed before they even realized the car had breached the house!

A fifth hitman raised an assault rifle, but Dominic charged forward, grabbing the barrel of the gun, twisting it violently, breaking the man's wrist with a sickening CRACK, pulling him in close, and driving a heavy tactical blade directly into the man's chest!

"WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!" Dominic roared, his voice echoing through the ruined, smoke-filled hallway like thunder.

Two remaining hitmen near the basement stairs turned to fire, but Marco and ten loyal Moretti enforcers surged through the shattered front entrance, sweeping the hallway with heavy gunfire!

Within two minutes, every single attacker on the ground floor was dead.

Dominic didn't wait for the smoke to clear. He tore down the basement stairs, his boots slipping on the blood-stained tiles, and slammed his fist against the reinforced steel panic room door.

"ELENA!" Dominic screamed, his voice raw, panting heavily. "ELENA! IT'S DOMINIC! OPEN THE DOOR!"

Inside the dark, quiet panic room, Elena heard his voice. She let out a choked sob, quickly typing the master security code into the keypad.

CLICK. CLACK. SHHHH.

The heavy steel door slid open.

Dominic burst inside.

Elena was sitting on the floor in the corner, holding Lily, who was trembling violently, her little face buried in Elena’s neck, weeping quietly.

"Lily..." Dominic choked out, dropping his guns, falling to his knees, his hands shaking violently as he wrapped his massive arms around both of them, pulling them tightly against his chest.

Lily recognized his scent, his touch. She turned, throwing her tiny arms around Dominic’s neck, weeping hysterically into his collar. "Daddy! Daddy! The loud noise! The mean men!"

"I'm here, baby," Dominic wept, tears streaming freely down his face as he kissed her hair, her forehead, her little hands over and over again. "Daddy's here. You're safe. I've got you. Nobody will ever touch you again."

He looked at Elena, who was bruised and covered in dust, but unhurt. "Are you alright?"

"We're okay," Elena sobbed, holding his arm. "They didn't get inside."

Dominic held his daughter tight, feeling her small heart pounding against his ribs. The terror that had gripped his soul during the drive over transformed into something else—a dark, absolute, final resolve.

He gently handed Lily back to Elena.

"Keep her in here until Marco gives the all-clear," Dominic said, his voice dropping into a deadly, quiet calm.

He stood up.

He walked up the basement stairs into the ruined foyer, stepping over the bodies of the hitmen.

Marco walked over, holding a radio. "Boss... we traced the signal on the delivery truck. The attack was ordered directly by Uncle Vince. He’s hiding at Antonio Romano’s private estate in Long Island right now."