The Blood of De Luca: A Mafia Boss's Resurrection

I slowly dropped to one knee, bringing myself down to the eye level of the tiny girl who had just shattered my entire reality. The cold, unforgiving floor of the warehouse was no place for a child, yet she stood there with a bravery that could only belong to a De Luca.

"What is your name, piccola?" I asked, my voice softer than any of my men had ever heard it.

"Mia," she said, her small hand reaching out to touch the silver wolf ring. "Mommy said my name means 'mine.' She said I belong to the strongest man in the city."

My chest tightened with a physical ache. "She was right. You are mine. And I am yours." I gently took her small hands in my large, calloused ones, feeling the fragile silver bracelet against my skin. The words Until my last breath, Elena pressed into my palm like a brand. "Did he hurt you? The men who took you?"

Mia shook her head. "No. Mommy hid me in the trunk of the car before the bad men came. She told me to stay quiet until I found the wolf."

I looked up at Victor, my second-in-command. His face was a mask of shock, but his eyes burned with the same violent loyalty that had kept him by my side for a decade. I didn't need to give the order; he already knew.

"Victor," I commanded, standing up and pulling Mia securely into my arms. She wrapped her small legs around my waist, burying her face in the crook of my neck. She smelled like vanilla and fear. "Take fifty of our best men. Lock down the perimeter of this warehouse. You put a wall of lead and steel between this child and the rest of the world. If a single shadow moves toward her, you fill it with bullets."

"On my life, Boss," Victor swore, his hand resting on the grip of his sidearm.

I looked back down at my daughter. My blood. The heir to the empire I had built on violence and shadows. "I have to go get your mother, Mia," I whispered against her dark curls. "I have to go punish the men who kept her away from us."