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I followed the older woman down the hallway to his office. She opened the door, allowing me to enter, and then closed it behind me.

“Madigan, what a pleasure it is to see you.”

Sinclair pulled me into his arms, and I felt my body relax against him. His hug was similar to my father’s. Parental, safe, loving.

He pulled back, his hands on my biceps. “What can I do for you?”

“I was hoping you might be able to give me some information.”

His hands dropped from my arms, and he gestured toward the chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat, dear.”

His desk was imposing, and when he sat in the chair behind it, I held back a shiver. I knew the rumors that had spread about this man and what he had done. What he expected in return for his time and effort.

But to me, he was my friend’s father. He’d become an uncle of sorts. The kind of family you didn’t talk about but knew would always be there for you.

“What do you need, Madigan?”

I smiled at his use of my full name. He was the only one who used it and instructed Dante to use it as well. And he did when Sinclair was around. Otherwise, Dante called me Maddie, like everyone else.

“I am looking for information about Valentino Valentinetti.”

Sinclair studied me, his gaze sharp and knowing. “Did your mother send you here?”

“No,” I said quickly, shaking my head. “In fact, she asked me not to come.”

“She doesn’t trust me,” he said, his words sounding almost proud.

“It’s not that⁠—”

“It’s quite all right. I count your mother a friend, though she may not agree.” He stood up from his desk and walked toward the far wall. Using a retinal scanner, the wall moved, revealing a hidden door, and he disappeared behind it.

I stayed in my seat because if there was one thing I had learned about Crispin Sinclair, it was not to assume you were invited into his secrets. He kept them close, for his protection and his family’s. I was fortunate to be included in that family because of my relationship with Dante.

That family had given me mine.

He held my hand beneath Sinclair’s desk on the day we entrusted our future to a man other people feared. His thumb moved over my knuckles while documents were arranged and escape routes explained. I was shaking, but Salvatore’s palm remained steady against mine.

When I looked at him, he lifted our joined hands and pressed his mouth to my wedding ring. There was no fear in his face, only a love so certain I mistook it for something death couldn’t reach.

When Sinclair came back to the office, I asked, “How does Dante like Nebraska?”

Sinclair huffed. “He tolerates it for his daughter.”

I smiled, knowing Dante would do anything for his daughter. I’d never met her. He’d only learned he had a daughter in December of last year. But Dante was the type of person who loved with everything he had. The kind of person who would do anything to make the people he loved happy. Danny was a lucky man.

Sinclair handed me a large manila envelope. It was thick, and I knew everything we needed to know was inside. My hand trembled as I reached for it.

“Are you sure, Madigan?” he asked. “Secrets like these can tear worlds apart.”

“Maybe it’s time to tear apart those worlds,” I whispered, holding the file against my chest.

“I can help you get your son back, Maddie.”

My eyes snapped to his. He’d never, in all the years I’d known him, called me Maddie. Tears swam in my eyes, tipping over as I shook my head.

“I can’t uproot his life. It isn’t fair to him.”

“Life isn’t fair, Mrs. Valentinetti. If it were, you wouldn’t need that information. In fact, it wouldn’t exist at all.”