He pointed it at Marcus’s head.

“Start with him,” Luca said, his voice shaking.

“Then the girl.”

“And what about Sofia?” Santo asked.

“I will handle Sofia myself,” Luca said.

Marcus did not flinch.

He looked straight at the barrel of the gun.

“You will never get out of this house alive, Luca,” Marcus said.

“The guards outside answer to Alexander, not you.”

“They answer to whoever pays them,” Luca said.

“And tonight, I am the one with the money.”

Santo raised his arm, aligning his sight with Marcus’s forehead.

My hand searched behind me, my fingers brushing against a heavy brass candlestick on the shelf.

I braced myself to throw it.

Suddenly, the brass doorknob of the study began to turn.

The heavy oak door slowly creaked open.

A cold draft of wind swept into the warm room, smelling of rain and wet earth.

Every head in the room snapped toward the doorway.

Santo kept his gun raised but tilted his head to see who was entering.

Luca took a step back, his eyes widening.

A tall shadow fell across the threshold.