Page 53 of Hooked On Victor
He turned.
His eyes found Rose’s.
For a moment they were just two people in the dark.
She swallowed hard.
“It’s not just yours anymore,” she whispered, voice trembling. “It’s ours. Open it.”
He nodded.
Once.
Sharp.
Final.
Victor placed the token Nikolai had given him into the circular indentation on the case’s front.
It clicked.
He pulled out the old signet ring from his pocket—the one he’d worn since childhood, never knowing the truth it held.
He pressed it into the matching seal.
Another click.
The lock disengaged.
The lid lifted with a soft sigh of air, hinges creaking with age.
Inside were three items.
A journal bound in cracked crimson leather, the Tsarina’s initials pressed into the cover in gold that had faded to pale straw.
A packet of official documents, edges brown and brittle, bearing Romanov seals in blood-red wax.
And at the bottom, a letter folded neatly, the ink faded but legible.
To my son, if he should ever rise again. —N.
Victor stared at it.
His lips parted.
But no words came.
Rose moved to his side, her fingers slipping into his without asking.
He held on like he would drown if he didn’t.
And in the hush of the sealed room, surrounded by the bones of an empire, the heart of a dynasty beat once more.
Chapter fifteen
Chapter 15 – Below the Surface
Victor stood over the altar, the folded letter in his shaking hands.
