“You’re very calm for someone kidnapped by the mafia,” Leo muttered.

Sophie took another sip.

“I work in catastrophic risk assessment,” she said. “Most disasters begin with men convinced they’re in control.”

Leo frowned like he wasn’t sure whether she was insulting him.

She probably was.

Matteo finally turned from the window.

“Why were they after your sister?”

Sophie hesitated.

That answer lived in a locked compartment she had spent years pretending did not exist.

“Chloe runs scams,” she admitted. “Identity fraud mostly. Short-term cons. Financial disappearances.”

“And bearer bonds?”

“That’s too sophisticated for her. She survives off impulsive rich men and fake passports. Not international theft operations.”

Matteo studied her.

“Yet somebody wanted us to think she stole two million dollars from me.”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Sophie set the coffee down.

“Because Chloe is disposable.”

The room fell quiet.

Sophie hated saying it aloud.

But it was true.

Her sister drifted through cities leaving burned bridges and unpaid debts behind her. If Chloe vanished, few people would ask questions.

Perfect scapegoat.

Matteo’s phone rang.

He answered immediately.

As he listened, the air in the office changed.

Danger sharpened.

“How many?” he asked.

A pause.

Then his expression hardened.

“No police. Handle it.”

He hung up.

Leo stepped forward. “Another attack?”

“Two warehouses burned.” Matteo looked directly at Sophie. “And somebody left Chloe Gallagher’s driver’s license at both scenes.”

Sophie’s blood went cold.

“That’s impossible.”

“Apparently not.”

The realization struck her all at once.

Not random.

Not mistaken identity.

Deliberate.

Someone was using Chloe to ignite a gang war.

And someone had known exactly where Sophie lived.

Matteo watched her carefully.

“You understand now,” he said quietly. “You were never collateral damage.”

Sophie’s heartbeat slowed instead of quickening.

That always happened when fear became too large.

Her mind became colder.

Sharper.

More dangerous.

“Who benefits,” she asked, “if the Romano family and the Vescari organization destroy each other?”

Leo answered first.

“Everybody.”

But Matteo didn’t smile.

“No,” he said softly. “Not everybody. One person.”

The office door burst open.

A bloodied man stumbled inside.

“Boss—”

He collapsed before finishing the sentence.

Three gunshots exploded through the warehouse below.

Then came screaming.

Leo already had his weapon drawn.

Matteo grabbed Sophie by the arm.

“Stay behind me.”

“Absolutely not,” she snapped.

Another burst of gunfire rattled the building.

Lights shattered downstairs.

Men shouted.

Somebody yelled Matteo’s name.

Then the power died.

Darkness swallowed the warehouse.

And in the black silence, Sophie heard a familiar female voice scream from somewhere below:

“SOPHIE!”

Chloe.

Emergency lights flickered red through the darkness.

The warehouse transformed into a nightmare of shadows and muzzle flashes.

Matteo pushed Sophie behind a steel support beam while Leo fired down the staircase.

The smell of gunpowder flooded the air.

“She’s here!” Sophie shouted over the chaos. “That was Chloe!”

“Stay down,” Matteo ordered.

But Sophie was already moving.

She darted across the office floor before anyone could stop her and reached the stairwell just as two armed men rushed upward.

The first one froze.

He expected fear.

Instead Sophie hurled a metal coffee thermos directly into his face.

He screamed.

Leo shot the second man before he could raise his weapon.

“Jesus Christ,” Leo muttered.

The warehouse below looked like a battlefield.

Crates overturned.

Forklift headlights cutting through smoke.

Bodies sprawled across concrete.

And near the loading docks stood Chloe Gallagher.

Dark hair soaked with rain.

Hands zip-tied.

A gun pressed against her throat.

The man holding her smiled upward at Matteo.