At 11:42 P.M., every doctor in the room declared Chicago's most feared mafia boss dead and covered his face with a white sheet.
Chapter 1:
At 11:42 P.M., every doctor in the room declared Chicago's most feared mafia boss dead and covered his face with a white sheet.
By midnight, his own men were already fighting over his billion-dollar empire, and the hospital staff had abandoned his body on a freezing steel table.
But at two in the morning, I slipped into the medical wing, climbed onto that table, and wrapped my arms around him—never imagining that what I heard beneath his chest hours later could get us both killed.
My name is Matilda Higgins.
I'm twenty-six years old, and I worked as a maid in the mansion of Gabriel Falcone, one of Chicago's most powerful and dangerous mafia bosses.
I wasn't wealthy.
I wasn't important.
I was just a young woman who cleaned rooms, washed expensive sheets, and tried to stay invisible around dangerous men.
Most of the household staff treated me as though I didn't belong.
The other servants gave me the hardest jobs.
Some guards laughed whenever I made a mistake.
And Gabriel's underboss, Carmine, seemed to enjoy humiliating me.
One afternoon, Carmine deliberately stuck out his foot as I carried a tray of crystal glasses.
I fell.
Every glass shattered.
The room erupted in laughter.
Except for one person.
Gabriel Falcone.
He rose from his chair and looked directly at Carmine.
"Apologize to her."
Carmine laughed nervously.
"Boss, she's just a maid."
Gabriel's expression turned ice-cold.
"I didn't ask what she does. I told you to apologize."
Nobody laughed after that.
Carmine apologized.
And Gabriel personally helped me to my feet.
He never treated me like I was invisible again.
That's why, when I heard he'd been shot, something inside me broke.
Gabriel had been ambushed at one of his warehouses.
Three bullets struck him.
His men rushed him to the private medical wing inside his estate, where surgeons fought desperately to save him.
But something was wrong.
The bullets had been coated with a mysterious poison.
Despite everything the doctors tried, his condition deteriorated.
Then his heart appeared to stop.
At exactly 11:42 P.M., the lead surgeon lowered his head.
"Time of death."
A white sheet was pulled over Gabriel's face.
And just like that, the most feared man in Chicago was gone.
By midnight, the mansion had changed.
His lieutenants argued behind closed doors.
Men who'd once sworn loyalty to Gabriel started discussing who would inherit his territory.
And Carmine was already giving orders as though the empire belonged to him.
Nobody seemed interested in mourning.
Except me.
At two in the morning, I quietly entered the deserted medical wing.
The lights were dim.
The room was freezing.
Gabriel lay alone on a narrow steel table, covered by a thin sheet.
I approached slowly.
"Mr. Falcone?"
No answer.
I lifted the sheet just enough to see his face.
He looked peaceful.
But terribly pale.
My throat tightened.
"You can't be dead," I whispered.
I touched his hand.
Ice-cold.
I remembered the day he'd helped me up from that floor covered in broken glass.
The way he'd looked at me like I mattered.
And suddenly, I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him alone.
So I did something foolish.
I climbed onto the narrow steel table beside him.
Carefully, I wrapped my arms around his motionless body and rested my head against his chest.
"I won't let you be cold," I whispered.
I knew I couldn't bring him back.
But I could stay.
One hour passed.
Then another.
I spoke softly about the little things I remembered.
How he always drank his coffee black.
How he hated people wasting food.
How he'd once told me that kindness wasn't weakness.
At 4:15 A.M., I shifted closer.
My cheek pressed against his chest.
And then—
Something moved.
I froze.
Had I imagined it?
I held my breath.
Nothing.
Then, faintly, I heard it again.
Thump.
My entire body went rigid.
I pressed my ear harder against his chest.
"Mr. Falcone?"
Nearly a minute passed.
Then another faint sound.
My hands began trembling.
Because if I was hearing what I thought I was hearing, Gabriel Falcone wasn't dead.
And somebody had been dangerously quick to declare him gone.
I reached toward the emergency call button.
Then I heard footsteps outside.
Two men.
One voice belonged to the doctor.
The other was Carmine's.
"Make sure the body is ready before sunrise," Carmine said.
The doctor sounded uneasy.
"What about another examination?"
Carmine answered sharply.
"There won't be another examination."
My blood turned cold.
Through the small window in the door, I saw them approaching with a black body bag.
I was still lying beside Gabriel.
There was nowhere to hide.
Then, beneath my hand, something happened that made me stop breathing.
Gabriel's fingers moved.
Only slightly.
But enough.
I looked at his face.
His eyes remained closed.
I leaned toward his ear.
"Please," I whispered. "If you can hear me, don't move."
The footsteps stopped outside the door.
May you like
A key turned in the lock.
And just as the handle began moving, I felt Gabriel's hand slowly tighten around mine.
