Chapter 9 - The Fall of Viktor
By Friday morning, the war was over.
Viktor’s entire regional network had been dismantled, his shipping assets seized by federal authorities through anonymous corporate leaks provided by Reed Global, and Viktor himself had fled the country on a private vessel bound for South America—never to return to the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle was quiet again.
Maya stood in the kitchen of her Capitol Hill apartment, listening to the gentle rain tapping against the windowpanes.
She had returned to her apartment two days ago under heavy security escort. The café had been completely renovated, featuring brand-new Italian espresso machines, sleek marble counters, and bulletproof reinforced glass front windows.
Her apartment felt cold and empty.
She missed the glass house on the lake. She missed the sound of rain against thirty-foot windows. But most of all, she missed the quiet, dangerous man who had held her by the fire.
Her phone buzzed on the counter.
Maya snatched it up.
“Look out your window,” a text message from an unknown number read.
Maya ran to the window and pushed open the blinds.
Parked down on the rainy street was the familiar black armored SUV.
Mason Reed stood beside the open rear door, wearing his dark charcoal suit, carrying no tablet, no bodyguards, no encrypted folders. He was looking up at her window, his dark hazel eyes clear, steady, and full of unspoken promises.
May you like
Maya didn't even grab her jacket.
She ran out of her apartment, raced down the flights of stairs, and burst through the front door into the cool Seattle rain.
