The first time Isabella Romano heard the name Alessandro Moretti, her mother dropped a glass.It shattered against the kitchen floor, scattering pieces beneath the old wooden table.For several seconds, nobody moved.Then Isabella looked up from the medical bills spread across her lap."Mom?"Maria Romano stared at the two men standing outside their apartment door. Their dark suits were expensive, their expressions unreadable, and neither appeared particularly concerned about the broken glass.One of them held a black folder.The other looked at Isabella."Miss Romano?"Isabella stood slowly."Who are you?""Representatives of the Moretti family."Her mother's face lost its color.Isabella noticed.She noticed the way Maria gripped the edge of the counter, the way her eyes darted toward the folder, and the way her lips moved soundlessly around a name Isabella had never heard her mother say before.Moretti.The man with the folder stepped inside without waiting for an invitation."We're here concerning the outstanding obligations of your late father."Isabella felt something tighten in her chest."My father is dead.""We're aware of that.""Then you should also be aware that he left us nothing."The man opened the folder."Your father borrowed a substantial amount of money from our organization several years ago. The debt remains unsettled.""That's impossible.""Is it?"He placed a document on the table.Isabella stared at the signature at the bottom.Gabriel Romano.Her father's name.She recognized the handwriting immediately.For a moment, the apartment seemed to tilt around her.Her father had never told them about a loan. He had worked two jobs, complained about rising prices, and sometimes gone without dinner so that his daughters could eat.He had died believing that he was leaving his family with very little.Now these strangers were claiming that he had left them a debt they could never repay."How much?" Isabella whispered.The man named a figure.Her knees nearly gave way.It was more money than she could earn in ten lifetimes."That's ridiculous," she said. "We don't have that kind of money.""Then I suggest you find someone who does."Maria stepped forward."Please. My husband would never have borrowed that much. There must be some mistake."The second man looked at her with something resembling pity."Your husband signed the agreement, Mrs. Romano.""He wouldn't have—""Mom," Isabella interrupted softly.She reached for her mother's hand.It was trembling.The man closed the folder."You have forty-eight hours to make arrangements. After that, our employer will decide how to proceed.""Your employer?" Isabella demanded. "Who exactly is he?"The man regarded her for a moment.Then he answered."Alessandro Moretti."He left the name hanging between them like a threat.The men departed.The apartment door clicked shut.Maria sank into a chair.Isabella remained standing, staring at the papers.Her father's signature looked painfully familiar.She remembered him carrying her on his shoulders when she was little. She remembered the smell of engine oil on his shirts, his tired smile when he returned from work, and the way he always promised that everything would be all right.Had he lied to them?Or had someone done something to him?"Mom," Isabella said, lowering herself into the chair beside her. "Tell me you know nothing about this."Maria pressed both hands against her mouth.That was when Isabella became afraid.Not because of the men.Not because of the debt.But because her mother looked like someone who had just watched a ghost walk through the front door."Mom?"Maria shook her head."I don't know anything."It was a terrible lie.Isabella heard it in the uneven rhythm of her mother's breathing.She wanted to demand answers, but a small voice came from the hallway."Isabella?"Sophia stood at the entrance to the living room, one hand resting against the wall.Her younger sister looked exhausted.The illness had taken much of her strength, leaving her pale and fragile. Even so, she attempted a smile when she saw Isabella."Did the hospital call?"Isabella's heart broke a little more.Sophia had been waiting all morning for news about her treatment.The hospital had given them another deadline. Without the required deposit, the procedure would be postponed again.Isabella had promised her sister that she would find a way.She had promised her mother that they would not lose their home.She had promised herself that she would never allow their circumstances to defeat them.Now forty-eight hours stood between her family and an unknown danger.She helped Sophia return to bed before going back to the kitchen.Maria was still sitting at the table."Tell me the truth," Isabella said.Her mother looked up."Your father loved you. Whatever happened, he did it to protect this fam