Page 67 of Vulnerate

“Send me the files when you’ve got the final design, I’ll have Alia meet you next time for the installation.”

It’s weird as fuck and Val’s rough tone adds to it as he says, “Get your things.”

I don’t know why I’m listening to him when he’s hiding things from me, but I do. He doesn’t look at Lilah as she leans on the edge of the bar, and she pays him exactly the right amount of attention. Zero. I stuff my laptop into my bag before pushing it towards him. If he wants to act like he can disrupt my meeting then he can carry my things like a butler. The hand on my hip doesn’t leave and I look up to ask what the fucks going on but he’s on edge and without moving his lips whispers, “Wait until we’re in the car.”

It’s not a choice, but I nod, and he doesn’t soften as we leave.The place is empty with construction only having finished but the weird fuck beside me acts as though there’s a sniper on the roof. Val doesn’t relax when we get in the car, and he doesn’t say anything until there’s at least 5 miles between us and the building.

“How do you know the Courts?”

I act childish as fuck staring out of the window and mumble, “Not like you do.”

He had one of them sat on his fucking knee while he was touching me but he’s being territorial over me working with them. The brakes creak as he abruptly pulls over and he grabs my jaw forcing to look at him.

“I’m not in the mood for any shit right now. It’s important, how do you know them?”

He’s pissed about something, and self-preservation loosens my tongue. “I’ve done some commissions for them before, and they asked me to design the artwork for their new casino.”

He blows out a controlled breath as he softens his hold on my face and tries to dictate my life.

“If they ask, you’re mine. You don’t say anything different, and you call me if anything happens.”

I move back and face off against him, my voice hardening with the reminder of what he did as I fire back, “I think they got it when you all but fucking pissed on me to mark your territory.”

The bastard smirks and tucks my hair behind my ear. “Don’t give me ideas, khudozhnik moya.”

I like to think I’m open minded, try anything once and all that shit. But the thought of being pissed on is too much and I poke his chest to test his muscles and push my argument into him.

“Try it and I’ll do the same to you.”

He relaxes back in his seat and pulls away as he laughs lightly recalling a memory that has me softening.

“When Viktor was a baby he used piss on me all the time. I think it was like a game to him, see how many bodily fluids he could get on me.”

He’s a different person as a father, well, when he allows it to show. This Valentin is the best one to exist, he’s softer, sweeter, and somehow even more dangerous.

He turns to me with a smile as I soak up each little story, and there’s longing deepening his features.

“It’s his birthday in three days, you’ll be there.”

The soft demand has me nodding. “He’s family.”

There’s nothing but conviction in my voice and he straightens staring straight ahead. The question leaving his lips is so quiet I nearly miss it. “And what am I?”

A victim of my sisters greed.

I stare at the tarmac and take a deep breath relaying facts. “My nephews father.”

All the air is sucked out of the car. It’s like a gavel has been slammed down. There will always be these moments when we forget, and something pops the bubble.He knows it too; we can’t give in to our childhood dreams because he twisted it. He made it dirty and impossible.

We drive in silence. His eyes keep flicking from the road to me and I don’t react. I have too many memories of me doing the same when we were kids and he’d take me to get things I’d need for my commissions,but that infatuation is mixed with pain that I want to ignore. His voice is slow when he breaks the silence to ask, “Is that all I am?”

I look for a reference of where we are so I can escape. It’s only a few blocks to my temporary studio and I beg for a reprieve.

“It’s all you will ever be. Drop me here, I have some work to finish.”

The asshole keeps driving and ignores me taking the turn for the studio and I’m a child holding the door waiting until I can run away.As soon as he pulls into the reserved space I’m out before he can shout me back. There’s so much guilt attached to my feelings. Everything I felt with innocence has become sordid and dirty because of the one person I was supposed to have from birth, not just Valentin.

Losing your parents is expected, you know you’ll outlive them. Even if they chose the most horrific path for me to get there. But Carly should have been by my side, a sister in more than blood. It’s not even fucking malicious; she literally did not give me a single thought while doing everything she did.The blame is on her because he was a kid, but I still hate him while knowing it’s not fair.

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