"By the time Luca Moretti saw me carrying his sleeping daughter down the staircase, my left ankle was already swollen inside my shoe.

Luca didn't resort to violence. He was a billionaire; his weapons were much more devastating.

Over the next forty-eight hours, Luca unleashed the full, terrifying power of the Moretti empire. He didn't just bankrupt the Romano family; he unearthed their deepest, darkest secrets. His investigators found evidence of embezzlement, offshore tax evasion, and connections to organized crime within Isabella’s father’s shipping business.

He handed the entire dossier over to the federal authorities.

I watched the news from the safety of the master suite, a butterfly bandage on my arm. The FBI raided the Romano corporate headquarters. Isabella and her father were led out of the building in handcuffs on live television, facing decades in federal prison for fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit kidnapping.

The nightmare was finally over. The dragon had been slain.

Luca walked into the bedroom, looking exhausted but victorious. He tossed his phone onto the nightstand and climbed onto the bed next to me, pulling me securely against his side.

"It's done," he breathed, pressing a kiss to my temple. "They will never come near you or Sofia ever again."

"You took down a whole empire for us," I said, tracing the strong line of his jaw.

"They touched what was mine. They signed their own death warrant." He looked down at me, the ruthless CEO melting away, leaving only the man I had fallen desperately in love with. "My empire means nothing if you aren't standing in it, Emma. You fought for my daughter. You bled for her. You are the bravest woman I have ever known."