Chapter 6 - The Enemy Who Had Been Dead for Eight Years
Victor's uncle, Nikolai Malenkov, was supposed to have died in prison.
But the prison records were falsified.
Nikolai had been transferred six years earlier.
No death certificate existed.
The prison warden who signed the paperwork had disappeared.
The trail led to an old private island.
Victor, Luca, Aliyah, and Adrian traveled there together.
The island belonged to the Malenkov family decades earlier.
It contained an abandoned mansion.
Victor entered alone.
"Wait here."
Aliyah grabbed his arm.
"Absolutely not."
He looked down at her hand.
She released him.
"Fine."
"I wasn't asking."
"I know."
They entered together.
Inside, dust covered the furniture.
A clock still ticked.
Then Victor heard a voice.
"Welcome home."
Nikolai stepped from the shadows.
Older.
Gray-haired.
Alive.
Adrian hid behind Victor.
Nikolai laughed.
"You brought the boy."
"He is my son."
"Yes."
Nikolai looked at Aliyah.
"And the waitress."
Victor's expression hardened.
"Don't call her that."
Nikolai smiled.
"Interesting."
He had expected Victor to come alone.
Instead, Victor had brought the two people who mattered most.
That was exactly what Nikolai wanted.
He revealed that he had been manipulating the family for years.
He had ordered Elena's murder because she discovered the ledger.
He had forced Eva to work with him.
He had staged his prison death.
He had even arranged for information about Adrian to leak.
"And now what?"
Victor asked.
"Now I take back the family."
Victor stared.
"You don't have a family."
Nikolai laughed.
"You are standing in my house."
"No."
Victor looked around.
"You're standing in the ruins of it."
Nikolai's men appeared.
Guns.
Dozens.
Aliyah looked at Victor.
He leaned toward her.
"When I move, take Adrian and run."
She shook her head.
"You said we face things together."
"This isn't a negotiation."
She looked directly at him.
"Neither am I."
Victor almost smiled.
Then the lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
Luca's team had surrounded the mansion.
Chaos spread.
Victor grabbed Adrian.
Aliyah followed.
They escaped through the kitchen.
A hidden passage led them beneath the house.
Victor found an old room filled with boxes.
One contained Elena's belongings.
Photographs.
Letters.
A tiny wooden music box.
Inside was a second message.
Victor opened it.
Elena had hidden another note.
If you're reading this, Nikolai knows about Adrian.
Don't trust the person who helped you find me.
Victor stopped.
"Who?"
Aliyah looked over his shoulder.
"What does it mean?"
Victor remembered.
Who had first told him about the old church?
Who had given him the address where Adrian lived?
The priest.
But the priest had been dead for two years.
Someone else had arranged the meeting.
Victor's phone rang.
A masked voice spoke.
"You are looking in the wrong direction."
Victor recognized the voice.
Arthur Bellamy.
"Why are you doing this?"
"I promised Elena I would protect you."
"Where are you?"
"Come to the chapel."
The line went dead.
They reached the chapel at dawn.
Arthur was waiting.
But he wasn't alone.
The priest from the old records appeared beside him.
Victor stared.
"You died."
The old man smiled.
"People in your world are remarkably willing to believe that."
Aliyah almost laughed despite herself.
Arthur handed Victor a folder.
"Nikolai is not the final enemy."
Victor opened it.
The file showed bank records.
Nikolai had been receiving money from another organization.
A powerful international syndicate.
At the top of the documents was one name.
Sabrina Voss.
Victor knew that name.
She ran a financial empire that had quietly absorbed several criminal networks.
She had been behind the scenes.
Nikolai was only her instrument.
Arthur spoke.
"She wanted your family weakened."
"Why?"
"Because she wants control of the East Coast routes."
Victor looked at Aliyah.
She understood immediately.
This wasn't about revenge.
It was about power.
Sabrina had seen Victor isolate himself after Elena's death.
She knew he would be vulnerable.
She used Nikolai to keep him trapped in grief.
And now, with Aliyah and Adrian, Victor had something to lose.
Victor closed the folder.
"Where is she?"
Arthur gave him an address.
New York.
Victor looked at Aliyah.
"You can stay here."
She shook her head.
"No."
"Aliyah."
"You told me we're facing this together."
He stared at her.
May you like
Then he took her hand.
"Together."
