Chapter 4

The following afternoon, the butler pushed open the door just as I was slipping my travel documents into a folder.

“Miss Linda!” His face was deathly pale. “Men from the Morek family have broken in. They’re already in the main hall downstairs!”

Gunshots erupted below, mingling with the crash of shattered glass and overturned furniture.

I hurried to the window and looked down. Three black sedans were parked across the front courtyard, while the guards from the gate lay sprawled beside the driveway. From the upstairs landing, I could make out at least two armed men in the hall below.

“Call Enzo.”

The butler pulled out his phone and dialed. The call connected, only to be cut off a few seconds later.

He looked up at me, his expression strained. “Miss Linda, the Don said... he said he’s busy and can’t make it back right now.”

Busy, was he?

A cold laugh escaped me.

“Don’t bother calling him again.” I closed the folder, put it into the drawer, then opened the bottom drawer of the nightstand.

Inside was a Walther PPK, the gun my father had placed in my hands when I was twelve.

A daughter of the De Luca family learned how to use a gun from an early age.

I loaded it, chambered a round, and turned toward the door.

The butler panicked and reached out to stop me. “You can’t go down there! It’s too dangerous. Wait until the Don comes back—”

I pushed past him. “Have you forgotten who I am? I’m Linda De Luca.”

I slipped off my shoes and stepped barefoot onto the carpet, keeping the gun in my hand.

The staircase curved downward in a spiral and was covered with thick carpeting, which muffled my footsteps.

Keeping close to the wall, I made my way downstairs with the gun in my right hand and my thumb resting near the safety. The sounds from the hall grew clearer with every step. Someone was tearing through drawers, while another man was speaking Italian with a distinct Sicilian accent.

At first, I thought there were two of them, but footsteps from the corridor told me there was a third.

I crouched at the bend in the staircase and looked through the gaps in the railing.

One man had his back to me as he tried to force open the safe beside the fireplace.

Another stood in the center of the foyer with his gun trained on the hallway.

The third was outside the study, smashing his elbow into a glass display case filled with jewelry from Enzo’s collection.

I drew in a slow breath and aimed at the man guarding the foyer.

My first shot struck his right shoulder, and when he spun around, the next bullet tore through his chest. He collapsed heavily onto the floor and did not move again.

The man at the safe reacted immediately, whipping around and opening fire in my direction.

By then, I was already off the staircase and behind the sofa. I leaned out from the other side and sent a bullet into his thigh; when his knee hit the floor, I fired again and caught him squarely between the eyes.

There was only one man left.

The one near the study fired at me at once, and I rolled behind the coffee table just as a sharp pain ripped across my shoulder.

The bullet had grazed me, and blood was already running down my arm. I clenched my teeth and waited until he reached for a fresh magazine before rising and firing.

One bullet tore through his right hand, sending the magazine clattering to the floor, while the next struck his knee. When he went down, I walked over and looked down at him.

“You’re with the Moreks?” I asked, aiming the gun at his forehead.

He coughed up blood and glared at me.

“The Falcones took our docks... cut off our shipments...”

“That’s Enzo’s problem,” I said. “You should never have broken into my home.”

I pulled the trigger.

Silence settled over the hall, leaving only the smell of gunpowder and blood in the air as the curtains billowed in the wind. I stood among the three bodies while blood from my shoulder soaked through my shirt.

The butler came running from the corridor, and the sight in front of him left his face covered in cold sweat.

“Miss Linda... your shoulder...”

“Call Enzo and tell him to bring his men back to deal with this.” I tucked the gun into the back of my waistband and pressed my uninjured hand over the wound. “Tell him the Moreks are his mess to clean up.”

When Enzo finally returned, his expression was tense with worry, and he seemed visibly relieved the moment he saw me.

“My right-hand man told me what happened. Thank God you’re all right.”

At that moment, Emily walked over carrying several shopping bags, a bright smile still on her face.

“Linda, I’m so glad you’re okay.” She set the bags down on the sofa. “Look, Enzo took me shopping this afternoon and bought me so many things. We even picked out a present for you.”

She pulled out a delicate necklace and held it up in front of me.

I turned to Enzo with a mocking look. “So when you said you were busy this afternoon, you meant you were out shopping with Emily?”

“Linda, don’t be like that.” Enzo frowned, as though he thought I was just being difficult again. “Don’t get angry. Emily wanted me to take her out for some fresh air, and she even chose this necklace especially for you.”

He held it out to me, and I looked at it before letting out a cold laugh.

Beside the pile of things Emily had left on the sofa, the necklace looked like an afterthought.

I stopped paying attention to either of them, returned to my room, and locked the door behind me.

Then I took out my phone and called a number I had not dialed in a very long time.

“Send someone to pick me up tomorrow. I’m coming home.”

There was a brief pause on the other end before the reply came in a tone of absolute respect.

“Yes, Princess. We’ll make the arrangements immediately.”

When I woke the next morning, the estate was unusually quiet.

Enzo and Emily had probably left early to deal with the wedding preparations.

I took out my suitcase and went to find Buddy.

He seemed to be in a wonderful mood and kept rubbing his head against my leg.

“Come on, Buddy. We’re going home.”

With Buddy beside me, I walked out through the gates without looking back.

At 9:40 that morning, just as the plane was preparing for takeoff, my phone suddenly began vibrating nonstop.

Enzo was calling.

I switched the phone off and dropped it back into my bag.

As the plane climbed into the sky, I leaned against the window and watched the buildings below grow smaller and smaller until the clouds finally swallowed them from view.

I closed my eyes. All I could hear was the steady roar of the engines.

It was finally over.