“UNCLE DOM… THE BAD MAN HAS MOMMY’S NECKLACE!”

Those seven words stopped my heart.

The entire ballroom was drowning in darkness, two hundred frightened guests were shouting, and somewhere behind the stage curtain, a woman was screaming.

But my two-year-old niece had just recognized something that made the situation infinitely worse.

“Daisy, sweetheart,” I whispered, holding her against my chest. “What bad man?”

She pointed toward the curtain with one tiny finger.

“Man with shiny shoes. He took Mommy’s pretty star!”

My blood turned cold.

Emily had worn a silver star necklace since our mother gave it to her on her sixteenth birthday.

She never took it off.

Not when she slept. Not when she showered. Not even when our father threatened to disown her for refusing an arranged marriage.

Five years ago, when Emily disappeared, that necklace disappeared with her.

And now Daisy was telling me someone inside my own gala had it.

“Nobody leaves this building!” I commanded.

My security chief, Antonio, immediately activated the emergency lights.

A faint red glow spread across the ballroom.

Guests stumbled toward the exits, only to discover that my guards had already secured them.

Then I saw Marcus Bell.

He was standing beside the backstage entrance.

His expensive gray suit was immaculate, but his face was pale.

“Dominic!” he shouted. “Someone attacked the performers. We need to evacuate!”

I watched him carefully.

Marcus had been my closest associate for eleven years.

He had stood beside me when I inherited the Romano empire at sixteen.

He had attended my father’s funeral.

He had helped me search for Emily.

Or so I believed.

“Come here, Marcus.”

He hesitated.

Daisy suddenly buried her face against my shoulder.

“No, no, no! Bad shiny shoes!”

I looked down.

Marcus was wearing polished black shoes with silver buckles.

A ridiculous detail.

Until I remembered Daisy’s words.

“Antonio,” I said quietly. “Take Mr. Bell’s phone.”

Marcus stiffened.

“Dominic, what the hell are you doing?”

“Your phone.”

“This is insane!”

“NOW.”

Two guards stepped forward.

Marcus reached inside his jacket.

I moved before he could finish.

With Daisy safely tucked against my left shoulder, I caught his wrist and forced his hand away from the concealed weapon beneath his coat.

Antonio restrained him.

Daisy peeked over my shoulder.

“Mister Teddy very grumpy now.”

Under different circumstances, I might have laughed.

Instead, I looked at Marcus.

“Where is my sister?”

His expression changed.

For the first time in eleven years, Marcus looked genuinely terrified.

“You don’t understand,” he whispered. “Emily was never supposed to come back.”

Before I could demand an explanation, a sharp metallic crash erupted backstage.

I handed Daisy to Antonio.

“Protect her with your life.”

But Daisy grabbed my collar.

“No! Uncle Teddy! Mommy said only you!”

She reached into her tiny yellow dress again.

This time, she pulled out a small golden key attached to a ribbon.

A number was engraved on its surface.

17.

“Mommy said open sleepy bear,” she whispered.

I stared.

Sleepy Bear.

It was the name Emily and I had given the enormous stuffed teddy bear in our childhood bedroom.

The same bear that had disappeared the night our family mansion burned down.

The same fire that supposedly killed our father.

Suddenly, the number seventeen made sense.

Our childhood home had seventeen bedrooms.

And the seventeenth bedroom had belonged to our father.

I turned toward Antonio.

“Search Marcus. Find Emily. And prepare the cars.”

“Where are we going, boss?”

“Home.”

Marcus began struggling.

“Dominic, don’t go there!”

I stopped.

“Why?”

His next words silenced everyone within hearing distance.

“Because your father didn’t die in that fire.”

I felt the floor disappear beneath me.

For eleven years, I had built my empire on the belief that my father had been murdered by our enemies.

For eleven years, Marcus had helped me hunt those responsible.

And now he was telling me the entire story was a lie.

Before I could speak, Daisy tugged my sleeve.

“Uncle Dom?”

I looked at her.

She pressed her tiny palm against my cheek.

“Mommy says Grandpa is not nice.”

Then she whispered something that made even Marcus stop breathing.

“Grandpa says when you find Mommy… he gonna make you disappear too.”

At that exact moment, Antonio’s phone rang.

The caller ID displayed a number that had been disconnected for eleven years.

My father’s private telephone.

I answered.

A familiar voice spoke.

“Hello, son.”

My fingers tightened around the phone.

“Father?”

The man chuckled.

“Bring the little girl to the old house, Dominic.”

A pause.

“And if you want Emily to survive tonight, come alone.”

Then the line went dead.

I looked down at Daisy.

She was innocently trying to straighten my crooked teddy-bear pin.

“Teddy needs hug,” she announced.

I wrapped both arms around her.

And made a promise.

Whoever was waiting inside that abandoned mansion had made one terrible mistake.

They had threatened my family.

And this time, I wasn’t going to lose anyone.