"Hi dad," I greeted. Everyone stood shocked. My eyes caught what was behind them on the TV. It was my house up in flames. What's going? She was supposed to be behind me. She promised.

"That's my house," I choked out. My father snapped out of his frozen state and turned around to turn off the TV.

"She's alive, right? Please tell me she's alive," I begged, tears running from my eyes.

"They said there were no survivors," and that was all it took for me to break down. He ran over to me and held me while I sobbed in his chest. This is what I've been missing. Fatherly love. It felt nice to finally meet my dad and know that he didn't not want me.

"I'm looking into it," he assured.

"She- she said to tell you 'Il russo'," I related the message mom told me and he tensed up.

"What is it? What does it mean?" I asked and he shook his head, taking his phone out of his pocket. I watched him talk to the person on the phone in a foreign language. Most likely Italian. Then he hung up.

"No, dad, tell me what it means. Please?" I pleaded.

"The Russians. Your mother simply told me that it was the Russians behind it," he told me and my eyes widened remembering what she told me before sending me off.

"She told me that she tried to cut them off but they told her to give birth first and then come back to work for her. But she didn't want that so she killed a few of them and that's why they are after her," I informed him.

"She obviously knew they were coming for her soon, so she had you leave early so you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. How did you reach here?" he asked.

"She sent me to the docks to have John Wick help me," I thought they would get whiplash at how fast their heads snapped to me.

"John Wick?" this was probably hard for him to take in. I know, dad, I know.

"Hard to believe right? It turns out he's been working with mom," he raised his eyebrows and eventually nodded.

"So you've been living in Austria all this time," he sounded to be saying that more to himself. The front door burst open, revealing all the guys I've knocked out. Took them long enough.

"You bitch! Sorry boss, she was a lot more difficult to handle than anticipated," one of the guys seethed, glaring at me.

"Expect more of that. She's my daughter," he introduced and I smirked.

"From Red Blood?" he looked scared out of his wits and I nodded.

"So where is she?" his eyes darted around the room.

"She's dead," I deadpanned. His mouth opened ajar.

"May her soul rest in peace," he held his head down for a minute. I guess this was a moment of silence for her. Was she really that good of an assassin that she was respected? Wow, mom was a badass. But that was obvious from all the trainings she gave me.

"Okay, Luca, show Mirabella to her room," I looked around to a cute guy that seemed around my age.

His eyes were a beautiful brown, jawline as sharp as a knife, very muscular. He was my type.

"What is it like having the infamous Red Blood as a mom?" I almost laughed at his question.

"Well I didn't know she was 'Red Blood' until yesterday so," I shrugged. "But she was a loving mother. There were times when she was paranoid about certain things but I understand why now. She was a best friend, I could talk to her about anything. It was easy for us to laugh about anything. She was an excellent fighter, with hands and weapons. Again, I can see where it all came from."

"Wait, she trained you?" he asked and I hummed a response, confused why he asked. With a mother like that, how could she not train me.

"How old are you?"

"17," his eyes formed an 'o' at my answer.

"How old are you?" I reverted the question on him.

"19," Wheww, Lord. Definitely my type. "Well here is your room, if you need anything, you have a house full of people to ask."

"Actually, there's one thing," I started and he waited for me to continue. "Where can I find a man named Nikolas. My mom said he was a friend to Dad,"

I also remembered she said he was like a brother to her, so I guess it was fair for me to call him Uncle, since he was practically one of the few people close enough to her for her to call him family.

"Oh, follow me," I left my suitcase and followed him down the hall to a room. Luca left after saying to open with caution. I knocked on the door quietly but loud enough for him to hear.

"Not now Luciano," I heard his voice grunt out. It sounds like he's been crying. He must have really loved mom. I turned the door handle to find the door surprisingly open. I walked in quietly but kept my eyes on him as I closed the door.

"Uncle Nik," I called and he froze and in the blink of an eye, a gun was pointed in between my eyes. I should be scared but with all the times this has happened between me and mom, I've grown to get used to it.

"Who are you?" his eyes were swollen and red. He smelled like alcohol.

"Mirabella Salvatore. My mom, Ziva, told me about you," he froze and slowly dropped his hand to his side.

"You're Ziva's daughter? I thought you were dead. You look so much like her," his eyes ran over my face with a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I don't think Mom would've liked you wallowing in alcohol like this. Personally I think she would've kicked your ass," I joked and he laughed, nodding because he knew it was true.

"Come on," I took his hand and lead him to the bathroom to get cleaned up. I filled the tub with water and left him in there. "I don't want you to come out until you're clean, then we're gonna work on getting you sober,"

I now understood what mom meant. Uncle Nik had this aura that made it easy for him to be around. He was easy to talk to about anything. He may seem tough on the outside but he's a real bear on the inside.

I looked around at his unkempt room and started to tidy it up. He was going to be in there for a while so it gave me time to put his room back in order. When I was finished, I sprayed the room with Febreze and smiled.

I had a feeling my life was going to be fun, adventurous and a whole merry-go-round.

6/12/20

Au revoir.....