Chapter 6 - Viktor Took Me to His Hidden Mansion—and I Discovered Why He Had Never Trusted Anyone
Viktor did not bring me to a hotel.
He brought me to a mansion hidden behind a private security perimeter outside Manhattan.
The gates opened before we reached them.
I stared.
“Who else lives here?”
“No one.”
“That's creepy.”
“It's secure.”
“Those are not mutually exclusive.”
He glanced at me.
“You make jokes when you're afraid.”
“I make jokes when I'm awake.”
Inside, the mansion was enormous.
Dark wood.
Stone floors.
No family photographs.
No personal decorations.
It felt less like a home than a fortress.
Viktor led me upstairs.
“This room is yours.”
I looked at the bedroom.
Large bed.
Private bathroom.
Closet full of clothes.
A balcony overlooking the trees.
“How did you get all this so quickly?”
“I knew your size.”
I stared.
He stopped.
“That sounded worse than I intended.”
“Much worse.”
He almost smiled.
Then he became serious.
“You are staying here.”
“I'm not your prisoner.”
“No.”
“What am I?”
He looked at me for several seconds.
“Someone I failed to protect once.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
He didn't answer.
I followed him into the library.
Hundreds of books.
Most in Hungarian.
I pulled one down.
“Your father?”
“My father loved history.”
“He was a criminal.”
“He was also my father.”
I opened another book.
A photograph fell out.
Viktor as a child.
Standing beside Adrian.
They looked happy.
“You were close.”
“We were inseparable.”
“What happened?”
“Power happened.”
He told me about the night Adrian disappeared.
He had helped him escape.
Stefan blamed him.
For months, Viktor was hunted by his own family.
Eventually he took control of the organization.
Not because he wanted it.
Because someone had to stop Stefan.
“And you became feared.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Fear is easier than trust.”
I looked at him.
“That sounds lonely.”
“It is.”
For a moment, the feared mafia boss disappeared.
I saw only a man who had spent half his life protecting people who never knew it.
My feelings shifted.
That scared me more than the guns.
A knock interrupted us.
One of Viktor's security men entered.
“Mr. Kovacs, we have a problem.”
“What?”
“Daniel Mercer is outside.”
My stomach dropped.
“Daniel?”
“He claims he came alone.”
Viktor looked at me.
“Stay here.”
“No.”
“Mara.”
“He is my boss.”
“He may be part of this.”
“He also gave me a job when I had nowhere else to go.”
Viktor considered it.
“Fine.”
Daniel entered.
He looked exhausted.
“Thank God you're alive.”
“Why wouldn't I be?”
His eyes moved to Viktor.
“Because Thomas is gone.”
“Where?”
“I don't know.”
Viktor narrowed his eyes.
“What about Pierce?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Pierce has been arrested.”
I stared.
“What?”
“For financial crimes.”
Viktor studied him.
“Convenient.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Mara, I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“My sister is alive.”
I felt the room tilt.
“Elizabeth?”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
“I don't know.”
“Why does she know about my mother?”
“Because my family has been cleaning up Stefan's mess for years.”
Viktor stepped forward.
“And you?”
Daniel looked at him.
“I stayed out.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Daniel sighed.
“I helped your mother once.”
My heart pounded.
“When?”
“Fourteen months before she died.”
I stared.
“What happened?”
“She came to the restaurant.”
“Sterling House?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She asked me to keep watch over someone.”
“Who?”
He looked at Viktor.
“You.”
I froze.
“What?”
“Your mother knew you were working there.”
“She never told me.”
“She wanted to make sure you were safe.”
“From whom?”
Daniel answered:
“Thomas.”
Viktor's expression hardened.
“Why?”
“Because Thomas believed Mara was the key.”
I shook my head.
“I don't understand.”
Daniel pulled out an old ledger.
“These are payments made to Sterling House.”
I scanned the pages.
Thomas Mercer.
Elliot Pierce.
Helena Vale.
Stefan Vale.
Then one final name.
Daniel Mercer.
My heart stopped.
“You took money.”
Daniel nodded.
“I did.”
Viktor's hand moved toward his weapon.
“For what?”
Daniel answered:
“To keep Thomas away from you.”
I looked at him.
“What?”
“My brother wanted to recruit you. I paid him to leave you alone.”
“Why?”
“Because your mother asked me.”
Silence.
Daniel reached into his coat.
He pulled out a sealed envelope.
“She told me to give this to you only when Stefan returned.”
I opened it.
Inside was one sentence.
Mara,
The man you call Daniel is not the man you should fear.
I looked up.
“Then who should I fear?”
Daniel's face turned pale.
“Elizabeth.”
The lights suddenly died.
An alarm screamed.
A gunshot came from the hallway.
Viktor pushed me behind the desk.
Someone shouted from outside.
“Breach!”
Footsteps thundered through the mansion.
Viktor pulled me toward a hidden door.
I whispered:
“Where are we going?”
“To the vault.”
“There’s a vault?”
“You'll understand why.”
We entered a steel room.
Viktor locked the door.
A screen lit up.
Live security footage.
The attacker walked through the mansion.
A woman.
Dark hair.
Elegant coat.
She stopped directly in front of the camera.
Elizabeth Mercer.
She looked into the lens.
May you like
And smiled.
Then she raised a photograph of me as a baby.
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