No Nanny Survived Dinner With the Mafia Boss's Quadruplets—Until a Broke Stranger Walked In

The Mercedes tore through the canyon gates, screeching to a halt in front of the main entrance. Ricardo killed the engine, turned in his seat, and grabbed Elena by both shoulders, his dark eyes wide with frantic panic.

"Are you hurt?" he demanded, his voice shaking.

"I'm fine," Elena breathed, pulling the manila envelope and the detonator from her bag. "They... they called me. They had pictures of my mother. They used her to lure me out."

Ricardo stared at the detonator in her hands, his face turning a terrifying, deathly pale shade of ash. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

"They reached through her," Ricardo whispered, his voice trembling with a rage so deep and dark it terrified Elena. "They crossed the line."

"Ricardo, my mother—"

"Your mother was transferred to our secure private medical facility thirty minutes ago," Ricardo interrupted, pulling out his encrypted satellite phone. "My security detail intercepted the threat the moment their comms chatter hit our radar. She is safe. She has two dozen armed guards outside her door."

Elena let out a ragged breath, the tension finally breaking as tears sprang to her eyes. She slumped against the passenger seat door. "I was so scared."

Ricardo leaned over the center console, unbuckling her seatbelt, and pulled her directly into his arms.

It was the first time he had ever truly held her—not as a boss protecting an employee, but as a man holding the only thing in the world that mattered to him. His arms wrapped around her back, pulling her tight against his chest, his face buried in her hair.

"I am so sorry," Ricardo murmured against her ear, his voice breaking slightly. "I brought you into my darkness. I exposed you to monsters."

"You saved me," Elena whispered, her hands resting against the lapels of his jacket, feeling the heavy, rapid thud of his heart. "You came for me."

"I would burn this entire city to the ground before I let anyone touch you, Elena," Ricardo said fiercely, pulling back just enough to look into her eyes.