Chapter 6 - The Name on the Birth Certificate
Nobody moved.
Morgana heard only the hum of the diner's refrigerator.
She looked at Jason.
He wouldn't meet her eyes.
That was enough.
“No.”
Gabriel smiled.
Roman said, “Don't.”
Gabriel's gaze shifted toward him.
“Don't what? Tell her the truth?”
Morgana turned to Jason.
“Are you my father?”
Jason's mouth trembled.
“I raised you.”
“That isn't what I asked.”
“Morgana.”
“Are you my biological father?”
Jason closed his eyes.
“No.”
The word landed softly.
It still destroyed something.
Morgana sat.
Roman lowered his weapon slightly but remained between Gabriel and her.
“Who?” she whispered.
Jason looked at Gabriel.
Gabriel laughed.
“Now we're finally getting somewhere.”
Roman stepped toward him.
Gabriel raised both hands.
“Kill me and she'll never know.”
Roman stopped.
Morgana stood.
“Tell me.”
Gabriel looked at her.
“Your father was Daniel Mercer.”
Morgana frowned.
“Mercer?”
Caleb.
Roman understood.
“Caleb's brother.”
Gabriel nodded.
“Daniel worked security for my brother Antonio. Elena loved him. Jason knew.”
Morgana looked at Jason.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you raise me?”
Jason's answer came quietly.
“Because Daniel died before you were born.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Convenient story.”
Roman's eyes narrowed.
“What happened to Daniel?”
Gabriel's smile faded.
“He became curious.”
Morgana felt sick.
“You killed him.”
Gabriel didn't answer.
He didn't need to.
Roman stepped closer.
“You killed Daniel Mercer. You killed my father. You hunted Elena.”
Gabriel shrugged.
“Business.”
Roman's jaw tightened.
“And trafficking?”
“Profitable business.”
Morgana stared at him.
The monster wasn't Roman.
It had never been Roman.
Gabriel looked respectable.
That was what made him worse.
Roman glanced at Hayes.
Hayes touched his earpiece.
Police and federal agents were waiting outside.
Caleb had contacted them.
Roman had arranged the rest.
Gabriel noticed.
“You recorded me.”
Jason lifted the recorder.
“For once,” Jason said, “I did something right.”
Gabriel laughed.
Then pulled a gun.
Everything happened at once.
Roman shoved Morgana behind the counter.
Hayes tackled Gabriel.
A shot exploded into the ceiling.
Jason lunged forward.
Gabriel fired again.
Jason fell.
“Morgana!” Roman shouted.
She crawled toward her father.
Blood spread across Jason's shoulder.
Not fatal.
She knew enough from diner accidents and first-aid training to see that.
Police flooded the room.
Gabriel was dragged away.
For the first time, his composure broke.
“You think this ends with me?”
Roman watched him.
“Yes.”
Gabriel laughed.
“You still don't understand Antonio.”
Roman stepped closer.
“No. You never understood him.”
Gabriel was taken outside.
Morgana held pressure against Jason's wound.
He looked at her.
“You don't have to stay.”
“Stop talking.”
“I mean after.”
She looked at him.
“I know.”
Jason cried.
“I loved you.”
Morgana's expression hardened.
“Love isn't what you say when you're afraid of dying.”
Jason closed his eyes.
“No.”
“Love is what you do when someone else's life costs you something.”
Jason nodded.
“I know.”
Morgana looked toward Roman.
Roman stood a few feet away.
He had risked everything without once asking her to trust him.
Jason had demanded trust while betraying her repeatedly.
She finally understood the difference.
Three days later, Jason survived surgery.
Gabriel was charged with conspiracy, trafficking, money laundering, murder, attempted murder, and dozens of financial crimes.
The Vulov brothers were arrested the same morning.
Caleb turned over years of federal evidence.
Elena entered protective custody temporarily.
Roman's legitimate companies were audited.
He cooperated.
Morgana returned to Roman's house.
Not because she owed him.
Roman had destroyed the debt contract.
She watched him feed it into the fireplace.
“Why?”
“Because you were never responsible for Jason's debt.”
“You knew that the first night.”
“Yes.”
“Then why the employment contract?”
“You needed a reason to believe you could stay without owing me anything personal.”
Morgana stared at him.
“You're annoyingly thoughtful for a criminal.”
“Alleged criminal.”
She smiled.
This time she didn't stop herself.
Weeks passed.
Morgana worked.
But not as a servant.
Roman discovered she was extraordinary at managing logistics.
Household schedules became business schedules.
Inventory became procurement.
Within three months she was working in one of Roman's legitimate shipping offices.
She finished the college degree Jason's gambling had interrupted.
Elena returned slowly.
Their relationship wasn't magically repaired.
Morgana wouldn't allow that.
They met for coffee.
Then lunch.
Then dinner.
They talked.
Sometimes they fought.
Sometimes Morgana cried afterward.
Sometimes Elena did.
But they kept returning.
Jason was different.
Morgana visited him once in rehabilitation.
He had entered treatment for gambling addiction and alcohol dependency as part of his plea agreement.
He apologized.
She didn't forgive him.
Not yet.
Maybe not ever.
But she listened.
That was all she could offer.
Roman never pressured her.
One evening, six months after the diner, Morgana found him on the terrace.
“You've been avoiding me.”
Roman looked surprised.
“I live here.”
“You've been emotionally avoiding me.”
“That sounds worse.”
“It is.”
He smiled faintly.
Morgana stood beside him.
“Why?”
Roman looked over the city.
“Because you're free.”
“I know.”
“And I don't want you confusing gratitude with something else.”
Morgana stared at him.
“Something else?”
Roman remained silent.
She smiled.
“Roman Costa, are you scared of me?”
“No.”
“Liar.”
He looked at her.
Morgana's heart accelerated.
She stepped closer.
“I know what gratitude feels like.”
Roman didn't move.
“And?”
“This isn't it.”
She kissed him.
Briefly.
Then stepped back.
Roman looked stunned.
Morgana smiled.
“That was for being irritating.”
“What happens when I'm pleasant?”
“I'll let you know if it ever happens.”
For the first time, Roman laughed.
The moment was interrupted by Hayes.
He stepped onto the terrace.
“Sorry.”
Roman looked at him.
“What?”
Hayes held an envelope.
“No return address.”
Morgana's smile disappeared.
Roman opened it.
Inside was a photograph.
Antonio Costa.
Daniel Mercer.
Elena.
And a fourth person.
Caleb.
On the back was a handwritten sentence.
ROMAN AND MORGANA DESERVE THE WHOLE TRUTH.
Beneath it was an address.
Morgana recognized the handwriting.
Her mother's.
Roman looked at her.
“She could have told us.”
Morgana turned toward the house.
“Then maybe the message isn't from her.”
Roman flipped the photograph again.
A second sentence appeared beneath the first.
Written in different ink.
COME ALONE, MORGANA.
May you like
And beneath that—
ASK ROMAN WHAT HE FOUND IN HIS FATHER'S SAFE.
