Chapter 23: Watching Eyes

Marco's POV

The camera feed went dead just as Selena ran from the safe house.

I slammed my fist on the desk. "No, no, no!"

For three hours, I had watched everything through the hidden cameras I planted in Maria's apartment. I saw Selena discover the truth about David. I watched her find the encrypted files. I heard Morrison's phone call.

And now she was gone.

My phone buzzed. An incoming call. The number made my stomach drop.

"Marco." The voice was cold. Angry.

"Boss, I can explain—"

"You lost her."

"She moved too fast. I didn't expect—"

"I don't want excuses. I want results."

I wiped sweat from my face. "She's going to the warehouse. Morrison called her there."

"And you think that's good news?"

"We can grab her there. Before Morrison gets what he wants."

Silence on the other end. That was never good.

"Boss?"

"Marco, do you know why I chose you for this job?"

"Because I'm loyal?"

"Because you're desperate. A desperate man will do anything to survive."

My throat went dry. "I am loyal. You know that."

"Then prove it. Bring me Selena Rossi. Alive."

"What about Morrison?"

"Kill him. He's become a problem."

The line went dead.

I stared at my phone. Three years of planning. Three years of secret meetings. Three years of pretending to be Enzo's loyal friend while working for his greatest enemy.

And now it was all falling apart.

I grabbed my gun and headed for the door. But my phone rang again. Different number this time.

"Marco, it's me." David's voice was weak.

"David? I thought Morrison poisoned you."

"He did. I'm dying. But I need to tell you something."

"What?"

"Morrison isn't working alone. He has a partner. Someone close to the Rossi family."

I almost laughed. If only he knew.

"Who?" I asked.

"I don't know yet. But I have proof. Hidden files that show everything."

My blood turned to ice. "What kind of files?"

"Payment records. Mission reports. Communication logs. Everything going back twenty years."

"Where are these files?"

"Safe place. If something happens to me, they'll be sent to the FBI automatically."

I hung up and threw my phone across the room. David knew. Somehow, that dying fool had figured out the truth.

I had been Morrison's partner all along. But Morrison didn't know I was also working for someone else. Someone even more dangerous.

My real boss.

The person who wanted Enzo Rossi destroyed more than anyone.

I drove through the dark streets toward the warehouse district. My mind raced through the plan. Grab Selena before Morrison could kill her. Eliminate Morrison. Deliver Selena to my real boss.

Simple. Clean. Final.

But nothing had been simple for three years.

It started when my real boss approached me. Offered me five million dollars to destroy the Rossi family from the inside. All I had to do was pretend to be Enzo's friend while secretly working to bring him down.

The plan was perfect. I would feed information to Morrison, who would use it to frame Enzo for various crimes. Eventually, Enzo would go to prison or die. The family would crumble.

And I would inherit everything.

But then Selena got involved. Smart, stubborn Selena who wouldn't just accept her father's guilt. Who kept digging. Who found connections that shouldn't exist.

She was supposed to die three years ago with her mother. That would have broken Enzo completely. But Maria survived, and everything went wrong.

Now Selena knew too much. Morrison was panicking. David was dying but still dangerous.

And my real boss was getting impatient.

I parked outside the warehouse and checked my weapons. Two guns. Extra bullets. A knife for backup.

Through the broken windows, I could see lights inside. Morrison was already here.

My phone buzzed. Text message from an unknown number:

Marco, this is Selena. I know you're working with Morrison. I have proof. Meet me at the north entrance. Come alone or I release everything to the FBI.

I stared at the message. How could she know?

Unless...

Unless David had already sent her the files. Unless everything was already over.

I called my real boss.

"We have a problem," I said.

"I'm listening."

"Selena knows about me. She has evidence."

"How much evidence?"

"Enough to destroy us all."

Another long silence.

"Then she dies tonight."

"Morrison will try to kill her first."

"Let him try. If he succeeds, problem solved. If he fails, kill them both."

"And if she's already sent the files to someone else?"

"Then you better hope she hasn't. Because if this operation fails, Marco, you'll join Morrison and the girl."

The line went dead again.

I sat in my car, hands shaking. Twenty years of working for the Rossi family. Twenty years of pretending to be Enzo's friend. Twenty years of waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

And it all came down to tonight.

I walked toward the north entrance. My gun was ready.

The door was already open. Inside, I could hear voices. Selena and Morrison talking.

But something felt wrong. Too quiet. Too easy.

I stepped inside and immediately knew it was a trap.

"Hello, Marco."

I spun around. Selena stood behind me, but she wasn't alone.

David was with her. Very much alive. Very much not poisoned.

"Surprised?" David asked.

"The dart," I stammered. "Morrison said it was poisoned."

"Morrison lied. To you and to Selena. The dart just made me sleep for a while."

"But the blood..."

"Fake. Just like the blood used to fake Maria's death three years ago."

Selena stepped forward. "We know everything, Marco. About Morrison. About your real boss. About the plan to destroy my family."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

David pulled out a phone. "Should I play the recording of your phone call ten minutes ago?"

My heart stopped.

"That's right," Selena said. "We've been listening to all your calls for the past week. Did you really think we didn't know you planted cameras in my mother's safe house?"

"We know about the fake loyalty," David continued. "The secret payments. The plan to inherit Enzo's empire after we were all dead."

I reached for my gun, but David was faster. His weapon was already pointed at my chest.

"I wouldn't," he said.

"How?" I asked. "How did you figure it out?"

"The same way we figured out Morrison's plan," Selena replied. "We worked together instead of against each other."

"That's impossible. David was going to kill you. I saw the messages on his phone."

Selena smiled. "You saw the messages we wanted you to see. David's been feeding Morrison fake information for weeks. Making him think the plan was working while we gathered evidence against all of you."

My mind reeled. "But the files on Maria's computer..."

"Real evidence. Against Morrison. But also against you."

David pulled out a tablet. "Bank records showing payments from Morrison to you. But also payments from someone else. Someone who's been pulling all the strings."

The screen showed financial records. Money flowing from Morrison to me. But also money flowing from a shell company to Morrison. And to me. And to dozens of other people over the years.

All controlled by one person.

"Impossible," I whispered.

"Your real boss," Selena said. "The person who's been orchestrating everything for twenty years. The person who wanted my family destroyed more than anyone."

"Who?" I asked, even though part of me already knew.

David turned the tablet around so I could see the account holder's name.

The blood drained from my face.

"No," I said. "That's impossible."

"Is it?" Selena asked.

Footsteps echoed from the warehouse entrance. Someone was coming.

"Right on time," David said.

A figure stepped out of the shadows. Someone I knew. Someone I trusted. Someone who had been like family to me for decades.

"Hello, Marco," the voice said.

I dropped my gun. My hands wouldn't stop shaking.

"But why?" I asked.

"Because some betrayals run deeper than blood."

Selena looked at me with something that might have been pity. "Marco, you weren't working for Morrison's partner. You were working for Morrison's boss. The person who's been planning this for twenty years."

"The person who killed my mother," David added quietly.

"The person who wanted to destroy the Rossi family and take over the entire criminal empire in New Corinth."

I looked at the figure in the shadows. At someone I had known and trusted my entire adult life.

"Hello, Uncle," I said.

Detective Vance stepped into the light, gun drawn.

"Hello, nephew. I'm sorry it had to end this way."

"You used me."

"I used everyone. Morrison thought he was running the show. You thought you were working for Morrison. Even Enzo thought he was in control of his own family."

"But you were controlling all of us."

"For twenty years. And it almost worked."

Selena stepped between us. "Almost?"

Vance smiled coldly. "Oh, it's still working, sweetheart. Because you see, I didn't just corrupt one cop. I corrupted the whole system."

Behind him, more figures emerged from the shadows. Police officers. FBI agents. Men in expensive suits.

"Everyone who's supposed to protect you," Vance said, "works for me now."

My phone buzzed. One last text message:

The warehouse is surrounded. No one leaves alive except me.

I looked at Selena and David. At the two people who had figured out the truth just in time to die with it.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

"Don't be sorry yet," David replied.

He was looking at something behind me. Something that made him smile.

I turned around.

Through the broken windows, red laser dots danced across Vance's chest.

"You're right, Detective," came a voice from outside. "No one leaves alive."

"Except us."

Enzo Rossi stepped through the north entrance, surrounded by armed men.

"Hello, old friend," he said to Vance. "Ready to face justice?"