Page 36 of Vulnerate

I wasn’t hiding but there’s no reason for him to be here. He’s not a person who cares about art and we’re in New Jersey. He should be in the city, doing whatever criminals do. He slowly lifts his hand, and I can’t even flinch from whatever blow he’s going to strike.

But it doesn’t touch me. He keeps his hand flat and gestures to the corridor leading to the loading bay. “After you Dani.”

Oh fuck, he’s going to kill me. The gentleman façade isn’t enough to ease me and there’s no one close enough to help me. My feet move while my mind protests.He’s like an executioner following me out, his dress shoes tapping behind me and intensifying the unease.

Out of all of them he’s the last one I wanted to seek me out. Val and Tali wouldn’t do anything to hurt me. They’d let me explain first. He won’t. He’ll just do whatever he needs to and ask me to repay what wastaken if he doesn’t kill me. I have $30,000 in savings, with my sales tonight that could go up another seven thousand. I’ll offer it all and pay the rest in instalments.Yeah, even if he’s a criminal he has to understand business so I can make a deal with him.

The heavy metal emergency exit creaks as I press the bar. It doesn’t slam straight away as Vlad walks through. The loading bay is filled with discarded boxes and loose packaging paper. There’s one exit out into the world and I stare at the entry the vehicles come through. I could run, yeah, fuck it. I make the mistake of checking where Vlad is and those thoughts disappear as I rush out, “I didn’t know what Carly did, I swear. It was her and Leno’s idea because they were in debt with some MC.”

I didn’t even know what an MC was until tio got all the information in case I wanted to press charges. Oh fuck, I can’t breathe. I should have offered the money first.

His hands come up and my vision is blurry. I’m crying. Great, I’m going to fucking die in a loading area with tears in my eyes. Folding in half, I hold my knees and try to remember the basic human function of breathing. Maybe it will be less painful if I die like this than at Vlad’s brutal hand.

The position helps to calm me down, but I jump at his voice.

“What did Carly do?”

He hasn’t moved forward and there’s nothing in his hands to hurt me. His question sinks in, and my voice is slow.

“They stole from you?”

There’s no confidence in my answer. He’s acting strange and smirks like there’s some joke I’m missing, then adjusts his cuffs, and that familiar action brings nostalgia with it. He still does it three times before straightening his cufflinks, so the V insignia is perfectly aligned. I smile too, it’s at the memory, and his icy eyes flick below my chin to the same symbol around my neck. There’s no tell to guess his thoughts and my smile turns into relief when he says, “I wasn’t looking for you, my fiancée wanted to buy some art shit for the house. You’re safe Dani.”

I want to ask questions, find out about Val and Tali, about his fiancée. Vlad didn’t even have a girlfriend when we were kids. We’d joke, saying Dima was his husband because they were always together and would act like an old married couple.

He leaves before I can get a word out and my poor heart is still recovering.I lean against the brick, close my eyes, and a laugh falls from my lips. I’ve spent all of this time scared for no reason. They don’t hate me. I can have my full family back.

The door slams beside me and my eyes spring open. The man stood in front of me isn’t the seventeen year old boy I left. Val’s taller, a lot more muscular, and he has even more tattoos. But his face is unmistakable despite the years. Even with his facial hair longer and his features sharper. I’ve drawn those eyes from memory, and I will never forget them.

Blinking to make sure the image in front of me is real, happy tears burn my eyes and I push forward, throwing myself at him, literally. He stumbles as I wrap my arms and legs around him. I squeeze him tighter and kiss his cheek as my joy escapes on a watery laugh. I’m getting them back and he’s here. He slowly brings his arms up. It only lasts a second and then his hand is in my hair pulling my head back.

“I’ve miss?—”

He cuts me off and shoves the words back down my throat as he slams his mouth over mine. It’s not the sweet gentle kiss I’ve replayed for years. It’s filled with anger, and he walks me towards the building. A hissed moan escapes as he roughly pushes me into the brick. Biting my lip hard enough to draw blood, the anger comes out in his voice.

“You left me.”

I shake my head because I didn’t, but he kisses me harder.

There’s no thoughts or accusations with the way his tongue takes over. He’s using it as a weapon, and I like it. I’ve always loved Val’s roughness. It mixes with his playful side perfectly. But that part is missing and metal swishes before cold air touches my ass. He lets go of my hair and holds my throat, repeating himself with pain mixing in his rage.

“You. Left. Me.”

He’s not cutting off my air and I stroke along his shoulders trying to get my Valentin back.

“I didn’t, I promise.”

His eyes dip down, and he curls his lip up in disgust.Picking up the necklace he gave me, the very last time we saw each other, he rips it away from my skin. The chain catches against my neck making me wince atthe burn, physically and emotionally. The pain in my chest expands as hurt fills his eyes and he squeezes the sides of my neck.

“I would have given you everything. Nine fucking years and you walk in here expecting nothing to fucking change?”

Shaking my head again, he pulls me forward and slams his lips over mine.His knuckles touch the back of my thighs and I grind down wanting them between my thighs. I loved him as a girl, as a woman my feelings are still there mixing with lust. He’s physical perfection and I try to get him to come home with me.

“I li?—”

I’m cut off on a choked scream as he roughly pulls my panties to the side and pushes inside of me in one thrust. He’s huge and I dig my nails into his neck to transfer the pain. My entire body shudders and I break the connection of our lips as my spine contorts, my crown pressing into the wall.

He doesn’t move and his lips soften, going across my cheek and to my neck. It turns into a moan as he traces the mark left from the chain with his tongue.

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