Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Became the Mafia Boss’s Weakness
By the following week, Aliyah had noticed three things.
The first was that Victor always arrived on time.
The second was that he never touched anyone except her.
The third was that every time she entered a room, his security team quietly moved closer to the exits.
She pretended not to notice.
Victor pretended she didn't.
Their unusual friendship grew in small pieces.
He started appearing at the Red Lion more frequently.
Thursday.
Friday.
Saturday.
Then occasionally Monday.
He still ordered vodka and onion soup.
But now he sometimes stayed after finishing.
He would sit in the darkest booth while Aliyah studied between customers.
One evening she looked over a dosage calculation and sighed.
Victor glanced up.
"Problem?"
"Dimensional analysis."
"I have no idea what that is."
"Neither do I."
"You've been staring at it for twenty minutes."
"Exactly."
He moved from the booth.
Aliyah looked up.
"Where are you going?"
"Here."
He took the seat beside her.
She slid the paper over.
"This."
Victor examined the page.
"I deal with numbers every day."
"Great. Solve it."
He looked at the equation.
Five seconds.
He gave her the answer.
Aliyah blinked.
"That fast?"
"Yes."
"Show me."
He did.
She stared at the calculations.
"That's annoying."
"What?"
"You're smart."
He gave her a dry look.
"You expected otherwise?"
"I didn't know."
"Good."
She smiled.
He smiled back.
It was becoming dangerous.
Not because of his reputation.
Because he was becoming real to her.
Then one Tuesday evening, Aliyah received a call from Caleb.
"Ali, you need to come home."
His voice was wrong.
"What happened?"
"Just come."
She rushed to their apartment.
The door was open.
The living room had been searched.
Drawers emptied.
Books thrown across the floor.
Aliyah ran to Caleb's room.
He was sitting on the edge of the bed.
His lip was split.
"What happened?"
He looked up.
"Three men came."
"Why?"
"They asked about you."
Aliyah's heart dropped.
"What did you tell them?"
"Nothing."
She knelt in front of him.
"Did they hurt you?"
"Only enough to scare me."
She pulled him into her arms.
Then she remembered Victor's warning.
Somebody had followed her.
Somebody knew her brother.
She called him.
He answered on the first ring.
"What happened?"
She told him.
He was silent for two seconds.
"Where are you?"
"Home."
"Leave."
"Victor—"
"Leave now."
"I can't just—"
"You can."
The command frightened her.
Not because it was cruel.
Because she heard the fear underneath it.
Twenty minutes later, three black vehicles arrived.
Victor stepped out.
He walked into the apartment and saw Caleb's bruised face.
His expression became terrifyingly calm.
"Who did this?"
"We don't know."
Luca handed him a photograph.
Victor studied it.
Then he looked at Aliyah.
"They were looking for something."
"What?"
"Information."
"About me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
He hesitated.
"Because they think you matter to me."
Aliyah stared.
"Do I?"
Victor looked at her for a long moment.
"Yes."
She forgot to breathe.
Caleb looked between them.
"Uh…should I leave?"
Aliyah turned red.
Victor almost smiled.
But the moment was broken when Luca received another call.
He walked toward Victor.
"The hospital."
Victor looked at him.
"What?"
"The old Malenkov warehouse was attacked."
Victor's expression changed.
"Who?"
"Seven men. We found one alive."
"Take us there."
Aliyah stepped forward.
"I'm coming."
"No."
"Victor, this is because of me."
"No."
"You just said I matter."
"You do."
"Then let me understand what I'm involved in."
He stared at her.
"You aren't involved."
"They came into my home."
"Exactly."
"You can't keep pretending I am outside this."
Victor wanted to refuse.
Instead, he nodded.
The warehouse smelled of smoke.
One bodyguard lay injured near the back entrance.
Victor crouched beside him.
"Talk."
The man struggled.
"They wanted the ledger."
Victor's eyes narrowed.
"What ledger?"
"The Malenkov ledger."
Victor froze.
It was supposed to be destroyed fifteen years earlier.
A record of bribes, favors, routes, and debts.
The kind of document capable of destroying families.
He had believed it gone.
Apparently, he was wrong.
"Who knew about it?"
The wounded man shook his head.
"Your uncle."
Victor stood.
His uncle had been dead for eight years.
Or so everyone believed.
Aliyah watched him.
"What is happening?"
Victor stared toward the flames.
"My family buried something."
"And someone wants it."
"Yes."
"Why do they think I know where it is?"
Victor looked at her.
"Because they think my wife told me before she died."
Aliyah's expression softened.
"Did she?"
Victor's jaw tightened.
"No."
"Then why are they after you now?"
He looked at the burning building.
"Because someone has started asking questions again."
Aliyah stepped beside him.
"What questions?"
"About her death."
Victor looked at her.
"For twelve years, everyone told me my wife died in a car accident."
He swallowed.
"But yesterday, I learned the brake lines were cut."
Aliyah felt the world tilt.
"Who told you?"
"I did."
She frowned.
"What?"
"I found the report."
He had spent the past week quietly reopening the case.
Someone had accessed old records.
The original investigator was dead.
The file had been altered.
And one photograph had disappeared.
The photograph showed his wife's car after the accident.
It was the same photograph he remembered from twelve years ago.
Except now, he noticed something he had ignored then.
A blue ribbon was tied around the rearview mirror.
Aliyah touched the embroidered E on the handkerchief.
"Blue."
Victor looked at her.
"Yes."
"The same blue as her handkerchief?"
He nodded.
Aliyah's eyes narrowed.
"Maybe the ribbon meant something."
"Maybe."
She looked at him.
"Then find out."
Victor stared at her.
He had spent twelve years refusing to reopen this door.
Now a waitress was standing in front of him telling him to walk through it.
And he did.
Three hours later, investigators found the missing photograph inside a locked office.
On the back was one sentence.
SHE KNEW HE WOULD LOVE AGAIN.
Victor went still.
Aliyah read it over his shoulder.
"Who wrote that?"
Victor shook his head.
"I don't know."
Luca entered.
"Boss."
Victor turned.
"What?"
"We traced the people who attacked the warehouse."
"Where?"
"One of them is connected to a family in New York."
"Which family?"
Luca handed him a file.
Victor opened it.
The Malenkov name was on the first page.
Underneath was a photograph.
A woman.
Elegant.
Blond.
Cold eyes.
Victor stared.
"No."
Aliyah looked at him.
"Who is she?"
May you like
Victor's voice was barely audible.
"My wife's sister."
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