LOGINSofia’s POVThe day after the reception, the De Luca family formally ended all dealings with the Morettis.Without access to our ports, intelligence, or elite gunmen, Moretti shipments were intercepted one after another. Several important capos defected. Families once friendly with Raffaele kept their distance after seeing where the De Lucas stood.In less than a month, the Moretti family lost more than half its territory.When Raffaele was at his weakest, Gianna stole the family’s remaining cash and a confidential ledger, then tried to flee Sicily through the docks.She never made it onto the ship. Gunmen who had once served under me stopped her first.Raffaele did not go to see her.Instead, he stood outside the De Luca estate every day, hoping for no more than a glimpse of me from afar.His old injury had worsened until he could no longer stand straight. Rain soaked through his black suit. The guards drove him away each day, but by the next morning, he was always back in the same pl
Sofia’s POVOne month later, the De Luca estate blazed with light.The family had reserved the entire valley surrounding the grounds for the reception celebrating my return. Every person of consequence in Sicily had received an invitation.At exactly eight, the crystal chandeliers dimmed.A single brilliant spotlight illuminated the curved staircase above the ballroom.My father waited at the top and offered me his hand.I stepped out of the shadows in a sharply tailored black gown. I wore no diamonds, only the golden lion of the De Luca family at my breast.My father led me halfway down the stairs, where we stopped above the crowd.“Thank you all for joining us. Tonight, I formally present the sole heir of the De Luca family, missing for eight years—my daughter, Sofia De Luca.”Applause thundered through the ballroom.At the front of the crowd, Raffaele, standing beside Gianna, went perfectly still.The wineglass slipped from his hand and struck the floor, splashing red wine across hi
Raffaele’s POVOver the next several days, the Moretti family descended into chaos unlike anything it had known before.Their cargo was stranded at the northern port. Three convoys were attacked in quick succession. Families that had once been close allies canceled their agreements as soon as they learned that the De Lucas had withdrawn their support.At eight one morning, Raffaele slammed a loss report onto the conference table.“You’re telling me we don’t have a single alternate route?”The transport capo kept his head lowered.“Sofia designed all of them. The files she left contain only the minimum required for transition. Every other record has been destroyed.”A sharp pain lanced through Raffaele’s old wound. It was a souvenir from an ambush five years earlier, when a bullet had grazed his ribs. The injury flared whenever the weather turned wet.Sofia used to have his medicine ready before the pain began. She would inspect the estate guards again, then keep watch outside his bedro
Sofia’s POVBy the time the convoy entered the De Luca estate, dawn was close.The ornate iron gates swung open. Family soldiers in black lined both sides of the drive, their golden lion insignias catching the first pale light of morning.My father held my hand all the way to the main house.My mother was waiting in the entrance hall.The instant she saw me, she ran forward and pulled me into her arms, great tears falling onto my shoulder.“Sofia. Mama finally found you.”For a moment, I went rigid in her embrace.Then memories of the years before my disappearance washed over me: my father teaching me how to hold a gun; my mother secretly leaving desserts for me after training; the estate where I had spent my childhood.All those years I had believed I had nowhere else to go, someone had been searching for me. Someone had never given up.I wrapped my arms around my mother, and at last, I let myself cry.“I’m home.”She led me into the sitting room.Photographs from before my disappeara
Raffaele’s POVRaffaele stared at the endless convoy of black cars on the screen, his pupils contracting sharply.In the footage, Sofia slipped into the car at the center of the procession. Marco, dressed in the black uniform of the De Luca family, bent down and closed the door behind her.For a split second, a golden lion flashed through the rain.Raffaele spun toward Enzo, his underboss.“Find out why the De Lucas sent an entire convoy for Sofia. Now.”Enzo did not move. If anything, his expression grew even graver.“There’s nothing left to investigate, Don.”He handed Raffaele the encrypted report that had just come in.“Half an hour ago, the De Luca family sent a formal announcement to Sicily’s other three major families. Their heir, missing for eight years, has returned.”Enzo paused, lowering his voice.“That heir is Sofia.”Raffaele’s fingers clenched around the report.“Impossible.”Eight years ago, he had found Sofia beside the wreckage of a car. She had been covered in blood,
One car emerged through the downpour. Then another. Then another.Twenty black sedans formed a convoy that seemed to stretch endlessly into the distance before stopping in front of me in perfect formation.The golden lion crest of the De Luca family gleamed on every door.The rear door of the car at the center of the convoy opened.My father stepped out in a long black coat and strode toward me.The instant he saw my soaked clothes and the travel bag in my hand, fury blazed in his eyes.He removed his coat, wrapped it tightly around me, and pulled me into the shelter of his arms.“They threw you out into this storm?”His voice trembled with rage.“I’m sorry I came so late, Sofia.”I rested against his broad shoulder and shook my head.“You’re not late. You came at exactly the right time.”My father took my hand and led me toward the convoy.Marco stood beside the lead car in a fresh black uniform.The Moretti insignia was gone from his chest. In its place gleamed the De Luca family’s g







