Thirty-five thousand feet in the air on a private jet, the desperate, fading cries of a starving infant cut through the cabin so sharply every maternal instinct I’d spent three months trying to bury since losing my own twins screamed to life; at the very front sat Dominic Walker, the infamous crime boss and billionaire everyone in America feared, trembling and helpless as he tried again and again to feed his daughter a bottle she refused to take.

The world dissolved into chaos.

Gunshots.

Shouting.

The acrid smell of gunpowder burning my nose.

Dominic pulled me up, dragging me behind a stack of wooden pallets at the back of the unit.

"You okay?" he yelled over the noise.

I nodded, gasping for air.

Mia.

My head snapped to the car.

Where was Rico?

Where was my baby?

"The car!" I screamed. "Dominic, they’ll go for the car!"

He looked toward the entrance.

His face went white.

A black SUV had crashed through the front gate.

Three more men with guns were jumping out, running straight for our car.

Rico was already out, his gun raised, firing at them.

He hit one.

The man fell.

But another got close enough to slam his gun into Rico’s head.

Rico dropped.

The man pulled open the back door of the car.

Reached inside.

I didn’t think.

I grabbed the gun from my ankle.

I stood up.

Aimed.

And fired.

The bullet hit the man in the shoulder.

He screamed, spinning around, dropping his gun.

Sofia was already running, firing two shots into his chest before he could hit the ground.

She pulled Mia from the car, holding her tight against her chest, firing over her shoulder as she ran back toward us.

"I’ve got her!" she screamed. "She’s okay!"

Relief flooded through me so strong my knees almost gave out.

Dominic grabbed my arm.

"We have to get out of here! Now!"

We ran.

Jax and his men covered us, firing back at the Moretti men pouring into the facility.

Bullets flew past us, so close I could feel the wind of them on my face.

We piled into the second SUV, Dominic slamming the gas before the doors were even fully closed.

Tires screeched.

We shot out of the facility, turning left onto the main road, running three red lights before anyone could catch their breath.

I looked back.

No one was following us.

Not yet.

I turned to Sofia.

Mia was crying, her face red, but she was moving.

She was alive.

"She’s okay," Sofia said, bouncing her. "Just scared. She’s okay."

I leaned my head back against the seat, closing my eyes.

My hands were still shaking.

I’d just shot a man.

I’d almost lost Mia.

We’d walked straight into a trap.

"The safe," I said, opening my eyes. "We left the safe. The files—"

"Don’t matter right now," Dominic said, his voice tight. "What matters is we’re alive. Mia’s alive. We’ll figure out the rest later."

"Vito knew we were coming," Jax said from the front seat. "He knew exactly when we’d be there. Exactly where we’d be. There’s a leak. Someone on the inside told him."

The car went quiet.

We’d driven 10 minutes before Dominic pulled into an alley behind a 24-hour diner.

He turned off the engine.

Turned to look at all of us.

"Nobody leaves this car," he said. "Nobody talks to anyone. Not their wives. Not their kids. Nobody. We lay low here until we figure out who the leak is. And when we find him? I’m going to kill him myself. Slowly."

He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

I watched him pace the alley, talking on his phone, his hands moving in sharp, angry gestures.

Sofia handed Mia to me.

I held her against my chest, rocking her, whispering in her ear until her cries softened.

"He’s not mad at you," Sofia said quietly. "He’s mad at himself. He brought you here. He brought Mia here. He almost got all of you killed."

"I knew it was a trap," I said. "I knew it. But I didn’t say anything. I was so focused on getting the files—"

"None of this is your fault," she said. "It’s Vito’s. He’s a monster. He doesn’t fight fair. He never has."

She paused.

"You shot that man back there," she said. "Saved Mia’s life. I’ve seen grown men freeze in situations like that. You didn’t. You’re stronger than you think, Emily."

I looked down at Mia.

Her eyes were fluttering shut, her breathing slowing.

"I have to be," I said. "For her. For all of us."

Dominic got back in the car an hour later.

His face was pale.

His hands were still clenched into fists.

"I found the leak," he said.

Everyone froze.

"Who?" Jax said.

"Jesse," Dominic said. "The guard from the compound. The one we thought the Morettis killed? He’s alive. He’s been working for Vito for two years. He told them about the cabin. About the storage unit. Everything."

He paused.

"We found him in a hotel downtown. He was waiting for his payment. Jax’s men picked him up 10 minutes ago. He’s talking. He told us where Vito is hiding. A penthouse in the Trump Tower. Top floor. He’s been there since Lila died. Surrounded by 20 of his best men. He thinks he’s untouchable."