Chapter 54 ROSA GOES UNDERCOVER
POV: Selena
I almost drop the phone when my mother says the words.
“I took the job on purpose.”
It takes me a second to even understand what she means. I’m standing by the window of Adrian’s apartment, the city glittering below like it doesn’t care that my life is unraveling. Adrian’s across the room, pacing, one hand in his hair, the other clenched around a glass of water he’s forgotten to drink.
“What do you mean on purpose?” I ask, my voice sharper than I intend.
Rosa sighs, that calm, patient sound she uses when she’s about to scold me. “Mija, listen before you panic. I didn’t take the job because I need the money. I took it because we need information.”
I grip the phone tighter. “Information?”
“Yes,” she says. “You told me what this man has done. What he’s capable of. I can get close to him in a way you can’t. Staff see things others miss.”
I stare at Adrian. He’s watching me now, his jaw locked, his whole body tense.
“Please tell me you’re not serious,” I whisper.
“I’m completely serious,” Rosa says. “You think I’d let that man destroy my daughter and her future? I raised you better than to back down from a bully.”
Adrian reaches me in two strides and mouths, Put her on speaker.
I do.
“Rosa,” he says, his voice low and steady, the same tone he uses when he’s trying not to lose control. “This isn’t a joke. Thornton isn’t some politician you can outsmart with clever words. He’s dangerous.”
“I know exactly who he is,” Rosa replies. “That’s why I’m doing this.”
“This isn’t your fight,” Adrian says.
She lets out a short laugh. “When someone comes after my child, it becomes my fight.”
I close my eyes. I can hear the stubborn pride in her voice, the same one I’ve inherited. It’s what got me into trouble a hundred times, and what’s saving us now.
“Mama, what if he finds out?” I ask. “He could hurt you.”
“Then he’ll learn I’m harder to hurt than he thinks,” she says. “Don’t worry about me, Selena. Worry about finding a way to finish this.”
“Rosa,” Adrian says again, more forcefully. “I can assign someone from my security detail to—”
“No,” she interrupts. “If you send anyone near that house, he’ll know. I need to do this quietly.”
Her tone leaves no room for argument.
Adrian rubs his forehead and mutters something under his breath. He turns away, pacing again.
“Mama,” I say softly. “Please just promise me you’ll be careful.”
“I always am,” she replies. “I’ll call you tonight after my shift. Don’t worry so much, mija. I’ve handled worse men than him.”
When she hangs up, I stay still for a long time, listening to the silence stretch between me and Adrian.
He finally speaks. “She’s brave.”
“She’s reckless,” I say. “And she’s doing it because of me.”
He walks back to the window, staring out at the city lights. “It’s exactly what you’d do.”
That makes me smile, but only for a second.
The hours crawl by. I try reading, then working, but my mind keeps returning to her voice, calm and sure, as if walking into the lion’s den was something she could do before breakfast. When my phone finally rings again, it’s past ten.
“Mama?”
“I’m fine,” she says. “You can stop pacing.”
I glance at Adrian. He’s pretending not to listen, but I can tell he’s hanging on every word.
“How was your first day?” I ask.
“Long,” she says. “But interesting.”
“What kind of job did he give you?”
“Housekeeper,” she replies. “Mostly cleaning the lower floor. But I saw more than I was supposed to.”
My heart thuds. “What do you mean?”
She lowers her voice, and I can hear the hum of background noise on her end, maybe a generator or air vent. “He keeps a study on the second floor. Locked, of course. But he left the door open tonight while he took a call.”
“Did you go in?”
“Of course,” she says simply. “I didn’t touch anything. Just looked.”
“What did you see?”
Papers shuffle. A pause. Then her voice again, quieter now. “Files. Dozens of them. Labeled. Color-coded. He has one for every major family and politician in the city. And, mija…”
“What?” I whisper.
“There’s a folder with Adrian’s name on it.”
I go still. Adrian stops pacing and turns toward me instantly.
“He has what?” he demands.
I put her on speaker again. “Say that again, Mama.”
“A folder,” she says. “Red. It says Adrian De Luca: Final Solution.”
The words hang in the air like a blade between us.
Adrian’s face changes. All the color drains out of it. He doesn’t speak right away, and that silence is somehow worse than anything he could say.
“What else was in the room?” he asks finally.
“I didn’t have time to see everything,” she replies. “There were photos, documents, names. He’s keeping records on all of you. Maybe even the FBI agents. But that folder—he keeps it separate. On his desk.”
“Did he see you?”
“No,” she says. “I heard him coming back and got out in time. I’m safe.”
I press a hand against my chest, trying to breathe through the tightness building there.
“Mama, you need to get out of that house,” I say.
“Not yet,” she says. “I can get more.”
“No,” I say louder this time. “You’re done. That’s enough.”
“You don’t decide that,” she replies, her tone firm. “I do. I’m already in. If I leave suddenly, he’ll know I saw something.”
Adrian steps forward, his voice steady but strained. “Rosa, if he suspects anything, call me immediately. I’ll have people there within minutes.”
“I won’t need them,” she says.
He glances at me. I can see what he’s thinking—that we’re both made of the same impossible courage. That it’s the kind that terrifies him.
“Mama,” I say softly, “just be careful.”
“I always am,” she repeats. “And mija—don’t tell anyone else. Not even Marcus. Not yet. We don’t know who Thornton’s watching.”
Then, before I can respond, the line clicks off.
I lower the phone slowly.
Adrian is still staring at me, his jaw set, his eyes dark and distant. “Final solution,” he says under his breath, tasting the words like poison. “What the hell does that mean?”
I don’t have an answer.
But as I stand there, looking at the phone in my hand, I realize this isn’t just another move in Thornton’s game.
It’s a declaration.
And whatever he’s planning next, it’s meant to end someone.
Maybe Adrian. Maybe me. Maybe all of us.