She was just a little girl standing in the mansion of Boston’s most feared mafia boss, wearing her sick mother’s oversized cleaning apron—but the second she whispered, “My mom couldn’t come today,” the ruthless man who terrified an entire criminal empire suddenly froze. Nobody could have imagined that this tiny child would walk straight through a battlefield of betrayal, or that her innocent words would awaken something inside a man everyone believed had died years ago.

Raymond’s arrest triggered a domino effect.

Realizing their inside operative had been compromised, the Valenti Syndicate knew they had only one option left: a full-scale, desperate surprise attack on Blackwood Estate before I could mobilize my entire army.

At 2:00 AM, the storm reached its peak.

Suddenly, the estate's external security perimeter blew up. High-powered explosives detonated along the front gates, shaking the entire mansion to its foundation.

BOOM! BOOM!

Red emergency lighting flooded the dark corridors of the mansion. Sirens blared through the halls.

"Boss! We have incoming!" Vance barked through my earpiece. "Three heavy transport trucks just rammed the front perimeter! Over thirty armed mercenaries advancing across the lawn! They're Valenti's elite hit squad!"

"Seal the medical wing!" I barked back, racking the slide of my automatic rifle. "No one gets near Elena and Emma! I'll hold the main foyer!"

Downstairs, the heavy oak front doors exploded inward. Shards of wood and glass rained down as a dozen black-clad mercenaries poured into the grand foyer, firing automatic weapons into the hall.

TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK-TAK!

Chandelieres shattered above, sending thousands of crystal drops cascading down like rain.

I took cover behind the thick marble pillars of the second-floor balcony, firing down with ruthless precision. Every trigger pull found its mark. Mercenaries collapsed onto the marble floor one after another as my estate security locked down the flank positions.

"Clear the left flank!" I shouted, tossing a flashbang grenade down the grand staircase.

BLINDING FLASH—BANG!

Screams of pain echoed from the surviving attackers. I stepped out from behind the pillar, walking down the grand staircase like a phantom of death, dropping the remaining mercenaries before they could recover their sight.

In less than ten minutes, the grand foyer was silent once more.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and copper. The storm raged outside through the shattered front entrance, but inside, the threat had been completely eradicated.

I wiped a drop of blood from my forehead and immediately ran up the west wing stairs toward the hospital suite.

When I burst through the doors, I found Emma sitting on her mother's hospital bed. Elena was awake, groggy and weak, but her breathing was clear and stable. Emma was hugging her mother tightly, her pink blanket wrapped around them both.

When Emma saw me covered in dust and tactical gear, she didn't shrink away in fear.

Instead, she offered me a small, sweet smile.

"Mister," she whispered softly. "You kept your promise. Mommy woke up."