On Christmas Eve, Mafia boss Dominic Moretti found his maid’s three-year-old daughter sitting alone beneath the grand staircase, clutching a photograph and whispering, “I’m waiting for my mom.” He almost walked past her, until he saw the woman in the picture. It was Sophia, the woman he had loved and searched for four years earlier, and before sunrise, Dominic would discover his own mother had known exactly why she disappeared.

Carlo Vitale’s hollow laughter echoed terribly through the speaker of my phone.

“I want all of your shipping ports transferred to my name by midnight, Dominic,” Carlo demanded smoothly.

“If the paperwork isn't signed, I will personally send Sophia back to you in several small boxes.”

I crushed the phone tightly in my grip, my vision actually blurring with absolute, unfiltered rage.

“If you touch a single hair on her head, Carlo, there will not be a safe place on earth for you to hide.”

Carlo simply hung up the phone, completely ignoring my lethal threat.

Enzo looked at me, his face grim and covered in dust from the basement.

“We cannot give him the ports, Boss; it would completely cripple our entire operation,” Enzo stated cautiously.

“I do not care about the business anymore, Enzo; I am going to war tonight,” I declared.

We rushed up to the armory and geared up with heavy tactical vests and automatic assault rifles.

I gathered thirty of my most elite, ruthless soldiers in the snowy courtyard.

“The Vitales have officially broken the syndicate treaty, and they are holding my family hostage,” I announced to my men.

“We are going to breach their main compound on the coast and kill every single man holding a weapon.”

The men loaded into a fleet of black, armored SUVs, their faces set with grim, violent determination.

I called my mother, confirming she had successfully transported Lily to our highly secure safehouse in Manhattan.

“Bring Sophia home, Dominic,” my mother whispered before disconnecting the secure line.

We drove through the blinding blizzard, reaching the heavily fortified iron gates of the Vitale coastal estate.

Instead of sneaking in, I ordered my driver to ram the massive SUV directly through the front gates.

The heavy vehicle smashed the iron apart, sending sparks flying wildly into the winter night.

We spilled out of the vehicles, unleashing a massive, deafening hail of gunfire upon the compound's perimeter guards.

When my newborn 'passed away,' my mother-in-law leaned in and said

My Husband Left Me Alone in My Car While I Was in Labor

“You’re Dead When We Get Home,” He Snapped

I kicked open the heavy front doors of the mansion, stepping into the grand foyer with my rifle raised.

Standing at the top of the sweeping staircase was not Carlo Vitale, but a man I had personally buried three years ago.

Chapter 5 - The Ransom Demand