Dark Desires: Deliverance (4 page)

Vladimir clenched his
jaw for the umpteenth time that day. She was bringing up a topic he had already
declared resolved and in doing so she was rekindling his smouldering
discontent. "Nothing, it's settled."

She slapped him
again. "Get.
Out."

"Who was the man
you were talking to earlier?" The words broke forth before he had time to
think about the can of worms he was opening.

For the second time
that day, her face was peppered in confusion because of him. "What are you
talking about?"

"I arrived a few
moments after you did this afternoon and you were talking and laughing with
another man. Who was he?"

"You mean Dean?
The assistant manager?"

"Why were you
talking to the assistant manager?"

"I greet
everybody there. I've basically become a permanent guest,
it's
common courtesy for people with manners. Something I've recently discovered you
lack."

"I
thought…"

"That I sleep
with anybody because I fucked you after our ten-minute encounter" she
whispered as tears fell down her cheeks.

He felt like a
complete asshole. He had misjudged the situation completely. "Val…"

"Why didn't you
just ask me?"

Why hadn't he asked?
How could he explain that he was emotionally inept and had never felt jealousy
over a woman, let alone learnt how to manage that spectrum of
emotion.
"I don't know. I was just so angry after
seeing you two."

"We said we
would talk about things that make us uncomfortable. Why didn't you just ask
me?" Her voice shook with emotion.

"I'm sorry"
he pulled her into his arms even though she fought him. Eventually, she gave up
and cried into his chest. He had hurt her. Her pain was painted through the wet
spots her tears created on his shirt. Picking her up, he carried her to the bed
and put her down. Taking off his shoes and jacket he climbed in next to her.
Her back was turned to him, but he was not blind to the sobs that wracked her
body. Pulling her towards him, he forced her to meet his gaze. She shut her
eyes in an attempt to shut him out. He wouldn't allow her to. He kissed her
tears, tasting her salt-stained cheeks on his lips, along with
it,
he swallowed the tang of his own regret. "I'm so
sorry," he whispered into her ear. "I won't do it again." After
a few minutes of holding her, she stopped crying and her breathing had almost
returned to normal.

"You need to
grow the fuck up. For a thirty-year-old man, you behave like a child."

Looking into her
eyes, he continued to stroke her soft cheek with his calloused thumb. No one
had ever talked to him that way. On all accounts she was right, so he swallowed
his pride and allowed the words of her censure. "I'm sorry."

Soon afterwards, she
fell asleep but Vlad stayed awake. He never wanted to see her like this again
because of him. He had to do better. He had to become a better man if he wanted
to stay with her.

˜ζ˜

Waking up with a
start Vlad realised that he had fallen asleep. The dream felt so real. The pang
in his chest and his erection were a testament to that – he needed her back. It
was that day that he knew on an unconscious level, even though he wasn't ready
to admit it to himself, that Valerie was his. She ruled him without even
realising the kind of hold she had on him. After that little episode, he had
endured her silent treatment as his punishment for a few days. He had blown
things out of proportion and punished her for his error in judgement He had
promised to do better from then on and he had. He would continue to do so when
she was back in his arms.

It was now morning
and he checked his phone for the time. The screen read 9
AM
and his notification showed a new message from Andrei. His brother would be arriving
in the early afternoon. He got out of the bed to freshen up and head to the
airport. Even though the wait would be a long one, it was better than sitting
in the big empty house that had become a constant reminder of what he had lost.

The wait was
torturous but Vlad stood by the decision he had made to leave the house.
Anything was better than being in the place that housed Val's essence. He could
smell her on the pillows as he went to bed. When he went to their bathroom he
was met with her cosmetics and toiletries. When he opened the fridge, he stared
at the ten tubs of cottage cheese she had bought on sale. At every turn her
spirit surrounded him. It felt as if at any moment she would walk through the
front door, but he knew that was not going to happen.

At the airport, he
sat and observed the people that went through the vast space on their various
journeys. There were business travellers with their briefcases who walked in a
hurry to get to their flights or cabs, the tourists who looked like they had
come to relax or were going back home, and the families that were either saying
goodbye or greeting their loved ones. A few months ago he could relate to the
businessmen or the tourists, however, at this moment in time, he was neither. As
for family, his relationship with his brothers had grown distant over the past
five years or so. Val had become his family in a strange way but she was gone
now and that left him feeling hollow.

Looking at his watch,
he noted that Andrei should have landed already. He looked up and on cue he saw
the man of the hour.

"Andrei,"
he said in greeting as his brother walked over to him.

"Vlad,"
Andrei greeted in return and embraced his brother in a fierce hug. "What's
going on? I need you to tell me everything from the beginning."

"I will. Let's
get out of here first. I've been waiting for your sorry ass for the past four
hours."

"And there's the
Vlad I know. Quick with the insults even when I'm doing you a favour" he
smiled and shook his head in amusement.

They got into the
sleek automobile and drove to the beach house. Upon entering Andrei gave a low
whistle.

"Nice house
frate
" he paused after looking into the open
plan of the entrance that gave a view of the lounge, bar and balcony. "I
thought you hated houses. You know, the whole maintenance needed and having
housekeepers and whatnot in your personal space?"

"I did. When I
saw this place it felt like a home so I bought it with Val in mind."

"She must have
loved it."

"She did."
The memory was bittersweet when he thought of the day he brought her here and
gave her a tour and then how they had made passionate love in christening of
their new home. At first, she was hesitant to move in. After he had allayed her
fears, she agreed to their new living arrangements and now she was gone. It
hurt to think about it so he shifted the emotion to anger. His rage would fuel
him for what needed to be done. He would make everyone pay for taking what was
his.

Andrei noticed the
shift in Vlad at the mention of the mystery woman. He walked over to the bar
and poured two glasses of whiskey, handing one over to his brother. Vlad tipped
the glass back before he even had a sip of his. This was going to be one of
those conversations, the kind that needed a social lubricant to loosen the
tongue, so he brought the bottle over to the table in the lounge and set it
down before taking a seat on the couch. "Okay, I need you to start from
the beginning. I spoke to
Razvan
before flying out
here and he didn't say much. I need you to tell me what's going on so that I
can help you as much as possible."

"I met her at a
bar after one of my final meetings before I delivered an order. She was
beautiful and looking for a hook-up. Of course, I obliged her and thought
things would end at that. The following night, I went out with the associates I
was in the country to meet with and saw her again. You know I don't usually do
repeat performances but this woman… I couldn't leave her there to go home with
someone else.

"The next
morning I left her alone in my hotel suite and she found some of my guns. I
thought she was a plant. A set up to feel me out but she had found it by
accident. I opened the line of communication with her when I left the country.
I actively pursued her because I couldn't get her out of my head and I then
opened up to her about some of the things that had happened in my past."

Vlad paused to pour
himself another drink. Andrei took the break as an opportunity to digest what
he had just heard. Vlad talking about his past was unheard of. Unless they were
reminiscing over their stupidity or brash actions, he tended to gloss over it.
If he had made himself that vulnerable to a woman, then she was something
special.

"When I returned
to the country after the order was completed, I couldn't stand to be away from
her. I got tired of being in a hotel and wanted my own space, our own space, so
I bought this place." Vlad spread out his arms in show of the large beach
house. His expression was stoic, a mask of the pain that he felt over the
memories he was replaying but Andrei could see through it. It was in his
crystal blue eyes, they held the same haunted look from years ago when two of
their brothers were murdered. Andrei’s eyes were close to bugging out at
certain parts of Vlad’s tale but he kept himself in check, scared that if he
reacted, Vlad would not continue with the details of his love affair.

"We were…
happy" he pushed out and reached for his glass to down his third whisky.
"I was here working, she had gone to classes that day and I thought she was
running late. She has this dedication to her studies where she puts in
ridiculous hours at the library so I wasn't worried at first. But my gut told
me that something was off. I was about to go pick her up which is when I got a
call from some man using her phone.

"They kidnapped
her and in exchange for her safe return, they want me to deliver the same order
I had given to another client in Syria."

Fuck this is some
Middle East bullshit!
Andrei was well aware of the tensions
in the region. The problem was that there were so many small factions popping
up with affiliations to different causes and major countries that picking sides
would always end in calamity. He knew that Vlad wasn't loyal to any kind of
cause. He was a man who simply followed the money. The problem was that his
business dealings were now interfering with his personal life. A personal life
Andrei didn't even know existed less than twenty-four hours ago.

"We'll get her
back
frate
." He spoke with conviction as
he grasped Vlad's neck in a show of affection and solidarity. "Then we'll
make those motherfuckers pay. What you need to decide is whether we are going
to pull this deal through or simply go in and take her back by force."

Vlad gave a deep
sigh. "I wasn't going to oblige their demands at first. I don't like being
manipulated or blackmailed but I had a dream last night." He stared off
into the distance thinking of why that particular memory had been revived in
his sleep. "I have hurt her in the past and I promised I would never be
the cause of her pain again. I can't take the risk of putting my pride ahead of
her safety."

This time, Andrei's
eyes did bug out without reservation. Who was this man and where was his
brother and best friend.
Razvan
had always preached,
‘pride cometh before the fall', Vlad had never taken it seriously until now.
"Okay," he said cautiously, "so what needs to be done to pull it
off?"

"I need to set
up meetings with the military base, have a contract drawn up with both the
suppliers and client to transfer liability, organise the shipment and inland
transportation, and map out the route to the drop off location. I also need to
hire a driver, security and other personnel. That's just from the top of my
head. It takes months for me to do a deal like this but I can't leave her there
for half a year!"

"Calm down and
focus. We'll figure it out together. I spoke to
Razvan
before I left Moscow and he promised to be here as soon as he's settled
everything back home."

"No! He can't
come. He has a family."

"I didn't ask him,
he insisted and lest you forget, you're also
family
."

*****

After dinner with his
family,
Razvan
gave his son a bath and tucked him
into bed.
Mihaela
was having a relaxing bath of own
when he walked in and stripped out of his clothing to join her.

"Thank you for
putting him down tonight" she purred sensually as she looked at her
husband lovingly from the inside of the tub.

"No,
thank you for giving me such an amazing son to put to bed every night."

He reached for her
arms to pull their bodies closer. He leaned forward and
Mihaela
covered the remaining distance to give her husband a slow, passionate kiss.

Razvan
felt his cock stir as the kiss intensified. He had to pull back and keep in
mind that he had some news to break to her, something he knew she would not
agree with. "Remember my brother Vlad who came to visit us a month
back?"

"Yes." She
smiled at the memory.
Razvan
didn't have any family
but he spoke of Andrei and Vladimir with such affection. She had met the ever
unperturbed, bad boy, but only recently had she met the intense one
–Vladimir.  "What about him?"

"He started
seeing someone. This woman is very special to him, the same way you're special
to me. Actually, she was the reason for his visit."

Mihaela's
brows perked up in surprise. She had heard stories of Vlad when it came to
women. She didn't know who the worse man to fall for was between him and
Andrei. If this woman was special then it had to be under extraordinary
circumstances. "Is she pregnant?" It wasn't a slight to the character
of Vlad's lover but rather a point of reference from her own personal
experience. Only after the discovery of her unexpected pregnancy had
Razvan
made the commitment to be with her, and raise their
family together.

"No, not that I
know of since the last time we spoke." He sighed deeply wondering whether
Vlad's woman was pregnant which would make the situation grimmer.
"Something happened to her and he needs my help."

Mihaela
was now worried. Gone was the feeling of lust that had washed over her when her
husband joined her in all his naked glory. "What do you mean by ‘something
happened'?"

"She's been
kidnapped." He noted the confused look on her face and wished he could
tell her more but he was at a loss for information himself. "I really
don't know the specifics
scumpa
mea
which is why I need to go and see him. Once I get
there I will find out what's going on and see a way forward in getting her back
home."

"Will you be in
danger?"

"I don't
know."

Mihaela
didn't like the sound of things. Her husband was careful and calculating.
Rarely had he ever uttered the phrase ‘I don't know' unless he was hedging.
"Will this put our family in danger?"

"I don't think
so but I'll make sure this shit doesn't land on our doorstep."

She stood up from the
bath and got out. Wrapping a towel around herself, she turned to
Razvan
to speak. "You don't sound too sure about
anything. You don't do anything without certainty of what you're getting
involved in. You're either lying to me or hiding something and I won't stand
for either."

Razvan
got out of the water himself and wrapped his arms around his wife. "I
promise you that I'm not lying or hiding anything from you
dragă
.
He's my brother and he needs me." He implored as he looked into her
concerned, grey orbs.

"I'm not stupid.
I can safely assume that the reason this woman is in danger is because of Vlad
and his business. You promised me you would leave that life behind for me and
our son. Now you want to put yourself in the middle of this disaster. What will
that mean for our family?"

"You don't
understand" he cupped her face, "she means the world to him. If you
knew Vlad the way that I do, if you knew about his past and the shit he's gone
through, the shit he's done, then you would understand what a miracle it is
that he's survived and he is sane. More importantly, it's a miracle that he was
able to form an attachment outside of our circle, one strong enough to make him
fall in love. If he loses her, then we will lose him. He will never be able to
recover, not from this."

Mihaela
could tell that her husband was torn between keeping the promise he made to her
and the loyalty he had to his brother. She knew that regardless of what she
said, he would leave anyway. When it came to those he cared about, his
dedication had no bounds and that was one of the reasons she loved him. Tears
spilled from her eyes as she thought about the possibility of losing him. He
wiped them from her rosy cheeks with his large fingers.

"You have to
believe me when I say this. If there was any other way that I could help
without getting involved then I would. I would never leave you or
Dorin's
side unnecessarily. I got the news a few hours ago
and I’ve been trying to figure out a plan but there is none without me being
there.