Wrong Turn, Right Choice

Iris POV

"Drive!" Alessandro shouted as bullets shattered what was left of my car windows.

I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and spun the wheel hard left. My little Honda squealed around the corner on two wheels. Behind us, the black SUVs roared to life and gave chase.

"Where am I going?" I screamed over the sound of gunshots.

"Away from here!"

That wasn't very helpful, but I kept driving. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight my knuckles turned white. Blood from tiny glass cuts on my arms dripped onto my jeans.

"Left! Go left!" Alessandro pointed down a side street.

I turned so fast the car almost flipped over. We were in some fancy neighborhood now, with huge houses and perfect lawns. The kind of place where people like me didn't belong.

"They're still behind us," I said, checking my broken mirror.

"I know. Keep driving."

"But where?"

Alessandro was quiet for a long moment, like he was thinking about something really important. Finally, he said, "Do you know anything about the families who live in this area?"

"What families?"

"The ones your aunt told you stories about when you were little."

My heart skipped. How did he know about Aunt Elena's stories? She used to tell me scary tales about powerful families who lived in big houses and settled arguments with violence instead of words. I thought they were just made-up stories to keep me from wandering around at night.

"You mean those stories were real?"

"Very real. And we're about to visit one of them."

"Are you crazy? You want to go to the dangerous people?"

"Sometimes the most dangerous place is the safest."

I didn't understand that, but another round of bullets hitting my car made me stop arguing. Three more turns and we were driving through streets lined with mansions that looked like castles.

"There," Alessandro pointed to the biggest house I'd ever seen. It had iron gates and stone walls and looked like something from a scary movie.

"Whose house is that?"

"Someone who might help us."

"Might?"

"Turn here. Now!"

I cranked the wheel right, but I was going too fast. The car skidded sideways, hit a patch of ice, and went completely out of control.

Everything happened in slow motion. The car spun around twice before slamming into a tree beside the iron gates. Steam hissed from the broken engine. The airbag exploded in my face, and for a second I couldn't see or breathe.

"You okay?" Alessandro's voice sounded far away.

"I think so." My nose was bleeding and my chest hurt, but nothing felt broken.

"We need to move. They'll be here any second."

I tried to open my door, but it was stuck. Alessandro kicked his door open and ran around to my side. He yanked on the handle until my door came free.

"Can you walk?"

I stumbled out of the car. My legs felt like jelly, but they worked. "Yeah."

That's when I heard the engines getting closer. The black SUVs had found us.

"Run," Alessandro said. "Through the gates."

"But they're closed."

"No, they're not."

He was right. The huge iron gates stood slightly open, like someone had been expecting us.

We ran toward them just as the first SUV rounded the corner. Men jumped out before it even stopped moving.

"There! The girl!"

"Don't let her escape!"

My legs pumped as hard as they could. Alessandro ran beside me, matching my speed. We reached the gates and squeezed through the opening.

"Keep going," he said.

The driveway was long and curved, lined with trees that blocked out most of the sunlight. Our footsteps crunched on gravel. Behind us, I could hear the men reaching the gates.

"It's locked!" one of them yelled. "How did they get in?"

"Climb over!"

"Are you nuts? You know whose place this is?"

I looked back and saw the men hesitating at the gates. They looked scared.

"Why aren't they following us?" I asked Alessandro.

"Because they're smarter than they look."

We kept running up the driveway. My lungs burned and my legs ached. I wasn't used to this much running. The most exercise I usually got was carrying coffee orders at work.

Finally, the trees ended and I could see the mansion clearly. It was even bigger up close, with tall windows and scary stone animals carved around the doors.

"Who lives here?" I asked, slowing down.

"Someone who—"

A deep voice interrupted him. "Someone who doesn't like uninvited guests."

I spun around and saw the scariest man I'd ever seen in my life. He was huge, with muscles that stretched his black shirt and scars on his hands. His eyes looked like they'd seen too much violence.

"Mr. Torrino," the scary man said to Alessandro. "Your father is expecting you."

Mr. Torrino? Alessandro's last name was Torrino, which meant...

"This is your house?" I whispered to Alessandro.

He nodded. "Welcome to the family home."

Family home. The dangerous families Aunt Elena told stories about. I was standing in the driveway of one of those families, and Alessandro belonged to them.

"Come," the scary man said. "Both of you."

We followed him toward the front door. It was massive, made of dark wood with metal decorations that looked like weapons.

"Alessandro." Another voice made us stop.

An older man walked out of the house. He was shorter than Alessandro but somehow seemed more dangerous. His hair was gray, and he wore an expensive suit that probably cost more than I made in six months.

"Father," Alessandro said carefully.

Father. This was Alessandro's dad. And if this was his house, and these were his people, then Alessandro was...

"You brought her here," the older man said. It wasn't a question.

"She was in danger."

"She is danger." His eyes moved to me. "Iris Kane, I presume."

Hearing my name from this stranger's mouth made my skin crawl. "How do you know who I am?"

"I know many things, child. Including the fact that you're Robert Kane's daughter."

"My father is dead."

The older man smiled, but it wasn't a nice smile. "Your adoptive father Vincent Martinez is dead, yes. Shot six months ago during a robbery gone wrong. But Robert Kane, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is very much alive. And very much your biological father."

The world tilted sideways. Vincent Martinez. That was the name on my birth certificate, but I'd always been told it was a mistake. That my real father died in a car crash with my mother.

"That's impossible."

"DNA doesn't lie, Miss Kane. Unlike the people who raised you."

I looked at Alessandro. "Did you know?"

"I suspected."

"Suspected what?"

"That you were the FBI director's secret daughter. The one he hid away after his wife was murdered twenty years ago."

Murdered. Not a car crash. Murdered.

"Why would he hide me?"

"Because," the older man said, stepping closer, "he knew his enemies would use you against him. Just like we're going to do now."

My blood turned cold. "What?"

"You're worth more than money, child. You're worth power. Control. Revenge."

I backed away from him. "You're going to hurt me?"

"Not if you cooperate."

"Father," Alessandro said, warning in his voice.

"Quiet, son. You've done enough by bringing her here."

"I brought her here to protect her."

"You brought her here because you're weak. Just like your mother was."

Something dangerous flashed in Alessandro's eyes when his father mentioned his mother. "Leave her out of this."

"Your mother's weakness nearly destroyed this family. I won't let yours finish the job."

The older man turned back to me. "You have a choice, Miss Kane. Work with us willingly, or we'll make you work with us unwillingly. Either way, your father will pay for what he's done to us."

"What did he do?"

"He destroyed my brother's family. Sent my nephews to prison. Killed my business partners. All in the name of justice." The word came out like a curse. "Now it's time for justice to work both ways."

I looked at Alessandro, hoping he would help me. But he was staring at the ground like he was ashamed.

"Don't look to my son for help," his father said. "He made his choice when he brought you here. Now you need to make yours."

"What choice?"

"Help us bring down Robert Kane, or watch everyone you care about die."

"I don't care about Robert Kane. I don't even know him."

"But you care about your aunt Elena, don't you?"

My heart stopped. "What about Elena?"

The older man smiled his terrible smile again. "She's currently our guest. In the basement. She's been asking about you."

"You kidnapped my aunt?"

"We rescued her from the Castellano family, who were about to kill her for information about you. She's safe, for now."

"Let me see her."

"Of course. Alessandro, take Miss Kane to visit her aunt. I'm sure they have much to discuss."

Alessandro finally looked up at me. His eyes were full of something that might have been regret.

"Iris, I—"

"Just take me to her," I said.

We walked toward the house. The front door opened by itself, like the house was alive and waiting to swallow us.

"One more thing, Miss Kane," Alessandro's father called after us.

I turned around.

"Your aunt has been shot. She's alive, but she won't be for long without proper medical care. Help us, and she gets a doctor. Refuse, and she dies slowly."

The door slammed shut behind us with a sound like a coffin closing.

I was trapped in a house full of dangerous people, my aunt was dying in the basement, and the man I'd started to trust had delivered me straight to his family like a present.

Alessandro stopped walking and turned to face me. "Iris, listen to me carefully. Whatever happens next, whatever you see or hear, remember that sometimes the only way to save someone is to let them think you've given up."

"What do you mean?"

Before he could answer, footsteps echoed from the basement stairs. Heavy boots climbing up toward us.

"They're coming," Alessandro whispered urgently. "When you see your aunt, act scared but don't panic. And whatever you do, don't mention the phone."

"What phone?"

But it was too late for answers. Three men appeared at the top of the basement stairs, carrying someone between them.

Someone covered in blood.

Someone who looked just like Aunt Elena.

But as they got closer, I realized something horrible.

It wasn't Aunt Elena at all.