By the time I aimed my gun at the young maid holding my dying son against her bare chest, Leo had already done what twenty doctors, three private clinics, and millions of dollars could not make him do.

"You can't go alone," Hunter said, standing up, her hand catching my arm. Her grip was surprisingly strong. "It’s a trap, Lorenzo. He knows you're alive. He's baiting you."

"I know," I said, looking down at her hand on my arm. "But if I don't go, he wins. He takes the family, and then he has the resources of a multi-billion-dollar empire to hunt us down. We will never be safe. You and Leo will spend your lives in hiding."

"Then let me help," she said.

I laughed, a short, dry sound. "Hunter, you are a brave woman, but this is a war council. These are men who eat glass for breakfast."

"I don't mean with a gun," she said, her eyes flashing with intelligence. "The nurse, Martha. Before we left, I grabbed her personal bag from the nursery. I found her phone and a small ledger she kept. I didn't have time to look through it before, but I did last night."

She ran inside and brought out a small, black leather notebook. She handed it to me.

I opened it. Inside, in meticulous, shaky handwriting, were dates, times, and chemical amounts. It was a log of the poison she had administered to Leo. But more importantly, there were records of bank transfers. Millions of dollars wired from an offshore account in the Cayman Islands—an account registered under the name Marcconi Holdings.

"This is the proof," I whispered, my eyes scanning the pages. "In our world, killing a rival is accepted. But poisoning an infant—the heir of the family? That is a violation of the ancient codes. The other dons will never allow it. They will tear Victor apart themselves if they see this."

"And there's more," Hunter said, scrolling through Martha’s phone. "She has saved audio messages from Victor’s chief associate, giving her instructions on how to slowly increase the dosage so it looked like natural organ failure. It’s all here."

I looked at Hunter, a profound sense of awe washing over me. This woman, who had entered my life as a quiet, invisible maid, had just handed me the weapon to destroy my greatest enemy without firing a single shot.

"You are incredible," I said, my voice thick with emotion.

She blushed, looking down. "I just want Leo to have a father. A real one. Not a ghost."