Chapter 17: Family Dinner

Selena's POV

The steel factory was on fire.

Selena and David ran toward the burning building, but the heat pushed them back like an invisible wall. Orange flames shot out of broken windows. Black smoke filled the sky.

"Dad!" Selena screamed. "Dad, are you in there?"

No answer except the sound of crackling fire.

"We're too late," David said.

"No. He could still be alive. We have to look."

"The building is coming down. Look at the roof."

He was right. The steel beams were bending from the heat. The whole place was about to collapse.

That's when Selena's phone rang.

"Having fun at the barbecue?" Morrison's voice sounded amused.

"Where is my father?"

"Safe. For now. Change of plans, Miss Rossi."

"What change?"

"I decided your father needs to see something before he dies. A family reunion."

"What are you talking about?"

"Go home. Your real home. The house where you grew up. One hour."

"Why?"

"Because that's where this story really began. And that's where it needs to end."

The line went dead.

David was staring at the burning factory. "This was a message."

"What kind of message?"

"Morrison is showing us what happens to people who cross him. Total destruction."

They drove through the city toward Selena's childhood home. The house where she had lived with her parents before her mother was murdered.

She hadn't been there in three years. After her mother died, Enzo had sold it and moved them to the penthouse. Too many painful memories, he said.

But driving up to the old neighborhood, Selena felt like she was traveling back in time. The same trees. The same mailbox. The same crack in the sidewalk where she used to trip her bike.

"Looks normal," David said.

"Too normal."

The house was a two-story colonial with white shutters and a red door. Her mother had painted that door red because she said it made the house look happy.

Now it looked like a mouth full of blood.

"Lights are on upstairs," David noticed.

"My old bedroom."

"Someone's definitely inside."

They parked across the street and watched the house for ten minutes. No movement. No sounds.

"Could be a trap," David said.

"Everything is a trap now."

"So what do we do?"

Selena looked at her childhood home. Part of her wanted to run away and never come back. But another part of her needed to know the truth.

All of it. Even if it destroyed her.

"We go in. But carefully."

They approached the front door. It was unlocked.

Inside, the house looked exactly the same as the day they left. Same furniture. Same pictures on the walls. Even the same smell of her mother's perfume.

"This is creepy," David whispered.

"Someone's been taking care of it. Keeping it exactly the way it was."

"Who?"

Before Selena could answer, they heard voices upstairs. Male voices. Arguing.

"That's my father," Selena said.

"And Marco."

"Marco's supposed to be in FBI custody."

"Unless he made a deal."

They crept up the stairs. The voices were coming from Selena's old bedroom.

"...told you she was becoming a problem," Marco was saying.

"She's my daughter." Enzo's voice sounded weak and tired.

"She's a liability. Always has been."

"Watch your mouth, Marco."

"Or what? You'll have me killed? Like you had your wife killed?"

"I never ordered Maria's death!"

"No, but you suspected she was talking to the FBI. You suspected she was going to betray you. And you did nothing to stop it."

Selena pressed her ear against the bedroom door. David stood behind her, gun ready.

"I loved my wife," Enzo said.

"You loved your empire more. That's why when I told you Maria was meeting with federal agents, you said 'handle it however you see fit.'"

"I meant scare her. Make her stop."

"I did what needed to be done."

"You had her murdered!"

"I saved your kingdom, Enzo. And this is how you thank me?"

That's when Selena heard a third voice. One she didn't recognize.

"Gentlemen, please. Let's not fight in front of the family."

Morrison.

Selena looked at David. His face had gone pale.

"We have to get in there," she whispered.

"Not yet. Let's hear what they're planning."

"The plan is simple," Morrison continued. "Mr. Rossi, you're going to confess to ordering your wife's murder. In writing. With your signature."

"Never."

"Then your daughter dies tonight. Right here in her childhood bedroom."

"She's not even here."

"Isn't she?"

Footsteps walked to the window.

"Hello, Selena. David. Please come upstairs. We're having a family meeting."

Selena's heart stopped. How did he know they were there?

"Thermal imaging," David muttered. "He's been watching our body heat."

"What do we do?"

"We do what he wants. For now."

They walked up the last few steps and opened the bedroom door.

Selena's old room looked like a museum. Her bed was made with the same pink sheets. Her stuffed animals sat on the shelves. Her homework was still scattered on the desk.

But instead of a little girl's safe place, it was now filled with dangerous men.

Enzo sat in a chair by the window. His head was bandaged, but his eyes were alert.

Marco stood next to him, holding a gun.

And Morrison sat on Selena's old bed like he owned the place.

"Welcome home," Morrison said.

"Let my father go," Selena said.

"In time. First, we need to clear up some family business."

"What business?"

"The business of truth. You see, your father has been lying to you about the night your mother died."

"I already know Marco ordered the hit."

"But do you know why your father let it happen?"

Selena looked at Enzo. "Dad?"

Her father wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Tell her, Enzo. Tell her about the phone call."

"What phone call?" Selena asked.

Morrison smiled. "The night your mother was killed, she called your father first. Before she called David. She told Enzo exactly what she planned to do. Turn over evidence to the FBI. Destroy the family business. Send everyone to prison."

"And what did my father say?"

"Ask him yourself."

Selena stared at Enzo. "Dad? What did you tell her?"

Finally, her father looked up. His eyes were full of tears.

"I told her that if she betrayed the family, she would have to face the consequences."

"What consequences?"

"I told her that blood comes before everything. Including marriage."

Selena felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.

"You gave Marco permission to kill her."

"I gave him permission to protect the family."

"By murdering your wife?"

"I thought he would just threaten her. Make her back down."

"But you knew he might kill her."

Enzo was crying now. "I knew it was possible."

"And you let it happen anyway."

"I had no choice. She was going to destroy everything."

That's when Marco started laughing. "This is perfect. Father and daughter, both finding out the truth at the same time."

"Shut up, Marco," David said.

"Oh, David. You want to hear some truth too? Tell Selena why you really came back."

"I came back to make things right."

"You came back because you're dying."

Everyone in the room went silent.

"What?" Selena whispered.

Marco was enjoying himself now. "Cancer. Stage four. Six months to live. Maybe less."

Selena turned to David. "Is it true?"

David wouldn't look at her.

"David? Is it true?"

"Yes."

"How long have you known?"

"A year."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"What was I supposed to say? 'Hi, I killed your mother, and by the way, I'm dying?'"

"You were supposed to trust me!"

"I was supposed to protect you!"

"From what?"

"From caring about someone who's not going to be around much longer!"

Morrison clapped his hands slowly. "Touching. Really touching. But we're running out of time."

He pulled out a contract and set it on Selena's old desk.

"Mr. Rossi, sign this confession. Take responsibility for your wife's murder. And I'll let your daughter live."

"And if I don't sign?"

"Then I kill her right here. Right now. In the same room where she used to have tea parties with her teddy bears."

Enzo looked at the contract. Then at Selena. Then at David.

"There's something else," Morrison said. "Something none of you know yet."

"What?"

"Your mother isn't dead."

The room exploded into chaos.

"That's impossible!" Enzo shouted.

"She was shot!" Selena screamed.

"David killed her!" Marco yelled.

Morrison smiled his cold smile. "David shot someone. But it wasn't Maria Rossi."

He pulled out a photograph and placed it on the desk.

It showed a woman who looked exactly like Selena's mother. But it wasn't her mother.

"Meet Isabella Santos. Professional body double. She's been working for the FBI for ten years."

Selena stared at the photo. "Where is my real mother?"

"Witness protection. Has been for fifteen years."

"You're lying."

"Am I? David, tell her about the woman you shot. Tell her about the birthmark on her left shoulder."

David's face went white. "There was no birthmark."

"Exactly. Because it wasn't Maria Rossi."

Morrison stood up and walked to the window.

"Your mother has been alive this whole time, Selena. Working with the FBI to bring down her husband's criminal empire. Everything that's happened - the attacks, the chases, the manhunt - it's all been leading to this moment."

"What moment?"

"The moment when Maria Rossi finally comes home to finish what she started."

That's when they heard a car door slam outside.

Morrison checked his watch. "Right on time."

Footsteps on the front porch. A key turning in the lock.

The front door opened.

And Selena heard a voice she hadn't heard in fifteen years.

"Honey, I'm home."