THE NEW NURSE RIPPED THE MAFIA BOSS’S WATCH OFF IN FRONT OF HIS FAMILY—THEN SAW WHAT SOMEONE HAD TAPED UNDERNEATH IT “Take your hands off my brother.”

I stopped walking.

The heavy iron gates of the Romano estate clanged shut behind me, but the sound felt miles away.

Your husband didn’t die in a car accident. Ask Luca about the mechanic.

I stared at the screen until my vision blurred. David had died on Interstate 90. Black ice. The police report said his sedan flipped three times. I had identified his body. I had buried him.

Why would someone send this now?

I turned back toward the gate. The security guard was watching me closely.

"Everything alright, ma'am?" he asked.

"I need to go back inside," I said, my voice trembling.

The guard shook his head. "Mr. Romano's orders were clear. No visitors for the rest of the week."

"I am his nurse!"

"Your shift ended, Mrs. Hayes." He placed a hand on his radio. "Please return to your vehicle."

I gripped my steering wheel the entire drive home, my knuckles aching. When I reached my small, empty house, I didn't turn on the lights. I walked straight to the hall closet and pulled down the dusty cardboard box labeled David's Things.

I dumped it onto the living room floor.

Old t-shirts. A broken watch. The police report.

I read the report again. Driver lost control due to icy conditions. No other vehicles involved. Pronounced dead at the scene.

Then I looked at the bottom of the box. There was a small, sealed manila envelope I had never opened. The police had handed it to me at the hospital, saying it contained the personal effects found in David's pockets.

I tore it open.

A crushed wallet. A set of keys. And a folded piece of paper.

I unfolded it. It was a receipt from a private auto body supplier. For ballistic glass and reinforced steel plating. Dated two days before David died.

David wasn't just fixing cars for the mafia. He was modifying them.

My phone buzzed on the floor.

It was Luca.

I answered it immediately. "Luca."

"Rebecca," he said, his voice tense. "Did you receive a message?"

I froze. "How do you know that?"

"Because Sofia just received one too." He paused, taking a deep breath. "It's not over. Vitiello is in federal lockup, but his son just arrived from New York. And he's sending gifts."

"What kind of gifts?"

"He sent Sofia a package," Luca said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Inside was a child's drawing."