Chapter 6 - The Lion's Reckoning
The realization hit Maya like a physical blow.
Her whole life—the grief, her mother's sudden poverty, her choice to become a veterinary technician to heal wounded things—had been set in motion by a mob war she hadn't even known existed. Her father hadn't been a careless laborer who slipped on a wet pier. He had been a hero who gave his life for a helpless animal and a dead girl's memory.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Maya sobbed, her hands covering her face. "Why did you let my mother and me believe he was just... gone?!"
"Because if Viktor Vance knew I had Thomas's notebook, he would have killed you and your mother within twenty-four hours," Raphael said fiercely, dropping to one knee beside her chair.
For the first time, the feared mafia boss reached out and took her trembling hands in his. His touch was warm, solid, and surprisingly gentle.
"I paid your mother's mortgage," Raphael said, looking into her eyes. "I kept two men stationed on your block for seven years to make sure Viktor never came near you. I swore to your father’s memory that I would keep his daughter safe, even if it meant you had to hate me."
Maya looked at him through her tears. The cold, dangerous man from the alley was gone. In his place sat a man who had been bled dry by grief, holding onto the last threads of honor in a violent world.
"And now?" Maya asked, her voice shaking. "Why bring me here now?"
"Because Viktor Vance found out Ghost is alive," Raphael said grimly. "Three days ago, one of Vance’s men spotted Ghost wandering near the docks. Ghost had escaped from the farmhouse where your father's brother was keeping him. Vance’s men hunted him, wounded his paw, and chased him into that alley."
Maya gasped. "The alley where I found him!"
"Vance knows you bandaged the dog," Raphael continued, his grey eyes turning into cold iron. "He knows you brought him to the clinic. He thinks you have Thomas's notebook."
Before Maya could reply, the heavy library doors burst open.
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Leo stood in the doorway, his face pale, a tactical radio clutched in his bleeding hand.
"Boss!" Leo yelled. "We’ve got a breach at the main gate! Three black vans just rammed the perimeter wall! It's Vance's crew!"
