Chapter 6 - Blood on the LedgerThe acrid smell of gunpowder hung thick in the air of the archive room, mixing with the metallic tang of fresh blood pooling from Marcus’s head.
I was still sitting on the floor against the filing cabinet, my knees pulled tightly to my chest, staring in shell-shocked horror at the dead man a few feet away. My breathing came in short, jagged gasps, the reality of mob life crashing down on me with the brutal weight of an avalanche.
Victor didn't look at the corpse. His dark, impenetrable eyes were fixed entirely on me.
Slowly, he crouched down until he was at eye level with me. He reached out, his calloused fingers gently brushing a stray lock of hair away from my tear-stained face. The touch was unnervingly tender, a chilling contrast to the execution he had just performed without batting an eye.
"Did you get it?" Victor asked quietly.
I swallowed hard, my hand trembling as I lifted the burner phone and held it out toward him. "Page... page forty-four. I got the photos."
Victor took the phone from my hand, his thumb brushing against my shaking fingers. He tapped the screen, scrolling through the images of Marcus’s ledger with the Outfit. A dark, predatory smile slowly spread across his lips.
"Magnificent," Victor murmured. "You have more courage than half my capos, Elena."
"He was going to kill me," I whispered, my voice cracking as fresh tears spilled over my cheeks. "Marcus... he knew everything."
"Marcus was a dead man the moment he thought he could outsmart the House of Russo," Victor said flatly, his voice devoid of any human remorse. He stood up smoothly, holstering his Sig Sauer, and pressed a discreet button on his lapel comms.
Within thirty seconds, heavy footsteps echoed down the corridor. Two elite enforcers rushed into the archive, stopping dead in their tracks when they saw their chief of security lying in a pool of blood.
"Clean it up," Victor ordered coldly. "Dispose of the body in the usual manner. Scrub the room. And make sure no trace of this reaches the council."
"Yes, Boss," the enforcers muttered, moving with terrifying efficiency to hoist Marcus’s heavy corpse between them.
Victor turned back to me, extending a strong, gloved hand. "Get up, Elena. You're bleeding."
I looked down and realized my hands had been scraped raw against the rough filing cabinet during the struggle. I placed my hand in his, letting him pull me to my feet. The moment I stood, my legs buckled, and I would have hit the floor if Victor’s arm hadn't swept around my waist, pulling me firmly against his solid chest.
"Careful," he murmured, his breath brushing against my ear. "You're still recovering."
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"Where... where are we going?" I whispered against his lapel.
"Back to my suite," Victor said, lifting me effortlessly into his arms as if I weighed nothing at all. "The night is still young, Elena. And now that Marcus is gone... we have an empire to run together."
