Ronan Stryker leaned against the study door and watched as Jason Morgan's daughter played with her dolls. The child, with curly blonde hair—the perfect mixture of her mother and father—was oblivious to his presence. He had arrived in Chicago hours before and had been in meetings with his stepfather and his associates since. The worst part had been explaining the white sling he wore. His stepfather shook his head slightly as he retold the story of how he went to the cemetery and confronted Morgan and his wife. He'd been embarrassed for himself when he told how easily Morgan had overpowered him and brought him to his knees. The pain he felt in his right arm didn't begin to compare to the pain he felt over disappointing his stepfather.
His relationship with Philip Scarcella wasn't commonly known. Nor the relationship he shared with his step-brother, Joseph, but despite that, the three men had remained close, no matter the losses they had shared. Years before, when the men planned to fake the death of Sorel and young Abby Morgan, there had been a grave mistake. Mike Villalobos, one of Sorel's top lieutenants at the time, had turned on their organization and Corinthos had managed to kill his step-brother before they got him out of the building. But Abby Morgan had survived. Part of the original plan was that they would return the Morgan baby sometime later, as a guarantee for Sorel's life.
Stryker adjusted the strap on the sling and sighed. Of course, things hadn't worked out that way. His brother was dead, Abby Morgan was being raised as a Scarcella, and he was stuck in Port Charles away from the child who called him father. He tilted his head to study the child more closely and wondered when she would realize she wasn't who they told her she was. They hadn't changed her name, only add Stryker to the end of it. The child knew she had her father's eyes, but one look at her 'father' would quickly tell her differently. Each time he saw her, Jason Morgan's eyes stared back at him.
"She knows you're here," his stepfather said from behind him. The older mobster moved past his stepson and into his study. "There's no point in lurking in doorways, the child isn't stupid."
"I didn't think she was," Stryker finally said. He waited until the man was seated at his desk before he moved fully into the room. He made sure to close the door behind him before he took the seat nearest to Abby. "How has she been?"
"She misses you." He turned to study the man he called son and wondered how things had gotten so backwards. When his other stepson came to him with a plan on how to bring Jason Morgan to his knees, he'd agreed reluctantly. In truth, Corinthos and Morgan had always stayed on their side of the street. They didn't bother his business, so he didn't bother them.
"I miss her too," the man admitted quietly. The months he'd been in Port Charles were taking their toll on him. It had been decided that little Abby would be returned to her parents eventually and so had hatched the plan to take over his brother's territory in Port Charles in exchange for her return. Missing her consumed him. He'd never meant to fall in love with Jason Morgan's daughter, but the first time he saw her he couldn't help himself. Stryker knew all the reasons Morgan fell in love with his wife, because it was obvious Abby Morgan had all of her mother's beauty and life.
"We can call this off," Scarcella offered. "Look what he's done to you already and you've only went after his wife. Ronan, if he finds out you've had his daughter for three years and let everyone believe she was dead, he's going to kill you."
"He'll kill me, anyway." Stryker surprised himself with the lack of emotion in his voice. But he wondered if losing the child who had become his daughter wouldn't kill him the same. First his brother, then his daughter. The only person he'd have left would be his stepfather. The man was considerably older and he'd accepted he wouldn't be around forever. Stryker lifted his gaze to meet the older man's and shook his head. "As Morgan reminded me yesterday, I'm only alive because he lets me live." He pressed a hand to his chest and continued, "Father, you have to understand that we started this war. It was Joey who went after him and Corinthos and it was Joey who took his daughter. When Morgan finds out our connection with Abby's disappearance, hell, when Morgan finds out Abby is alive he'll turn the world upside down until he finds her. And Elizabeth Webber will be at his side the entire time."
Scarcella knew his son was right. He remembered the days when his biggest worries were that Ronan would fall down and scrap his chin. But as he'd come up in his Uncle's organization, Ronan gained power too. He'd promised his first wife, Olivia, he would always look after her son. He dismissed the comment and watched as Ronan sunk to the floor and began to play with his daughter.
He was a man of power and had fought his way to the top. Philip Scarcella rolled over for no one—certainly not Sonny Corinthos or Jason Morgan. He reached for the double silver picture frame on his desk and studied the two women. Olivia was on the right side, smiling brightly at him. He'd taken the picture shortly before she told him about the ovarian cancer. They'd been married for about three months and from what he knew, she'd been sick since they met.
He'd loved her at first sight. He'd been about twenty five when she walked into his Uncle's restaurant and ordered lunch for her and her young son. Philip had been helping because they were short staffed and he looked up into the eyes of an angel. They'd dated all of six weeks before he convinced her to marry him. His family had thought him foolish to marry someone so soon, but she'd given him the happiest time of his life. Looking back know, he realized that she was looking for a father for her son, not a lover for herself. On her deathbed, she'd made him promise to adopt five-year-old Ronan and to look after him. He'd never broken that promise.
His thumb stroked over the second picture and he smiled at the other woman he had loved. It'd been seven years since the death of Olivia when he met Gabrielle Sorel. Again, this woman had a young son. She was beautiful and full of life. And she loved Ronan from the moment she saw him. Scarcella had been more careful going into this marriage. He'd courted Gabrielle for almost two years before he asked her to marry him. He'd been hesitant about bringing someone else into this life, but when he looked at her, he knew he'd never be able to live life without her. Joseph had been around fifteen when they married—the perfect age to mentor young Ronan. Scarcella had searched for reasons to not marry her, to save her from this life, but he couldn't find any.
Sadly, he'd been right in not wanting to bring her into this life. Gabrielle had been out shopping one afternoon and was waiting for her driver to bring the car around. The police said it was a random drive-by and it could have happened to anyone in Chicago that day. But Scarcella knew his cousin Carlos had ordered the hit. Their uncle had just died and he'd left the organization to Philip to run, over Carlos. Even as children, the boys had never gotten along. It'd become clear long ago that Vincent Scarcella favored his younger nephew over Carlos.
Scarcella never married a third time. While he had a woman who he was fond of, he couldn't stand to lose someone else. He knew he was past his prime and sixty five and knew he shouldn't try to bring a child of his own into this world. Not when he was sure he wouldn't be around long enough to see the child grow. At one time, he'd hoped that Ronan and Joseph would run the territory together. This was before Sorel took the position with Anthony Moreno in Port Charles and Ronan went to sow his own seeds on the west coast. Scarcella had always hoped the boys would return to Chicago and to him, but it never happened.
The mysterious reasons around Moreno's death put Joseph into power too quickly. He was still young and hot-headed and didn't know how to run a territory. The older man knew his stepson tried, but he wasn't smart enough to take on the establishment of Corinthos and Morgan. Scarcella knew the people in Port Charles worshiped at the altar of Sonny Corinthos. The mobster with a heart of gold, a vampire with a soul. And Jason Morgan came from the most prominent family in town. Hell, one of the most prominent families on the eastern seaboard. Even if he didn't claim his Quartermaine roots, they followed him everywhere. The Golden Boy of Port Charles, his older brother liked to call him.
Joseph's first mistake had been going after Elizabeth Webber. At the time, it was thought the young woman was a weakness to Morgan, but it soon became clear she was where he got his strength. Scarcella knew something personal went down with Corinthos and Morgan's girlfriend and shortly after he left town with Ms. Webber. For the two years they'd traveled, he never kept up with what Morgan was doing. But when he returned to Port Charles they were married and expecting their first child. Like always, the town opened their arms and embraced him. Scarcella believed it was Jason who encouraged Corinthos to step up the street war against Joseph. His stepson's retaliation was to go after Abby Morgan.
She was only supposed to guarantee his freedom. Except his own lieutenant, Villalobos turned on him. Corinthos and Morgan had wired the warehouse to explode, killing Joseph immediately. Scarcella always wondered how they knew young Abby Morgan wasn't in the building. And then he realized they thought she was, because Jason Morgan and Elizabeth Webber had a funeral for their daughter.
Which brought him back to Abby Morgan, the child he told himself over and over he shouldn't love. She was the child of his enemy, the man who had killed his son. But when she looked at him with the blonde ringlets framing her face and a wide smile he couldn't resist. He never meant to love her, but he found it was like telling himself to not breathe.
Philip Scarcella had a new dream when he closed his eyes at night. It was no longer Ronan taking over the family business, but young Abby Morgan. He wanted to her to be a Scarcella, but he knew no amount of wishing would undo her parentage.
"Did you set the plan in motion?" Stryker asked finally. The nanny had come into to tell Abby it was her naptime. The young girl had wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered I love you, Daddy into his ear. The tears that came to his eyes made him wonder if he'd ever be able to return the child. Or if he'd have to.
"The pictures were sent yesterday. The five, just like we discussed. Elizabeth Webber should receive them sometime today. With any luck, Morgan will be with her."
"According to what my guy said, Elizabeth and Morgan are meeting with Alexis Davis to discuss their divorce today. They should definitely be together. And like I told you, Morgan has declared himself her bodyguard and he knows about his daughter Isabelle. That young woman has more protection than Fort Knox."
"But you still got to her," Scarcella said quickly. "And he hates you for it. You killed Corinthos' man and you put your hands on her."
"I might as well have signed my own death warrant. I've never seen such hatred as I did that afternoon from Jason Morgan. He definitely loves his wife. So much that he would die for her."
"Then why the divorce? Has she stopped loving him?"
"I don't think so," he answered. Stryker had spent hours mulling over the Morgan marriage and wondered why they were divorcing. At the cemetery he'd noticed that she was wearing her engagement ring still. Morgan always wore the same platinum wedding band and they held hands like always. "She was like a rabid dog, protecting him yesterday. I've never seen someone get in Taggert's face the way Elizabeth Webber did yesterday."
"Joseph once told me that she went after Taggert like that. Before she and Morgan were involved, she found the pair on the docks and Taggert was insulting Morgan. He said Ms. Webber was like a wolf, protecting her cubs."
"Jason Morgan doesn't need protection. Especially not in the form of Elizabeth Webber. I'd think it was the other way around."
Scarcella tapped a finger to his forehead and frowned at his stepson. "You forget, Morgan claims to not lie. Think about yesterday, who was it that told the lies?"
"Morgan didn't say anything, to be honest. He stood there and watched as she lit a fire under Taggert. I'm sure if she wasn't there, Taggert would have found an excuse to drag both of us downtown. But when they left, she wrapped her fingers around his and told the officer than she and her husband would be going now."
"Then are you sure about the divorce?"
"Yes," he said immediately. "I'm not sure what happened, but Morgan called Ms. Davis soon after they returned from the grave to set up an appointment today. I don't know what happened, but this divorce is going to happen."
"Then should we rethink our plan?" Scarcella asked. "Perhaps move our plans back."
"No," he said, shaking his head. "Morgan and Webber love each other, of that I'm sure. And they love their daughter. From what I could tell, both still miss Abby everyday. I'm not sure what's going on between personally. But this is the perfect time to let them know we have Abby."
"Are you prepared for the war Corinthos and Morgan are going to wage on you when they find out the truth?"
"Father, I'm more worried about you. Neither men are exactly stupid and I know they'll figure out I had help. I'm sure that Villalobos has already filled them in our connections with Joseph. If he hasn't, it's only a matter of time."
"So we move forward from here?"
"Yes." Stryker turned away from Scarcella and sighed. He dropped his head slightly and studied the plush carpet in the room. "Are you ready to give her up?"
The older man knew what his son was talking about. "I've been ready to give her up since the moment she came to live here."
Stryker turned quickly and studied the man. "That's not true. You love her too, don't you? How could you not love her?"
"Yes, I love her." Scarcella's gaze drifted back to the frame with the pictures of his wives and sighed. "But I've never let myself forget that she's Jason Morgan's daughter. I never let myself forget that Sonny Corinthos is her godfather. Her smile is the same one Elizabeth Webber smiled the day she married Morgan. Her hair is the same color as Morgan's and the curls come from Ms. Webber. Having the chance to Abby Morgan's grandfather has been one of the most rewarding of my life, but I always knew I'd have to give her back."
"Then teach me how," he whispered. Stryker turned back and let the man see the tears in his eyes. "Teach me how I'm supposed to look at her and not love her. Tell me why I see my daughter, instead of Morgan's. How do I explain to her that I can't be her father anymore? Because I don't have a clue."
"You don't," he said simply. "Abby is only three and I doubt she'll remember us when she grows up. Giving that little girl up will be the hardest thing you'll ever do, but you have to."
"Why?"
"Because ultimately, this is business. We took Abby as a way to get to Jason Morgan. We shouldn't have gotten attached to her. She's not you're daughter and she's not my granddaughter. She's a pawn. Nothing more. And right now, we have an opportunity to use her to try to gain back your brother's territory." Scarcella spoke harshly as he tried to remind his stepson of what their objective was.
Ronan bowed his head and sucked in a breath. "What if that's not what I want anymore? What if I'd trade this vendetta that Joey started with Morgan and Corinthos for the opportunity to keep Abby as my own?"
"It's not your choice to make. We knew how this would end the moment Abby entered our lives. We did not kidnap her so that you could have a daughter. She was taken as leverage, as a negotiating tool. And now it's time to play our hand."
Stryker stood under the scrutinizing gaze of his stepfather and humbly spoke, "But I love her."
"You have to give her back," Scarcella sighed as he put a comforting hand on his stepson's shoulder, "because you love her."
Scarcella pressed a hand to his chest and sighed. "Forget for one minute that this has anything to do with business. The bottom line is, no matter how much you love her, or how much I love her, it'll never be the way her parents could love her. It'll never be the love that Isabelle Morgan would have for her. I can't love her in the same way Sonny Corinthos would love her. And because we love her, we have to let her go. We have to do what's best for her."
"And if that feels like it's ripping my heart out of my chest?"
"It gets better," he told him. "When your mother died, I didn't think I'd ever recover. I didn't think I'd ever love again. When Joseph died, I wanted nothing more than to yank you from this life. But I can't. We're only human, Ronan. We don't get to play with other people's lives."
"I think it's too late for that," Stryker snapped.
"Maybe you're right. Maybe it was wrong for us to agree with Joseph and his plan to tear Jason Morgan apart. But we can't go back three years and erase that moment. We have to live with it."
"He's gonna kill us."
"He'll try," he agreed. "Whether he'll succeed or not, I don't know. But he will try. I promise you that."
"I'm dead either way," Stryker said, grimly.
"I can protect you." Even as he said the words, he knew his stepson would never accept the offer.
"No, father. I'm not going to run. Not from Sonny Corinthos and not from Jason Morgan."
Philip Scarcella clasped his hands in front of him and studied his son. "Then you should prepare to lose her."
Stryker nodded briefly before he turned to leave the room. "The plane's waiting for my trip back to Port Charles. I'll be in touch."
Scarcella sat at the desk, lost in his thoughts for a long time after Stryker left. When he finally moved again, it was to check on his young granddaughter. He stood over Abby Morgan's bed for what felt like hours, watching her sleep. And the entire time, one question raced through his mind.
Would they be able to get out this alive?