👉 Previous decision: Viktor’s lawyer revealed the full extent of Mara and Julian’s betrayal.
The chapel erupted. Cult members scattered in terror, their fanaticism dissolving into frantic self-preservation.
Viktor’s enforcers moved with brutal efficiency. Julian Cross and Sister Mara Gable were seized, their pleas and protests silenced by rough hands. They were dragged out into the back of dark vans, destined for the unforgiving justice of the underworld.
As the last cultist was subdued, Maya Lin appeared, emerging from the shadows of a side door. She held Ethan’s fiancée gently by the arm, guiding her out through a rear alley exit and into the blessed anonymity of the Queens night. Ethan gave me a brief, meaningful nod, then followed them, a new purpose in his stride.
Viktor Kostov stood over me, his presence radiating raw power. He held my original lease contract in his hand.
He looked from the contract to my face, his expression unreadable. Recognizing my total innocence in the $1.4 million theft, and my unwitting assistance in exposing Mara and Julian, he gave a slow, deliberate nod.
He took my blood contract, held it over a small, brass bowl, and ignited it with a flick of his lighter. The paper curled into ash, my forged signature disappearing into smoke.
“Your debt is settled, Kaczmarek,” Viktor said, his voice deep and gravelly. “You’re clear with the law, too. My lawyers will handle the arson charge.”
But then his eyes narrowed. “However,” he added, a chilling undercurrent in his tone, “you still know too much. About the Congregation. About my syndicate’s operations.”
He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a single key, plain and silver. He dropped it into my outstretched hand.
“A new apartment,” he said, “in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Consider it… a gesture of good faith. And a reminder.”
➡️ Read CHAPTER 18 to continue the story.
+ There are no comments
Add yours