Four days after taking a job in a mob boss's mansion, an innocent kiss on his cheek made his hand slam into the wall beside my head.

Midnight came over the Gulf of Naples like a suffocating shroud of black velvet.

The San Gennaro fortress was a monstrous medieval citadel of black basalt perched on a rocky promontory that jutted out into the sea. Tonight, it was lit like a Roman colosseum. Black armored sedans lined the courtyard; guards in tactical vests and earpieces patrolled the parapets with Belgian assault rifles.

Beneath the sea gates, the water was icy and still.

Our stealth craft drifted silently into the shadow of the lower fortress walls, operating on near-silent electric thrusters. Donato’s explosives had been primed with digital timers. Leo crouched over the console, his hands flying across the detonator keys.

"The charges are set against the sea-gate transformers," Leo whispered, looking back at us. "The moment I hit this switch, the entire fortress goes dark for ninety seconds before the backup batteries kick in. That's your window to reach the Great Council Hall."

Luca wore a bespoke black wool coat Donato had scavenged, buttoned up to hide the bulky bandage and the weapons strapped to his chest. Beside him, I had pulled my dark hair back into a severe knot, my hands concealed inside the deep pockets of a black trench coat, each hand gripping a heavy semi-automatic pistol.

I was no longer the frightened girl who had dropped a silver tray on her first day in the mansion. The fire had burned that girl away, leaving behind someone forged from cold ash and steel.

Luca stepped toward me, his hands reaching out to cup my face in the darkness of the boat. The rain misted around us, catching in his dark lashes.

"If this goes wrong, Elena," he murmured, his voice softer than I had ever heard it, "you run. Leo will get you across the border to Switzerland. There are bearer bonds in my name in Zurich. You will never want for anything again."

"Don't give me your dying wishes, Luca," I replied, my gaze locking onto his with unwavering defiance. "You told me I was your Donna. Act like my Don, or I'll take the empire myself."

A low, dark laugh rumbled in his throat. Suddenly, he pulled me roughly against his chest, his mouth crashing down onto mine with a fierce, possessive hunger that stole every drop of air from my lungs. It was a kiss born of gunpowder, salt, and blood—a vow sealed in the face of death itself.

When he pulled back, his eyes were blazing with unholy fire.

"Leo," Luca growled without breaking eye contact with me. "Blow the lights."

Leo hit the switch.

A deep, subterranean *thump* vibrated through the water. A second later, a brilliant blue arc of electrical fire shot into the sky from the fortress transformer banks.

Every single floodlight, searchlight, and chandelier in the San Gennaro fortress died at once.