“Don’t move.” I shove the gun against Enzo Guerriero’s back.

I’m not scared. But maybe that’s because the adrenaline that’s flooding my body is blocking my fear right now.

After all, I’m in the middle of a busy restaurant at dinner time, standing behind the chair of one of the most feared mafia bosses in the country and holding him at gunpoint.

“Don’t be rash,” Enzo speaks slowly. Calmly. “My men have surrounded this place. You won’t get away with this.”

“I don’t care about getting away with this.”

Enzo’s people are still chatting among themselves and laughing while they eat dinner. But this won’t last long. Soon enough, they’ll realize something is wrong.

The bowtie-and-tuxedo outfit I’m wearing helps me move under the radar in Luigi’s because all their waiters wear the same shit.

But I’m not invisible.

“You have a death wish, son?” Enzo asks. To his credit, he hasn’t raised any alarm among his men. Maybe he does intend on letting me walk away with no consequences. He adds, “Believe me, killing me won’t bring anyone back from the dead.”

“I don’t care about that either.”

“What do you want, then?” he asks. “Money? I have some money in my wallet. I’ll give you some of it. It’s chump change to me, but it may help you get out of whatever rough patch you’re in. Just don’t touch my credit cards because they’ll be a pain in the ass to replace.”

“I don’t need your money.”

I’ll have to admit I like the way Enzo’s handling this. How does a guy like him have a daughter as insane as Rosa? I guess the apple does fall fucking far from the tree, after all.

If I do have a baby growing in Harper’s womb, I hope he or she will grow up to be nothing like me, but in a good way.

“What do you want, then?” he asks.

“I just want to save my family.” I’ve thought carefully about what to tell Enzo. I concluded that as a family man, he’d understand my motivation.

Sure, Harper isn’t exactly “family” to me, but that will change when this is over—whether or not she’s carrying my baby.

I’ve decided that she’ll stay by my side where I can protect her at all times. I can’t risk someone taking her away and hurting her again.

“Calm down,” Enzo says. “Nobody wants to hurt anybody. If your family hasn’t done anything to any one of my people, I guarantee you that nothing will happen to them either.”

I chuckle. “You have no idea what’s happening. Get up. Excuse yourself from the table. If you draw any attention to yourself, I will shoot you. I’ll do anything for my family.”

“I understand. I’d do anything to save my family, too.” Enzo stands up from his chair and gives everyone at the table a big smile. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. I need to pay a visit to the restroom. Please enjoy your dinner.”

I cover the gun with a white napkin as I walk behind Enzo and tell him where to go. I’m no longer pressing the weapon against his body, but he knows my finger is poised on the trigger, ready to shoot at the smallest sign of trouble.

“Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Enzo asks, keeping his voice low as we make our way past white-cloaked tables and mostly black-clad diners.

“Your daughter is keeping my girl and my unborn baby hostage.” I see no point in hiding the truth from Enzo. If anything, it will only help him see the gravity of the situation.

“Rosa?” he asks.

“Do you have any other . . . children in the family who would pull something like that?” I ask, stopping myself from calling his offspring “wackos.”

Enzo lets out a big sigh as we walk out of the heated part of the building and into the cold underground car park.

“Luckily, no,” Enzo answers matter-of-factly. “I take it you’re the man she accused of raping her at the party?”

“One and the same.” I move beside Enzo and press the gun against him.

Just because we’re having a decent conversation doesn’t mean he’s out of danger. He may be a charming and reasonable man, but I won’t hesitate to shoot him dead if he tries anything funny.

“I’ll tell Rosa to let your girl go,” Enzo says.

“You will. I’ll make sure of that.”

“There’s no need for this. I’ll help you in any way I can.”

“If I didn’t do this, would I have been able to speak to you directly, without your men trying to block me?” I pull out my key fob and press the button to unlock my black BMW.

“No,” he admits.

“Get in.” I open the driver’s side door and shove Enzo inside.

I walk around the car and get in from the passenger side. Pointing my gun at Enzo, I say, “Where’s Rosa right now?”

“I don’t know. I wish I could put a tracker on her so I’d be aware of where she is at all times, but she wouldn’t like that.” Enzo gives me a smile. He’s still calm as a cucumber.

It’s not surprising, though. I’m sure a man like Enzo didn’t get to where he is in life by avoiding danger.

I pull my phone out of the pocket of my tuxedo jacket and show him the picture of Harper that Rosa sent me. “Do you recognize this place?”

“Looks like one of our warehouses,” he says.

Just as I open my mouth to ask a question, a muscular guy wearing a black suit and an earpiece knocks on my car door. He doesn’t look friendly.

“Is that one of your guys?” I ask Enzo.

I hear a loud bang and realize the guy has just shot my bulletproof car.

Someone tried to tell me adding the armor would be a waste of money, but it has just saved my life—and possibly Harper’s and my baby’s, too.

Enzo nods, seemingly unfazed by the shot and unsurprised by the fact it didn’t even ding my window. “I see you came prepared.”

“If he shoots at me again, I swear to God, I won’t be happy. Tell him to stop.”

Leaning down and forward to make eye contact with his guy, Enzo holds his palm up.

The men stops shooting, but I realize I have other problems to worry about as more men in black surround my car.

I crack the window on Enzo’s side open, just enough to let sound through.

“He’s got a gun on the boss,” I hear someone say.

“Tell them to leave us alone.”

“Sure, but I can’t promise you they’ll listen.” In a louder voice, Enzo says, “Boys, everything’s okay. Give us some privacy.”

“You heard what he said, boys,” I say.

“Somebody shoot that motherfucker already,” a guy outside shouts.

“I’m warning you, I’m not just bluffing. If anybody shoots again, I swear I’ll kill Enzo,” I say loud enough for everyone to hear. Staring at Enzo, I add, in a lower voice, “Look at my eyes. You know I’ll do it. I have nothing to lose. My family is in danger and I’ll do anything for their safety.”

Enzo nods. “I don’t doubt your resolve. I’d do the same thing for my family.”

I silently let out a big exhale, glad to see my strategy to keep using the word “family” is paying off.

Enzo may be a cold-blooded mafia boss, but from my experience, guys like him tend to treat their blood like an irreplaceable treasure because everyone else could stab him in the back at any time.

“Please tell them to back off,” I say. “I don’t really want to hurt you, let alone kill you.”

I may be a shitty doctor, but I happen to take my Hippocratic Oath pretty seriously—more seriously than plenty of licensed physicians roaming the hallways of hospitals all over the country.

“Boys, I said leave us alone. Listen to the man,” Enzo shouts, keeping his dark eyes trained on me. “We’ll take a short trip, and then he’ll let me go safely.”

I nod. Of course I’ll let him go safely. All I want is to get Harper out of danger. I don’t intend on hurting anyone.

“Yes,” I tell him. “And you’ll do the same? You won’t tell your men to hunt me down, me and my family?”

Enzo nods, his eyes serious and sincere.

“Are you sure, boss?” asks a skinny guy who’s standing right next to Enzo’s window.

“Yes, I’m sure. I trust this man,” Enzo says.

“Thank you,” I say quietly as the men disperse and stand far enough to let my car through.

“No problem at all, son,” Enzo says as he backs up the car, his hands on the steering wheel. “In fact, I should probably apologize to you on my daughter’s behalf. Nobody should put a man’s family in harm’s way. That’s what I believe in. When I have a problem with someone, I go straight to the source. That’s the honorable thing to do.”

I stop by the parking booth and watch Enzo make a payment before driving out of the car park.

As soon as we leave the building, a big load comes off my shoulders. It feels funny to do something as mundane as paying for parking after having a dozen guns pointed at me by a bunch of dangerous men, but I’m just glad I didn’t die.

“Now, where are we going?” Enzo asks as we join the busy dinner-time traffic.

“You said the location in this picture might be one of your warehouses.” I hold the phone up for Enzo to look at the picture again, my other hand still pointing the gun at him.

Enzo looks like a respectable, understanding man who values both family and honor. But I’m not taking any chances.

“Yes.” He takes a quick glance. “We have a few warehouses near the port. I’ll take you there.”

“How many is ‘a few’?”

Enzo lets out a big sigh. “That’s . . . not something I can disclose, especially to a man working for my biggest rival.” He chuckles. “You know, normally, even for business partners, we blindfold people who are visiting our warehouses. Tonight, you have the privilege of keeping your eyes open.”

For a man who’s got a gun pointed at him, he’s unusually calm. But he has probably been through dozens of situations way more dangerous than this.

Enzo turns to me briefly and says, “Not many people know the place where we’re going. If the location were to leak, I don’t have a long list of . . . people who might have caused the leak.”

His words send a chill down my spine. I may be the one who’s holding the gun here, but this guy is still a scary motherfucker. I get the distinct feeling that I’m the one who should worry about my safety at the moment, rather than him.

But, whatever. I’ve already survived the hard part of taking Enzo away from his men. Now, all that’s left is getting Harper out of Rosa’s clutches.

I glance behind us. I’m not surprised to see two or three black sedans following us. No doubt they want to make sure their boss is okay.

Maybe Enzo is the guy with the upper hand here.

After all, it won’t do Harper any good if, after saving her, Enzo decides to go back on his word and hunts us down.

But that’s something I’ll worry about later.

For now, all that matters is finding Harper. Because I can go through anything as long as she’s by my side.