Redemption: (Dark Desires Book 3) (13 page)

There was one person on his
list that he had chosen to leave out. However, he now held that man
responsible. Mohammed was supposed to protect her until he got there. He may
have turned on his king for Vlad, but he had failed in keeping Valerie safe.
Fuck honouring the agreement they had, he was next.

 “No Vladimir, even I have
my limits,” said Mike after Vladimir had requested information on Mohammed
Khan’s whereabouts.

“You act as if you’re doing me
a favour. I’m paying you for this in case you’ve forgotten.”

"That may be true, but I
have a set of ethics I follow. If you go after him, then chances are no one
will ever trust you enough to work with you again. You’d lose all credibility.”

“I don’t need their trust. They
need only fear me,” he growled into the phone.

“Right. Well, I’m starting to
fear you. I’m sorry. Lose my number.” The line went dead.

Vladimir slammed the phone onto
his desk. No one understood. How could they? They’d never had to look at the
crimes they’d committed, through the eyes of the person they held dear, each
and every day of their lives. They’d never had the guilt eat away at their very
soul, tarnishing every joyous moment, making every day harder to bear than the
last. They would never understand. If Mike wouldn't help him, then he would
find Mohammed himself.

The phone rang, and Vlad
answered it hoping that Mike had changed his mind. "Are you ready to do as
I asked?"

“Do what?” asked Raven.

“Raz.” He blew out a frustrated
breath. “How can I help you?”

“It sounds like you’re the one
in need of help
frate
.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He
refused to say anything about what he was up to. He was done putting the people
he cared about in danger. He didn’t have that many to begin with. “How’s the
family?”

"They're well. How's
Valerie?"

"Still pregnant," he
bit out. The longer he stayed in their home, the more apparent it became. Her
body was changing, and she craved certain foods and others had her heaving into
the toilet bowl.

“I see that your feelings
haven’t changed on that front.”

"No, don't expect them to
either."

"Okay, well I just called
to check on how you were doing. If you need me, don’t hesitate to call. I know
you think you have to do everything alone, but that's not the case. Andrei and
I are here for you. Always.”

“Thank you
frate
.”

Raven hung up. They never said
goodbye. They'd learnt that those words were reserved for when they parted ways
at the grave. If Vladimir weren't ready to talk then, he wouldn't. There was no
point in forcing the issue.

Vlad walked back into his
bedroom where Valerie was still asleep. She often slept past 10 AM, another side
effect that came with pregnancy; it was only seven. He began to pack a few
essentials. If he was going to find Mehmet, then he had to start as soon as
possible - today.

“Vlad,” Valerie called out.

He went to her side and lay
next to her. "I'm here," he said.

“What are you doing up so
early?” she asked yawning.

“I just had to make a few
calls. Go back to bed.”

“Join me.”

He had planned on leaving
before she got up. If she knew that he was going, then she would start asking questions
he couldn’t answer. Deciding on the path of least resistance, he kicked off his
shoes, got under the comforter, and Val curled into his arms. He waited until
he was positive that she'd fallen asleep and moved her off of him as gently as
he could.

Hurriedly, Vlad gathering what
he needed in his black duffel bag and quietly closed the door behind him. She
would be upset with him for leaving again without letting her know, but he had
to do this. He was righting the wrongs of his making. How could he call himself
her husband if he allowed what had happened to go unpunished?

*****

When Valerie opened her eyes
for a second time that morning, Vlad was gone. Her gut told her that he'd left.
However, she didn’t want to believe it. Pulling on her robe, she walked out of
their bedroom and went in search of him. Ivanka rushed over to her and asked if
she could help her find what she was looking for.

“Have you seen Vlad?”

“Mr Branza left this morning.”

“Did he say when he would be
back?”

“No Ma’am.”

She swallowed her pride and
asked the next question. “Was he carrying any luggage?”

"Yes, Ma'am."

The answer hurt. Why did he
always have to leave without saying a word? What did he have to do that was
more important than being with her on their honeymoon? She'd let go of the
inquisition she had planned when he finally came home in the hopes that it was
a one-time deal. He’d betrayed the trust she'd placed in him by doing this.
"Thank you," she answered before heading back to her bedroom.

The sadness she had felt at his
secrecy turned to anger. He said that she could ask him anything. That was
starting to look like a thinly, concealed lie if it meant that he would hide
aspects of his life that would affect her; that would affect them and their
marriage. She scrubbed vigorously in the shower as the anger exploded into
disappointment.

Was this what their marriage
would always be like? She'd be kept in the dark as he went off to God knows
where to do… what? What the hell was he doing that he couldn't tell her? She
already knew of his job description thanks to Mehmet, and he promised that he'd
quit before the honeymoon was over. Was he still rolling out contracts? Was
that his big secret?

She turned off the water and
stepped out of the stall, reaching for the towel. She must have misjudged the
distance because she missed a step and slipped. Luckily, she righted herself
before falling and grabbed a hold of the bathroom counter in front of her. When
she tried to stand up, she winced in pain. Her ankle hurt. She must have
sprained it.

This day had gone from bad to
worse. She should have known that something was off when he was already dressed
by the time she woke up. She lowered herself to the floor and cried. Why was
she crying? She'd torn a ligament in her knew a few years back, but that didn't
make her cry. It must have been the hormones. She'd been hurt, angry and
disappointed all in the span of an hour.

The pregnancy. God, he didn’t
even talk about it, let acknowledge that she was now showing. Did he find her
less appealing now? What would happen in five months when the twins arrived?
She didn’t even want to think about her children growing up with a father
figure that was indifferent to their existence at best or hated them at worst.

*****

In his haste to leave before
Valerie got up again, Vlad had forgotten his gun permits. He couldn’t risk
dumping them only for a group of street thugs to pick them up and put them to
use. He was an arms dealer that serviced war, not a street corner vendor
supplying weapons for fights over turf.

He left the airport and got
into his car to head back home. Hopefully, he could still catch a flight today.
That’s if Valerie hadn’t noticed that he’d already left. She wouldn’t be happy,
but he’d make her understand that what he was doing was important. He’d lie if he
had to.

Walking back into the house, he
went to the den, retrieved the documents and was on his way back out before
Ivanka stopped him at the door. "Sir, Mrs Branza was looking for you.”

“Is anything wrong?”

“She didn’t say.”

He should leave now and not
walk through the minefield that was waiting for him with his wife. If Valerie
was looking for him, then she already knew. Succumbing to the need to see to
her, he went upstairs. The bed was empty, but the bathroom door was closed.
What would he say to her if she asked? He didn't know where he was going
himself. He had planned to start at Saudi and find the people that knew
Mohammed. They could provide him with a clue of his whereabouts.

The sound of crying broke his
train of thought. Vlad had upset her. The best thing to do would be to leave
instead of facing her when he didn't plan to stay. Her pleas would go unheard
as he resolved himself to finish what he'd started. He had to find the man who
had failed to protect her. Vlad tried to justify why he should walk away, but
he remained rooted to the spot. He couldn't leave his wife in tears. He should
at least talk to her. The thought of her crying over his absence went out of
the door, along with his better judgement. He let himself in and found her
naked and wet on the floor.

Vladimir bent down to help her
up. When he set her on her feet, she winced. "Valerie, what's wrong?"

“My foot. I slipped on the
tiles and must have sprained my ankle.”

He hoisted her into his arms
and carried her to the bed. He got her bathrobe and helped her put it on.
Rushing down the stairs, he went to the kitchen to retrieve ice cubes from the
freezer. When he returned, Vlad placed the cubes in one of the bathroom towels
and applied it to her swollen ankle. He wasn't sure whether it was a fracture
or a sprain. For now, the best thing to do was keep the swelling down and call
for a doctor.

“Where were you?” she asked
after he had hung up the phone.

He refused to answer. How long
would she have sat in the bathroom had he not come back?

“Vlad.”

“I was on my way to the
airport. I have to take care of a few things.”

"Why won't you tell me
what you're doing?" He remained silent and instead concentrated on
applying ice to her foot. "What are you keeping from me? We agreed there
would be no secrets between us.”

He could feel the heat of her
stare on him. “Certain things are better left unsaid.”

“You either tell me or when you
return I won’t be here waiting for you.”

He looked up at her and saw
that she was angry. He couldn’t tell her that he was on a purging spree. No,
she wouldn't understand. She would only think of him as a murderer. Once he'd
crossed the last name on his list,  there would be no secrets between
them. There would be no reason for him to leave her for days on end. He got up
to head downstairs where he would wait. Once he knew that she had received
medical attention, he could head out.

The cluttering sound of a small
object hit the wall. He turned to see what had fallen and found her wedding
ring on the floor.

"I want a divorce."
Valerie was so angry she was shaking. What the hell was going on with him? She
had nearly fallen because she was too preoccupied with thoughts of his whereabouts.
What if she'd had a miscarriage? The truth was it would probably solve all of his
current problems. Only she would mourn the loss of her children. She had agreed
to be his wife because she believed he would put her first and hopefully her
children as well. Valerie had been deluding herself, and it was about time she
realised the truth.

Valerie
needed to go home as soon as possible. Well as soon as she could move about
that is. She’d wait to see whether it was a fracture or a sprain. She had been
delusional to think that marriage would fix everything when the same issues
they had in their relationship were still there – he only revealed to her what
he deemed was enough and usually when they reached their breaking point.

Then
there was the matter of her unexpected pregnancy. He had been against it from
the very beginning, and Valerie had refused to see it, believing that he would
come around in time. She was almost four months along, and she hadn't even
gotten the nursery ready or started looking at baby names. They were coming
whether he wanted them or not and she was tired of waiting for him to accept
it. 

Vlad
knew that Valerie was upset, however, asking for a divorce was extreme. She
couldn’t leave him. How was he supposed to live without her? Everything he had
done over the past couple of months had been for her. Had she forgotten? He
didn't need his wife asking for a divorce on top of all the other shit he was
dealing with. He picked up the ring and walked back to where she lay on the
bed, setting it on the side table. “Valerie. Put it back on.”

Had
he not heard her? She was done trying. “No.”

“Put
the ring back on. Now.” He was trying to remain calm, but Valerie was pushing
him to his breaking point. Lately, with the executions he'd been carrying out,
his temper remained at the forefront. He didn't want to show her that side of
his erupting into a raging lunatic.

 “I
said no. I want a divorce, and that means that the ring goes." She
couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth, yet she forced
herself to speak them. She couldn't lie to herself or Vlad anymore.

“When
we got married it was forever!” he roared. “Until death do us part
remember," he spat the last part out. Vladimir grabbed her hand to force
the ring back on her finger if he had to. He would never give her a divorce.
He'd given her the opportunity to walk away from him, and she'd still said yes
to marrying him. That door was now closed.

"Sir,"
said Ivanka called from the door. He ignored the maid and kept his eyes glued
to Valerie, begging her to see the mistake she had made. "The doctor is
here," she continued not quite sure what to do with the scene unfolding in
the bedroom.

Valerie
turned away from Vlad to face the doctor who looked on in shock. They must have
painted an awful picture. She withdrew her hand, and Vlad let her go.

“Are
you okay?” the doctor asked.

"Yes,
I mean I slipped in the bathroom, and I think I sprained my ankle,” she looked
him in the eye as she said it to convince him that she wasn’t lying. The doctor
stared at her for a few minutes then turned to face Vlad.

“Can
I have the room please?”

Vlad
gave him a thunderous look before walking out. He needed to pull himself
together; he needed to calm down. The last thing he wanted was someone thinking
that he was abusing his wife.

"What
happened to your foot?" the doctor asked again once they were alone.

“I
was in the shower. I was distracted and slipped as I reached for my towel. What
you walked in on and what happened to my foot have no relation to each other.”

“I
have no choice but to believe you.” He moved over to her leg and used one of
the pillows on the bed to prop it up. “Did you feel a pop when your foot landed
on the ground?”

“No.”

“That’s
good. Your ankle is swollen, but it’s not severe.” He felt on either side of
the joint. “By the sound of things and looking at it now, it’s an inversion
sprain. Just to make sure I’m going to have to ask you to stand and see if you
can put your weight on it.” Valerie did as instructed. It hurt, but she managed
to stand. “I’m going to ice and compress it. That should keep the swelling
down. Try not put any pressure on it by walking and keep it elevated for a few
days." When he was done treating her, she thanked him, and he left. 

Vlad
walked back in, and she cursed herself for being so clumsy. She didn't want to
continue the conversation they'd been having, but she was incapable of avoiding
him as things stood. She took a deep breath as he brought her dresser stool
over to her side of the bed and sat down.

“I’m
sorry for losing my temper. You’re upset, but that’s no reason to end our
marriage.”

"Vlad
you said no secrets, but you've been keeping things from me from the time we
left Razvan’s. I tried to understand when you left without telling me the first
time. I'm alone in a country I'm not familiar with cooped up in this house an
hour outside the city. Andrei's been great to have around, but it’s you I want
to spend time with on our honeymoon. What are you doing that's more important?
In case you haven't noticed, I'm also pregnant. You’ve chosen to ignore it, and
I thought you just needed time to come to terms with it. Or was I mistaken? Do
you even care about what will happen once they arrive or do you plan to ignore
them too?"

Vladimir’s
primary focus was Valerie and only Valerie. He couldn't even bring himself to
think of…
them
growing inside her and what they represented. They were
the reason he had to finish what he’d started. He couldn’t tell her that he’d
killed people. She wouldn’t look at him in the same light. He couldn’t risk
telling her the truth. “I’m trying to set things right,” was all he managed to
say.

What
did that even mean? He hadn't even addressed her concerns about the children.
He didn't care about them at all. How could she make him understand that they
were a part of her? Their dilemma was heart-breaking. She had to choose between
the man she loved and the lives growing inside her.  She had to stand up
for the innocent lives that had no one else. Their conception was no fault of
their own. They were more important than her happiness.

"I
know we didn't sign a pre-nup. I won't fight you for your money. Once I'm able
to move around, I want to go home."

Vlad
was torn between telling her the truth about what he had been up to in his
absence, and telling her what she wanted to hear - that he was willing to
accept the children into the life he envisioned for Valerie and himself. He
refused to do either. “Don’t do this.”

“I
can’t force you into believing in my decision. I’m so sorry. I thought I could
convince you, but I was wrong. We would only end up hurting each other if I
stayed and worst of all these children.”

He
took her hand in his, “You said you loved me.”

“I
do, but if we keep going down this path my love for you will change. God, even
to this day I still don’t know how you feel about me. You throw my words back
at me when it suits your needs, yet I have never heard them from you.”

She'd
heard him loud and clear. What he was essentially saying was that he'd only
signed onto this marriage for her, the twins were irrelevant.  There were
never any children in his plans. She doubted he would have proposed had she not
fallen pregnant. The realisation brought tears to her eyes.

Vlad
thought back to all the times he had told her. She’d never heard it because she
was either asleep or he’d spoken in his native tongue. “You are everything to
me. I love you, Val. I don't think the word even begins to describe the way I
feel about you. I would give my life to protect you."

They
were the words she wanted to hear, but not like this. Not when she was
threatening to quit this farce of a marriage and the delusion she had laboured
under, that one day they would be a happy family. She turned away from him. She
was always weak when it came to him. If she listened to his desperate pleas,
then she would cave in, and they'd end up back at this crossroad a few months
from now. That was always the flow of their relationship.

“Valerie,
I love you,” he repeated.

“How
am I supposed to believe you now? You’re only saying that because I want to
leave.”

He
was desperate. He had to tell her. "You're supposed to believe me because
I have killed for you. The people who hurt you are gone. That's where I was.
That's what I've been doing."

She
turned to look at him, unbelieving of his words. His face, however, told her
that he was serious. She grabbed the pillow next to her, covered her face, and
screamed until she was hoarse. The screaming then turned to gut-wrenching sobs.
Had she pushed him to do this or was that who he was, a murderer? Everything
was a mess, and now people were dead because of it. She put the pillow down
after what felt like half an hour of balling her eyes out.

“I
need to be alone.”

“Please,
talk to me.”

"I
just..." She took a deep breath, trying to ease the heaving from crying.
"Just give me space."

He
shouldn't have told her. He should have chosen to accept her children instead.
She now saw him for what he was. If she’d connected the dots, then she would
know what being The Impaler meant. The truly horrific part, the part that he’d
always keep hidden, was that he’d enjoyed making them suffer even if he'd gone
after them in her name. She now knew what he was capable of, but he refused to
let her leave him. She couldn't give up on their love.

"No.
I won't let you leave me. I won't let you push me away." 

He
climbed into bed next to her and held her. He couldn’t lose her. He would do
whatever it took to fix what was broken. He wasn’t going anywhere.  Someone
would have to stop his heart from beating if that day was to come.