The heir to the most feared family in the Northeast collapsed on the marble floor I had just finished polishing

The air in the sealed server room immediately began to grow thin as the automated fire suppression system engaged, pumping heavy carbon dioxide into the enclosed space to extinguish potential electrical fires—or suffocate intruders.

"Stand back!" Frank yelled, raising his rifle toward the heavy steel door. He fired three rounds directly into the lock mechanism, but the heavy reinforced titanium barely scathed.

"It's a military-grade blast door," Leonardo gritted his teeth, his eyes scanning the room as the oxygen levels plummeted. "Ballistics won't penetrate it."

I began to cough, the dense, invisible gas making my lungs burn. My vision swam. "The... the air vents..." I gasped, pointing toward the ceiling.

"They're too small for a man," Frank wheezed, falling to his knees as the oxygen drained.

"Not for me," I forced out, looking at the narrow maintenance duct near the top corner of the wall.

Leonardo looked at me, absolute refusal in his eyes. "No! I am not letting you crawl into an active ventilation shaft!"

"If I don't, we all suffocate in five minutes!" I yelled back, grabbing his lapels. "Leonardo, trust me!"

His jaw tightened hard. For a fraction of a second, the cold, unyielding mob prince melted away, leaving only a man who looked terrified of losing the woman who had saved him.

"Do it," he said raspy, lifting me up onto his broad shoulders with every ounce of strength he had left.

I unscrewed the metal vent cover with my bare nails and a pocketknife Frank handed me. I squeezed my slender frame into the tight, dusty duct. The metal was freezing, and the air inside was thick with dust, but it was breathable.

"The manual release lever is on the exterior wall right outside the door!" I called back into the dark duct. "Hold on!"

I army-crawled through the narrow, twisting aluminum tube, my knees and elbows scraping against the sharp metal edges. Pain flared across my limbs, but I ignored it. Every second counted.

I reached the secondary outlet vent ten yards away, kicked the fragile aluminum grate open with both feet, and tumbled out onto the concrete corridor floor.

Gasping for fresh air, I scrambled to my feet. Right beside the blast door was a bright red manual override lever encased in glass.

I didn't hesitate. I slammed my elbow into the glass, shattering it instantly, and pulled the iron lever down with all my weight.

With a massive hiss of releasing air pressure, the steel blast door unlatched and slid open.

Leonardo and Frank collapsed out into the hallway, coughing violently as fresh air rushed back into their lungs.

Leonardo immediately pushed himself up, pulling me into a fierce, breathless pull against his chest. His arms wrapped around me like steel bands, his pounding heartbeat echoing against my ear.