Claire screamed Evie’s name before Dominic could stop her.
She ran into the hallway, checking behind curtains, beneath tables, and inside rooms too small to hide an adult. Dominic followed while Marco ordered every exit sealed.
“Evie!” Claire shouted. “Baby, answer me!”
No answer came.
Mrs. Romano was found unconscious in the west-wing pantry. She had been struck from behind but was still breathing. The rear service door stood ajar.
A pink ribbon lay on the threshold.
Claire picked it up with shaking fingers.
“It’s hers.”
Dominic felt rage settle over him—not hot and wild, but cold enough to sharpen every thought.
Vincent had crossed a line no Carbone was supposed to cross.
Children were untouchable.
Even their father, for all his sins, had enforced that rule.
Dominic returned to the study and picked up the burner phone.
“Vincent.”
His brother answered immediately. “Now you understand.”
“If she has one bruise—”
“You’ll what? Kill me?”
Dominic lowered his voice. “You should pray that’s all I do.”
“Bring the original drive to Warehouse Nine at noon. Come alone.”
“I want proof she’s alive.”
There was rustling. Then Evie’s frightened voice reached him.
“Mr. Carbone?”
Dominic closed his eyes.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“The bad man took Mr. Pickles.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No. Mommy says I shouldn’t get in cars with strangers, but he said you told him to get me.”
“I didn’t.”
“I know that now.”
Her voice broke.
Dominic gripped the phone harder.
“Listen to me. You’re going to be okay. I’m coming to get you.”
“Is Mommy mad?”
“Your mommy loves you. That’s all she feels.”
“Tell her I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for.”
Vincent returned to the line. “Noon.”
The call ended.
Claire stood behind Dominic, both hands pressed to her mouth.
“He used your name,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“She trusted him because of you.”
The truth of it cut deeply.
“I will bring her back.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“I just did.”
Claire seized his sleeve. “Don’t tell me what you think I need to hear.”
“I’m not.”
“Vincent killed Daniel. He shot him like he was nothing.”
“I heard the recording.”
“And now he has my baby.”
Dominic turned to face her.
“I failed your husband because I trusted blood more than truth. I will not fail your daughter.”
Claire searched his eyes. Whatever she saw made her release his sleeve.
Marco entered. “We traced the call, but it bounced through three towers.”
“Warehouse Nine is a trap,” Dominic said.
“Obviously.”
“We still go.”
Marco spread a map across the desk. The warehouse had three entrances, a loading dock, a basement utility tunnel, and roof access from an adjoining building.
Dominic listened while Marco outlined options.
Then Claire interrupted.
“Vincent said to come alone because he expects you to bring men.”
“He expects me to be predictable.”
“He also expects me to stay here.”
“You are staying here.”
“No.”
“Claire—”
“My daughter is in that warehouse.”
“Which is why you cannot be.”
“I know Evie. You don’t.”
“I know how to retrieve a hostage.”
“Do you know she hides when she hears shouting? Do you know she stops speaking when she’s terrified? Do you know she’s allergic to bee stings and her EpiPen is in my purse?”
Dominic said nothing.
Claire stepped closer. “You need me.”
“No,” he said. “Evie needs you alive when this ends.”
At eleven thirty, Dominic drove to Warehouse Nine alone.
At least, he appeared to.
Marco and a small team approached through the utility tunnel. Elena monitored cameras from a van two blocks away. Claire remained at the mansion under guard—or so Dominic believed.
The warehouse sat between abandoned factories, its brick walls blackened by decades of soot. Daniel had died there because he trusted a message bearing Dominic’s name.
Dominic carried the original drive inside his coat.
The main door rolled open.
Leon Varga searched him and removed his pistol.
“Phone.”
Dominic surrendered it.
Leon smiled. “Never thought I’d see you walk in unarmed.”
“I’m not here for you.”
Inside, sunlight cut through broken windows. Vincent stood on a raised office platform overlooking the warehouse floor.
Evie sat in a chair beside him.
Her hands were tied loosely in front of her. Tears streaked her cheeks, but she held her chin high. Mr. Pickles rested in Vincent’s hand.
“Dominic!” she cried.
“I’m here.”
“Where’s Mommy?”
“She’s safe.”
Vincent descended the metal staircase. “The drive.”
“Let her go first.”
“You know how this works.”
“I know how you work. That’s different.”
Vincent’s smile faded. “Always talking down to me.”
“You kidnapped a four-year-old.”
“I took leverage.”
“Her name is Evie.”
“I don’t care what her name is.”
Evie glared at him. “You should.”
Vincent looked at her. “Quiet.”
“You did the mean voice.”
Dominic saw Leon suppress a smirk.
Vincent’s face reddened. “I said quiet.”
Evie flinched but did not look away.
Dominic recognized something in her then—courage untouched by calculation. She did not believe herself invincible. She was simply more offended by cruelty than impressed by power.
It was the kind of courage Daniel must have possessed.
“The drive,” Vincent repeated.
Dominic took it from his coat.
“You killed Daniel because he exposed you.”
“Daniel died because he couldn’t understand loyalty.”
“Loyalty to what? Your theft?”
“To the family I should have inherited.”
“You inherited the same name I did.”
“You inherited everything else.”
Dominic studied his brother. “Is that what Father told you?”
“Father didn’t have to say it.”
“You were twenty-nine when he died. He gave you the development division because you asked for it.”
“He gave me scraps.”
“He gave you a company worth forty million dollars.”
“And put you above me.”
“You stole because you were jealous?”
“I took what should have been mine.”
“You murdered a husband and father.”
Vincent shrugged. “Collateral damage.”
A sound came from the far side of the warehouse.
Vincent turned.
Claire stepped from behind a support column.
“Mommy!” Evie screamed.
Dominic’s blood went cold.
Claire held a pistol in both hands. It trembled, but the barrel remained aimed at Vincent.
“Let her go.”
Vincent laughed. “The maid brought a gun.”
“I’m not a maid today.”
“Claire,” Dominic said quietly, “you need to leave.”
“I’m not leaving without her.”
Leon moved toward Claire.
She swung the pistol toward him. “Take another step.”
Leon stopped.
Vincent grabbed Evie and pressed a gun to her side.
Claire’s face collapsed.
“Drop it.”
“Don’t,” Dominic said.
Vincent pushed the barrel harder against Evie’s dress.
“Drop it now.”
Claire lowered the weapon.
Dominic tossed the flash drive across the floor.
Vincent picked it up, keeping Evie in front of him.
“Check it,” he told Leon.
Leon inserted it into a laptop on a nearby crate.
“Files are here.”
“Release the girl,” Dominic said.
Vincent smiled. “You still think this is a negotiation.”
Gunfire erupted beneath the floor.
Marco’s team breached the utility entrance.
Dominic drove his shoulder into Leon. The pistol fired, striking a steel beam. Claire dove toward Evie.
Vincent dragged the child backward and fired at Dominic.
The bullet tore through Dominic’s side.
He fell to one knee.
Evie screamed.
Claire reached for her daughter, but Vincent kicked her away. He pulled Evie toward a waiting SUV near the loading dock.
Dominic pressed one hand to the blood spreading across his shirt.
Leon raised his weapon.
Before he could fire, Marco shot him in the shoulder.
Vincent reached the SUV.
Then Evie bit his hand.
He cursed and released her.
She ran.
“Evie, down!” Claire shouted.
The child dropped flat.
Dominic fired Leon’s fallen pistol.
The bullet struck Vincent’s leg.
He collapsed beside the vehicle.
Marco’s men surrounded him.
Claire sprinted across the floor and gathered Evie into her arms.
“You came,” Evie sobbed.
“I’ll always come.”
Dominic tried to stand, but the warehouse tilted around him.
Claire saw the blood.
“Dominic!”
He fell.
She lowered Evie into Marco’s arms and rushed to him.
“No. Stay with me.”
Dominic struggled to focus on her face.
“Is she safe?”
“Yes.”
“Then it’s okay.”
“It is not okay.”
She pressed both hands against his wound.
Evie knelt beside him, crying.
“You can’t go to heaven,” she said.
Dominic tried to smile. “Wasn’t planning on it.”
“You promised to bring me back.”
“And I did.”
“But you have to come back too.”
Sirens approached outside.
Dominic’s eyes closed.
The last thing he heard was Claire ordering him to live.