The Little Princess and the Mafia Boss

PART 2 — The Secret Beneath the Ballroom

“UNCLE TEDDY, DON’T LET HIM TAKE ME!”

Daisy’s little arms tightened around my neck as another gunshot echoed through the ballroom.

I immediately covered her ears.

“Marcus!” I shouted.

No answer.

My security team rushed toward me, forming a protective circle.

“Boss, we need to get you out!”

“I’m not leaving without my sister.”

I handed Daisy to my most trusted bodyguard, Anthony.

“Take her somewhere safe. Don’t let anyone near her unless I give the order.”

Daisy immediately shook her head.

“No! I want Teddy!”

I looked at her frightened little face.

For some reason, hearing her call me that made it difficult to walk away.

“I’ll come back, princess. I promise.”

She stuck out her little finger.

“Pinky promise?”

I hooked my finger around hers.

“Pinky promise.”

Then I turned toward the stage.

Two guards were lying unconscious near the curtains. A third was trying to stop the emergency doors from opening.

I drew my weapon.

“Find Marcus. Alive.”

Within minutes, my men discovered a hidden passage behind the stage. It led to the hotel’s underground service corridor.

And there, on the concrete floor, I found something familiar.

A silver necklace.

My sister’s necklace.

I had given it to Emily on her eighteenth birthday.

Beside it was a small piece of paper.

If you want your sister alive, come alone.

I almost laughed.

Whoever had written that clearly didn’t understand who they were dealing with.

I called Anthony.

“Bring Daisy to my private residence. Double the security. Nobody enters without my permission.”

“Understood, boss.”

Then I followed the passage.

At the end was a black SUV parked inside the underground garage.

The driver was dead.

On the passenger seat lay a photograph of Emily, taken only hours earlier.

She was sitting in a dark room, her wrists tied.

My jaw tightened.

“I’m coming for you, Emily.”

Twenty minutes later, I arrived at an abandoned warehouse near the Chicago River.

Three armed men stood outside.

They recognized me and immediately raised their weapons.

“Boss, we weren’t expecting—”

I struck the first man before he finished speaking.

The second dropped his gun.

The third ran.

I didn’t waste time chasing him.

I kicked open the warehouse door.

“EMILY!”

A weak voice answered from somewhere inside.

“Dominic?”

I stopped breathing.

Behind a metal partition, I found her.

My sister looked thinner, exhausted, and frightened. Her chestnut hair was tangled, and there were bruises on her wrists.

But her green eyes were unmistakable.

“Emily…”

She started crying.

I rushed forward and cut the ropes around her wrists.

She grabbed my jacket.

“You shouldn’t have come.”

“Five years, Emily. Five years I’ve been looking for you.”

Her face crumpled.

“I know.”

“Who did this?”

She looked toward the warehouse entrance.

“Marcus.”

My blood turned cold.

“Why?”

Emily swallowed.

“Because he discovered something about our father. Something he wanted to keep hidden.”

Before I could ask another question, she grabbed my arm.

“Dominic, listen carefully. Daisy isn’t safe. Marcus knows she’s your weakness now.”

I looked at my sister.

“She’s my niece. Nobody is touching her.”

Emily began crying harder.

“There’s something else you need to know.”

“What?”

She took a trembling breath.

“Daisy didn’t come to your gala by accident. I sent her there because I knew Marcus would be watching.”

I frowned.

“You sent a two-year-old into a ballroom full of armed men?”

“I had no other choice. He was going to move me tonight. I needed you to find her before he disappeared with both of us.”

I stared at her.

Then she whispered the words that changed everything.

“Dominic, Marcus isn’t working alone. Someone in our family has been paying him for five years.”

I felt my fingers tighten.

“Who?”

Emily looked directly into my eyes.

“Your uncle, Richard.”

My father’s younger brother.

The man who had attended every family dinner, held my father’s funeral speech, and told me he would always protect me.

I had trusted him.

I shouldn’t have.

Suddenly, my phone rang.

Anthony.

I answered immediately.

“Talk.”

His voice was frantic.

“Boss, we have a problem.”

“What happened?”

“Daisy is gone.”

For a moment, I couldn’t understand the words.

“What do you mean, gone?”

“Someone entered the residence using an authorized security code. They took her from the playroom.”

My blood turned to ice.

Then I heard a small sound through the phone.

A child’s frightened voice.

“Uncle Teddy?”

I stopped breathing.

“Daisy!”

“Uncle Teddy, I no cry. I be brave.”

My eyes closed.

Then a man’s voice replaced hers.

“Good evening, Dominic. I believe we have something that belongs to you.”

Richard.

My uncle.

“Touch one hair on her head,” I said quietly, “and I’ll destroy everything you own.”

He chuckled.

“Bring me your father’s inheritance documents. Tomorrow morning. Alone.”

The call ended.

I slowly lowered my phone.

Emily was crying.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “This is all my fault.”

I looked at my sister.

“No.”

I picked up my gun.

“This ends tonight.”