“I can fix it. My mom taught me,” the six-year-old girl told the Mafia Boss after finding his armored sedan dead on a deserted road with no cell signal. Adrian Moretti almost laughed at the tiny girl holding a wrench like a seasoned mechanic, until a black SUV appeared on that same hidden road three days later and exposed a betrayal that would lead him to the family he never knew existed.

I dropped to my knees beside Elena as she writhed in pain.

The gunshot wound wasn't fatal, but it was bleeding heavily enough to leave a trail.

I ripped a long strip of fabric from my expensive linen shirt and tied it tightly around her shoulder.

Mia knelt beside her mother, completely devoid of the panic a normal six-year-old should show.

"Apply pressure here," I told the little girl, guiding her small hands to the makeshift bandage.

Mia pressed down hard, her jaw clenched in grim determination.

"You're going to get us all killed," Elena whispered, her face growing pale from blood loss.

"I didn't bring this violence to your door," I argued fiercely.

"Yes, you did," Elena countered, coughing violently.

"Dante finally found us last week, and I had absolutely no one to turn to."

I stared at her, trying to piece together the fractured logic of her statement.

"What are you saying?" I asked, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.

"Your car didn't break down by accident, Adrian," she confessed with tears in her eyes.

"I hacked your vehicle's computer system and intentionally overheated the engine block."

She had deliberately stranded the head of the Moretti crime family just to force a meeting.

"I needed the current Boss to protect Lorenzo's only daughter," she sobbed.

I was furious, but my survival instincts pushed the anger aside for the moment.

We were sitting ducks in these woods with highly trained killers closing in.

Suddenly, a sharp buzzing sound vibrated violently against my ribcage.

I reached into the inner pocket of my jacket and pulled out my encrypted satellite phone.

Only three people in the entire world possessed this highly secure number.

I stared at the screen, watching an unknown restricted identifier flash in the darkness.

Against every protocol I had ever established, I pressed the green button and raised the device to my ear.

"Hello, Nephew," a raspy, smoke-damaged voice echoed through the speaker.

The sound of his voice sent a chilling wave of pure ice down my spine.

It was undeniably Dante.

“Who taught you those words?”

“SIR... MY MOMMY NEEDS A BOYFRIEND.”

"My daughter called me on Easter Sunday and whispered, “Dad… he hit me a...

"I see you found my beautiful grand-niece," the dead man chuckled darkly.

"Bring her to me, or I will let Marcus burn that entire forest to the ground with you inside it."

Chapter 3 - The Devil's Blueprint