Chapter 1: The Five-Hundred-Dollar Kiss “Five hundred dollars. One kiss. That's all you have to do.”

The door creaked open, but it wasn't Marco.

Three men in heavy tactical gear stepped into the cellar, semi-automatic rifles raised. Behind them strolled Victor, a savage, triumphant grin splitting his scarred face. In his hand, he held a chrome revolver, and beside him walked Don Salvatore, looking smug and composed.

"Well, well," Victor sneered, his greasy voice echoing off the brick ceiling. "Isn't this romantic? The great Don Moretti, cowering in a basement with his five-hundred-dollar whore."

Nico moved instantly, shoving me behind his broad back, his own pistol raised in a dead aim at Victor’s forehead.

"Victor," Nico spoke with chilling calm. "You won't survive this room."

"Neither will you, Moretti," Salvatore interrupted, adjusting his silk cuff. "The Bellini estate is surrounded by sixty of my men. Your boy Marco is pinned down in the courtyard. The city council has already endorsed me to take over your shipping lanes. You are obsolete, Nico. Hand the girl over, drop your weapon, and I might make your death quick."

I peeked around Nico’s shoulder, my hands trembling. Victor was looking at me like a starving wolf eyeing a rabbit.

"You owe me fifty grand, Hannah," Victor purred, leveling his revolver toward my direction. "Plus interest. Plus the disrespect of having this mafia trash touch you. Tonight, you pay back every single cent... on your knees."

Nico didn't flinch, but the air around him dropped ten degrees below zero.

"You made one fatal mistake tonight, Victor," Nico said softly.

"Oh yeah?" Victor laughed arrogantly. "And what’s that?"

"You assumed Hannah was my weakness." Nico slowly slid his free hand behind his back, pressing a small, cold object into my trembling palm.

I looked down in the dim light. It was a compact, snub-nosed revolver.

"She isn't my weakness," Nico whispered, his voice resonating through the vault like a church bell tolling for a funeral. "She’s the reason I’m going to wipe you off the face of the earth."