Page 2 of Vulnerate

“Only perverts care about that shit. I’ve told you before, Len has no fucking control since we left. Don’t worry about him, I’ll deal with it.”

Seeing that I understand, he rubs my hair and smiles. It’s small and doesn’t reach his eyes as he acts like the brother we used to have.

“Why are you pissed? Is it because he has a new friend?”

That sounds stupid as fuck, I’m not a baby. So, I prove I’m a man and straighten my shoulders as I look at his hands declaring, “I want to be initiated.”

I have friends in other families, they might not be Bratva, but I’ve heard the rumors, and they get initiated way younger than eighteen. My brother won’t let me, it’s the biggest argument we have, and he holds my wrist with his thumb and first finger to pick it up. His other hand comes up as he pushes the sleeve of my t-shirt up and wraps his fingers around my bicep. They meet too easily, and he softens his voice.

“What are you going to be able to do at this age?” Bringing his hand back he shows me the size of my bicep as though it’s not attached to my body. It’s not like I’m weak, I have muscle and I’ve been fighting for longer than I’ve been walking, his hands are just huge.

He stands as the muted voices come through the door and shakes his head as Tali’s uncivilized ass says, “I need a piss, go sit down and ignore everyone if they act like idiots.”

Vlad brushes my hair away from my forehead as he leans down and kisses the top of my head like I’m a girl and not a man. It’s weird when he’s so… Vlad and he acts like an ass when he moves back.

“Looks like he might not have his new friend for long, so you can stop your tantrum.”

He walks away and goes back to planning fights with Dima.I nearly go find Tali to beat the shit out of him when I get back to my game because he’s made me lose my place and he’s probably done it on purpose so he could win. Shithead.

Restarting my place, I’m still angry going through all the levels and killing the zombies. I straighten the cheat codes Lucky gave me on the table while it’s loading the level for the island and try to memorize them. A girl’s voice is behind me, and I turn around. There are no girls in the house during the day since Katya, Dima’s sister, will be home after she finishes with her tutor but it’s not her voice and she normally smacks me on the back of the head.

The girl standing behind the sofa is my age, big brown eyes, and hair that’s the same color. She’s pretty, even with paint on her overalls, like a girly mechanic.

“What do all the shapes mean?” she asks, squinting to see the paper clearly.

Her voice is nice, but I look around to make sure I’m in the right house. “Who are you? And why are you here?”

It sounds rude but people don’t walk into our house. Even if we know them, especially if we know them, and I’ve never seen this girl before. I’d remember her if I did, she’s the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen.

She holds the straps of her backpack tighter and smiles with her cheeks pushing up into her eyes, but her lips are in a straight line. Her voice is quieter, and I start my game.

“Vitali said I can wait here. He’s asking his brother to order pizza and he went to the bathroom,” she says while I continue ignoring her.

It’s strange to hear someone call it the bathroom, even Katya just says piss after growing up in a house full of boys. But this girl is even weirder as she introduces herself with her hand out, showing she’s definitely in the wrong house.

“I’m Dani, Daniela. I’ve seen you, in school I mean. I don’t just follow you. You’re older than me so you won’t know me.”

She’s cute when she rambles.

I nod because Dani is a girl, a very pretty girl, and I don’t want her to be friends with my brother but with me. I don’t shake her hand and go back to my game.I want to, there’s a tiny bit of paint stuck to the inside of her wrist, and it makes her hands look softer. She smells nice too, it’s girly and mixed with the smell of clay like she’s been born in the earth.

I’ve always shared everything with Tali, he takes my clothes and my games because he’s only a year younger and we like the same things, but I want to take Dani away from him, have her to myself, and see if her eyes are always that dark.I want her to be just mine without me having to tell her to. More than that, I don’t want to make her cry. It’s the first time I’ve ever felt like that, I always have the need to do it.

It gets worse when she sits next to me and asks, “Can I play?”

She has smudges of different colors on her hands, chalk on her knees, and paint on her clothes, but she wants to kill zombies. I laugh and keep working my way through the island as I’m ejected from the helicopter.

“Yeah right, you’re agirlyou can just watch me.”

She punches me in the arm with more strength than she should have, and I pause my game to look at her as she tells me off.

“Girls can kill zombies too, let me play.”

I listen to her without thinking and save my progress before she can mess it up. I have the spare controller in my hand when I change my mind and leave it unconnected. Her hands are soft, they brush mine as I pass her it and show her the buttons. But she fidgets, making me move away.

As soon as I press play she slaps her hand over mine. “I know what you did.” Her voice is low, and she rips it out of my hand to swap players when she was set up as the computer. “You’re not very nice Valentin.”

She says my name the right way, everyone always calls me “Valentine”, but she doesn’t, and I didn’t even tell her.

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