Dark Desires: Genesis (15 page)

He was slowly coming to terms with being in a
relationship; he felt proud when she introduced him as her boyfriend and he
would, without hesitation grant her the equivalent title. After showering,
getting dressed and gathering his work phone and laptop, he settled in the
lounge to make some calls. He had allowed the emails from his weaponry business
to pile up, still uncertain of whether he was ready to quit being an arms
dealer. There were orders he had yet to fulfil and was toying with either
setting things in motion for another trip or letting his clients know that he
was no longer available to cater to their needs. It felt like his life was
starting on a new chapter and his past vocation was the only thing holding him
back. His gut was telling him that if he did not cut ties from the past, it
would collide with his blissful present and future catastrophically, he always
trusted his instincts. He sent a generic email to his entire client list that was
terminating his services. He then made a call to Mike and asked that all
evidence that involved him in war, from phone records, affiliations, IDs and
emails, be erased. Any accounts he had set up to facilitate his business would
be disconnected.

As evening approached, he began to worry about
Valerie’s whereabouts. She hadn't told him when she left that morning that she
would be coming in late. Not wanting to stifle her by being overbearing he
decided to wait another hour before calling her. He chalked off the feeling of
worry as separation anxiety and went into the kitchen to prepare dinner.

*****

Valerie had gone back to her old home after
classes that day. She had taken longer than she anticipated with cancelling her
lease and letting her house mates know that she would be moving out. Packing up
the rest of her belongings, she arranged everything for collection the
following day. Exhausted from the long day, she got into a cab and turned her
attention to her phone, while in the process of texting Vlad her ride came to a
sudden stop. The side door opened and a tanned, well-dressed, dark haired man
climbed in next to her. “Sorry this cab is ready taken” she told the intruder.

“Valerie Thusi?”

“Y-yes…” she stammered “how do you know my
name?”

“I know more than just your name. I've been
watching you for a while now.”

The hairs on the back of her neck began to
rise, something was wrong and the cabdriver was unperturbed about what was
occurring in the back seat of his car. He continued driving while she looked on
at the stranger who put her on edge with no form of escape in sight. Looking
through her side of the window, she noted that she was not enroute to the beach
house, the driver was taking them north in the opposite direction.

“Vlad
is your boyfriend yes?”

Valerie
looked back at the stranger in confusion. She had no idea what her relationship
with Vlad had to do with the current events that were unfolding.

“Have
you ever asked your boyfriend how he makes his money?”

“No…”
she thought back to their email communication where he had stated that if she
spoke about what she had found in his luggage to the wrong people she would put
herself in a precarious situation that even he could not get her out of. So she
had dropped the topic completely.

“Well
he’s an arms dealer. Distributing weapons during times of war to the side that
is the highest bidder. Thanks to him not only soldiers but also innocent people
die. We’ve tried to be civil with him but that has proved futile.” He could see
the question is her eyes, where did she fit into what Vlad did for a living.
“You my dear are collateral, if he doesn’t give my employer exactly what he
wants, you will die.”

“W-why
me? I’m sure there are other people, more important people, which you could use
to convince him.”

“Trust
me when I say that you appear to be the most important person in his life right
now. If he lets you die then he is an even colder sonovabitch than any of us
anticipated. I suggest you keep quiet and follow directions; our intention is
not to hurt you. That would be our last resort and with you gone we’d be back
to square one. Now hand me your phone so that you don’t try anything stupid.”

Reluctantly
she handed over her only form of communication, one she had planned to utilize
when the opportunity presented itself.

*****

After
preparing the easiest meal he could cook up in the kitchen -  spaghetti
bolognaise, he decided that he had allowed enough time to pass and he would
pick her up from wherever she was. Dialling her number, the phone rang twice
before it connected, instead of hearing his woman’s sweet voice on the other
end, it was a man that answered. If this was her idea of a joke, he did not
find it amusing in the slightest. He was already gathering his car keys and
wallet as he walked to the door.

“Who
is this?”

“I’m
sitting across from a very beautiful, brown skinned, woman. I can’t figure out
why of all the people she could have met and chosen to pursue a relationship
with, she chose The Impaler” he laughed derisively.

At
the mention of his title, Vlad’s blood ran cold. His past was coming back to
bite him in the worst way. “Where is she?” he bit out.

“She’s
safe” the caller answered “for now. All you have to do is follow the
instructions I will send you shortly. Be the good little delivery boy you’re
renowned for and you’ll get her back. Any complications or bullshit from your
end and we take it out on her.”

“I’m
no longer in that line of work. Name your price and I’ll have it paid within
the hour, once you give me the location to meet- with my girlfriend in
attendance unharmed. ”

“Money?” 
the man laughed, “No my client is not interested in your money. He wants the
merchandise you had delivered to
Ar Raqqah
.
I suggest you check your mail and start working on it.”

The
call ended. Vlad was still holding the phone to his ear, he found himself
staring at the door, he hadn’t moved since the conversation started. He had
fucked up, allowing himself to let his guard down. The security at the beach
house was sub-par for a man like him, he had yet to add his own additions and
he never imagined needing security for Valerie. The level of recklessness he
had demonstrated over the past few months had the worry of earlier morphing
into fury. He had put her at risk and now her life was on the line because of
him. He threw the phone against the door, shattering the screen. Stalking back
into the lounge he turned to the bar and poured himself a drink. He needed to
calm down and think this through. He would do whatever it took to fix this.

To be continued…

If
you enjoyed the beginning of Vladimir and Valerie’s love story, then you will
enjoy the next part of their tale –

Dark Desires: Deliverance

To
receive your free copy of the next segment’s first chapter, visit the author’s
site and sign up for the mailing list that will only be used to let you know of
upcoming releases.

https://kourtneyking.wordpress.com/my-books/

Thank
You for reading!

Kourtney
King