Redemption: (Dark Desires Book 3) (16 page)

Three Months Later

Vlad
drove his car through the quiet seaside suburb of Seapoint. They had left
Moscow the month before to return to Cape Town as Valerie entered her third
trimester. He was looking for a replacement for Chevchenko, who he still spoke
to over the phone twice a week instead of sitting in his office. They had also
started couples therapy, and Vladimir was learning that what he construed as
protecting Valerie, she sometimes considered it overbearing. Val had repeatedly
told him that she didn’t blame him for the rape. The circumstances of her
attack were beyond his control. He was trying to let go of the guilt regarding
what had happened, and even though her words were a bitter pill to swallow, it did
ease his burden.

Before
opening the gates to park his car, he found a black sedan with tinted windows
waiting outside. Valerie looked at him questioningly. “Are you expecting
anyone?” she asked.

“No,
I’m not.” He unbuckled his seatbelt and got out. "Don't get out of the car
Valerie." He slammed the door shut and walked over to the vehicle to knock
on the tinted window. It rolled down to reveal a man he had hoped not to cross
paths with if he was expected to bury The Impaler. "Why are you
here?" he asked with barely concealed contempt.

“I
want to talk to Valerie,” answered Kamal.

The
door opened on the other side and out of it came to a tall, black woman who confidently
strode over to him. "We are not here to cause trouble," said
Gabriella in her Portuguese accent.

“Gaby?”
said Val in shock. Of all the people in the world to run into after leaving
Saudi, she had not expected to see Gabriella ever again.

Vladimir
hurried over to his now very pregnant wife as she approached the other woman.
"I told you not to get out," he spoke through gritted teeth as panic
seized him. Getting her away from these people was not him being overbearing;
she was in danger. He had killed the brother of the man waiting in the car, and
that meant that Kamal was resentful and probably dangerous. "Let me get
rid of them."

"How
far along are you?" asked Kamal, who had eased out of the car and now
approached the couple.

“Seven
months,” replied Val as her hands automatically went to her stomach.

“Is
it my brothers?”

Val’s
heart stopped. She had never met Keyaan’s brother, and she didn't know how to
feel about him even though Gaby had spoken highly of him. He must have known
what had happened if he was asking that question. She didn't want to reply. She
didn't want her or her children tied to his family.

Sensing
his wife’s discomfort sent Vlad through the roof. He should kill him right now.
Chevchenko and Valerie could ream him over the coals afterwards. He reached for
the gun tucked in the waistband of his pants. However, Valerie’s touch halted
his actions.

“Don’t.”
Valerie understood Vlad, and she knew that where she was concerned, all threats
had to be eliminated without hesitation. He just couldn't do it out here in the
open. The death of two royals would raise too much suspicion.

Reluctantly,
he put his hand down and stared at the man he had intended to put a bullet
through. “They are mine.” The answer shocked him for an instant because he
believed it. He had been there for every lesson Valerie went to in preparation
of the twins. He would be a better father than the two that passed through his
life, regardless of the paternity results. He was their father in every way
that counted, and he wouldn't let anyone tear apart the family he fought to
keep together.

Word
had reached Kamal regarding the circumstances of his brother’s death. He hated
what his brother had done. He should have stopped him when he suspected that
his obsession had flared again. However, he couldn’t hide the disappointment of
the news. A piece of him wanted his brother to live on. "I wanted to talk
to you, Valerie. Please allow me the opportunity to say my peace."

“Over
my dead body!” roared Vlad stepping in front of Val to shield Kamal from her
view. He was seething. If this man didn't get out of his face and away from his
wife, then God help him.

“We
mean you no harm. We just want to talk,” implored Gaby.

Val
placed a soothing hand on Vlad’s back trying to ease the anger that rolled off
him in waves. She had gotten the closure she needed through her intensive
sessions, but Kamal had not. Vladimir had killed his brother and if he didn't
know or understand why then things could get ugly. She didn't want that to
happen. "I want to speak to them," she said.

Vlad
turned around to face his wife. Had she lost her mind? She had been utterly
broken by what happened, and he had dealt with it in his own way. He was still
learning how to deal with it. They were moving past that point in their lives
and working towards a healthy marriage. This conversation would only rip open
an old wound.

“I’m
ready to talk about it,” she said firmly.

As
much as he didn’t want to let these people into their home, he knew Val would
fight him on it. She had become more vocal about her thoughts and wishes, and
he was learning to respect the choices she made even though he couldn't quite
wrap his mind around them. If he refused, then he would be setting back the
progress they'd made. He didn't need a shrink to tell him as much. All he could
do was remain on high alert until they left. One wrong move and they were dead.

"If
I suspect they're up to something then I will act. I don't want to be that kind
of man in front of you, but I will kill them if it means protecting you."

"Okay."

 If
that was the compromise, then she would take it.

Val,
Vlad, Gaby and Kamal headed in, sans the bodyguards. If they were there to just
“talk” then there would be no need for them as far as Vlad was concerned. They
all took a seat in the lounge except for Vlad, who remained standing behind Valerie,
watching and waiting.

"I
can't change what happened, but I want to apologise to you for what my brother
did," said Kamal.

"Thank
you." She knew she would never get the apology she deserved from Keyaan.
However, hearing it from his brother did give her a sense of peace.

"We
weren't raised to harm women. My brother lost a part of himself a long time ago
and with it, he lost a part of the man he used to be. I’m not defending his
actions, but I want to make you understand that when he saw you, he wasn’t
seeing Valerie. He was seeing someone else, and he wanted to correct the
mistakes of his past. The kind of pain and guilt he endured made him very
unstable–  ”

"Not
another word. You will not sit in my house and tell my wife a fairy tale to wash
away your brother's sins."

Kamal
gave Vladimir a sardonic smile. “So you washed away his sins in blood instead?”
As much as he understood Vladimir’s anger, it didn’t change that he was face to
face with his brother's murderer. “My intention was not to excuse his
actions." He turned to face Valerie again. "I just wanted to make you
understand that it was not your fault, and I brought something that should shed
light on why this happened." He got up and headed for the door, but Gaby remained
seated.

"I
wanted to talk to you for a minute in private," she said. She didn't have
much time before Kamal came back. Valerie nodded her head for her to continue.
"I was at the palace because I'm a reporter. I was undercover to get an
inside scoop on the new king and the new direction he was planning on taking
his country. My in was through Kamal. He doesn't know this."

She
hated that she'd used their relationship to advance her career, and even more
so, Gaby hated that she'd been so focused on her story that she'd let an
innocent woman suffer. Kamal had asked her to be more amiable with Keyaan. She
knew she had overstayed her welcome in his home because his temperament rubbed
her the wrong way and she usually spoke out against it. If she wanted the
details that would cement her career as an investigative journalist, then she
had to shut her before she was kicked out of Keyaan's residence.

“I
wasn’t aware of what was happening behind closed doors. The first time I came
to see you, I wanted to make sure that you were alright. I saw that they had
given you comfortable accommodation, and you weren't being tortured, so I chose
to stay out of it. I'm sorry for what happened. Not a day goes by that I don't
think about how I could have helped you get out. I’m so sorry Valerie.”

“It’s
okay,” said Val. What could she say? It was over now, and they couldn't turn
back the hands of time. At least Gaby put her ass on the line by visiting when
she could, and she liked that the woman had enough spunk to speak her mind in
front of Keyaan when everyone else cowered out of his way. She didn't doubt for
a second that she would have helped if she knew. "I don't blame you at
all."

Gaby
stood up and went over to hug Valerie. “
Obrigado
”
Thank you. 
She
kissed her on the cheek. "I hope that we can be friends now, real friends.
I genuinely liked you."

"Yes,
I'd like that." Valerie gave her a smile of her own.

Vlad
watched Gabriella very closely. He had never put his hands on a woman, but if
she tried anything, then he wouldn't hesitate. Kamal walked back in with a
package in his hands drawing Vladimir's attention from the two women.
"What is that?" he asked cautiously.

“My
brother’s personal diaries. I want Valerie to have them.”

“No,”
stated Vlad firmly.

Vladimir
had been more than generous in the courtesy he’d extended, but he drew a line
in this. He didn’t want the memory of that man getting into her head. Valerie,
on the other hand, was not quite sure whether to accept them or let sleeping
dogs lie by refusing the offering. She thought of Keyaan less often, and the
children growing inside of her as Vladimir's. He was more hands-on than Val
hoped him to be considering the way he once felt about them. Now here were her
rapist’s thoughts staring at her and she wasn't sure she had the strength to read
Keyaan's thoughts based on the man she'd gotten to know on his occasional
visits.

Kamal
looked at her expectantly, and she could see the anguish in his eyes. Losing a
brother, regardless of what kind of man he was, must have been hard for him.
What if the children she was carrying did belong to him? What if the day came
that they found out that Vlad wasn't their biological dad, and they had
questions? What would Valerie tell them? The only memories she had were not the
kind a mother could share with her children. She had to know what was written
in there. If not for her peace of mind then for them.

“I’ll
read them when I’m ready,” she told Kamal.

Kamal
set the packaged books down on the coffee table and stepped back. Gaby cleared
her voice in the tension-filled lounge. Everyone had gotten what they wanted
out of this little meeting; she'd apologised to Valerie and Kamal got to
exonerate his brother, well she hoped so if Valerie got around to reading his
diaries. In the end, the decision was hers, and neither she nor Kamal could force
her to look at the ghost of the man Keyaan once was. Gabriella stood up and
looked to Valerie. "I think we should go now. Thank you for giving us your
time." She opened up her purse and slipped Valerie her card. "If you
ever need me or someone to talk to, don’t hesitate to call.”

“I’ll
keep that in mind.”

She
walked over to Kamal and took him by the hand. She would have to drag him out
of there. The man may not sense that he'd overstayed his welcome, but she did.
Being in the lair of The Impaler was not something she took lightly considering
the company she had chosen. “
Vamos
.”
Let’s go
she said to get his
attention. Reluctantly, Kamal allowed her to lead them out, and Vladimir
followed behind to check that they got off his property.

When
Vlad returned to the lounge, he was furious. He picked up the small box and threw
it against the wall. It landed with a loud thud. “Why?! Why do you want to read
this shit?” he shouted at her.

"Closure,"
she replied calmly. "I need to close this chapter of my life."

Vlad
saw the resolve in her eyes. There was nothing he could do to change her mind
if she was set on reading them. Instead of getting into an argument with his
wife he went to the gym downstairs. Killing Kamal would have made him feel
better, but that was no longer an option. He had promised Valerie to let go of
the vengeance he sought in her name. There were times he thought of her as an
anchor that kept him grounded, but right now he felt like a chained beast that
needed to be set free before he snapped.

Vlad
was still angry that she’d chosen to take Keyaan’s belongings into their home.
It was like the cockroach had refused to leave his wife alone even after he'd
snapped his neck. If Vlad could, he would revive him and kill him all over
again. Better yet, he could just get rid of Kamal in the way he should have
gotten rid of Keyaan – slowly and painfully, a death so excruciating he would
beg for his life to end. That would never work now that Valerie was
"friends" with Gaby. If anything happened to Kamal, then the little
journalist would whisper in her ear, and she would know that he was
responsible.

Why
do I have to honour her requests?
He hit the punching bag a few more times.
Because if you don't, you'll lose
her forever.
“Fuck!” He kicked the bag one last time and headed for the
shower. Hopefully, Val was asleep. He couldn’t stand the pained looked on her
face every night when he refused to talk about what was going through his mind.
I want to kill him. I want to kill all of them,
is the only thing he had
to say on the matter. He couldn’t tell her that because she would disagree –
the woman was a damn saint even if it meant that she was the one crucified for
the sake of others. Talking to that fool, Chevchenko, had not helped much with
his disposition; a kill would do him a world of good over the cash he was forking
over through their twice-weekly telecommunication sessions.

He
walked into the bedroom and found her in bed flipping through a book. Why? Of
all the women he could have fallen in love with, why did he have to get the
stubborn, curious one that held his balls in a vice?

Valerie
was dealing with a simmering Vlad. He was still upset about her decision to
read Keyaan’s diaries. The package with the diaries sat like a tonne of lead
downstairs in her green room. She'd opened it and found eight, leather-bound
books filled with his handwriting from front to back. She flipped through one
but couldn't bring herself to start reading. She'd tried talking to Vladimir
about it, but he refused to listen. Only Khanyi had been her confidant on the
matter, but that was her job.

He
got into bed and closed his eyes. Obviously, he wasn't asleep. It was his
signal that he wasn't going to indulge her in conversation tonight. She’d drop
the topic and respect his feelings on the matter in the same way he'd respected
hers in taking on the journals. He may not like it, but they hadn't been burnt
or tossed out with the trash. It was as close to acceptance as she was going to
get from her brooding husband.

Right
now, she wanted them to get back to planning for their babies. They were
supposed to start setting up the nursery in what was currently the top floor
lounge. They also hadn’t decided on names for the twins. In her last
ultrasound, they’d found out that she was having fraternal twins – one boy and
one girl. Vlad had joked that at least there would be a balance in their home
with two males and two females.

Valerie
put the book down and switched off her bedside lamp. She moved to his side of
the bed and lay her head on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his
heart. "We could name our son Dorin.”

Vlad
opened his eyes and looked down at her. He hated that name. “Why? Raven already
gave his son that name."

"I
know that, but the two cousins could share it."

The
sour mood he was in began to evaporate as his thoughts shifted to their
expanding family. He stroked her back as he thought about it. No, he wanted to
give his son a fresh start. “Can we give him a Romanian name?”

“Ooh
if we go down that path then we also have to give him a Zulu name."

“That’s
fine. How about Mihai?”

“That
sounds interesting. What does it mean?”

“Michael.
He who is like God. The patron saint of soldiers.”

Valerie
thought about it for a few seconds. The way he described it gave new meaning to
a name that was so common. “I like it. Mihai.”

“You
can pick our daughter’s.”

"Argh,
there are so many I can't even decide, and that book confuses me more than it
helps."

“How
about we keep it in the V category?”

“Then
Mihai would feel left out.”

“Then
make sure that his middle name starts with a V.”

“Okay,
Mihai Viwe. Viwe means ‘to be heard’. That should appease my mother. What do
you think of Vanessa?”

Vlad
smiled at the thought of his son - a soldier that would be heard. His daughter
needed something as fitting, but he hoped she inherited the best qualities he
loved about her mother. “I like Valerie so can we compromise with Valeria.”

Valerie
scrunched her nose. “That sounds like something from Game of Thrones.”

He
pinched her bottom. “I’m going to start limiting your TV time. It’s also
Romanian. It means ‘to be strong’. Just like her mother.”

When
he put it that way, she couldn’t object. “I’ll go with it. Valeria Mpilo. Mpilo
means ‘life’. I must say we’ve given our kids kick ass names. ”

Vladimir
had to agree with her sentiments. Should he give them his surname even though
they may not be his?  A week ago he would have said yes, but now he wasn't
sure considering that his wife held the musings of the man he had tried and
failed to vanquish. He was once a Stanislav before he stripped himself of that
title. He didn't want the disappointment of the children he'd raised taking on
their biological father's name. "Who’s surname will they have?”

“What
do you mean?”

“Will
they be Branza or will they be Shaheeb if Keyaan is their biological father?"

"If
they are his, then he is just a sperm donor. You will always be their
dad." It was easy to say it now, but if they were Keyaan’s, and they did
find out that Vlad was not their biological father, then neither of them could
influence the twin's decision with a clear conscience if they chose to
acknowledge Keyaan. It was another hurdle they'd have to deal with. Could she
tell them the truth of their conception? The complication of it all made her
head hurt and her heart ache.

“If
they are his, will you tell them that you were raped?”

Valerie
sat up and switched on the light. She had wanted to keep the diaries in case
the day came that they may want to know their father. The question was whether
she could tell them the truth. "I don't know Vlad. I don't want them ever
to think that they were forced onto me. I love them so much already. Nothing
will ever change that."

Leaning
against the headboard, he pulled his wife onto his lap. “When I lived in
London, I started to look at myself differently. We were able to attend a
prestigious university. We met people who came from a long, proud lineage but Raven,
Andrei and I only had each other. My brothers knew who their parents were, but
I didn't. When I went back home for the holidays, I started a search in my
hometown, Slatina, and worked back to the place where I was born, Cirea
ṣ
ov.

Eventually
I found my biological father who once ran a chain of hotels before going
bankrupt. He told me that he'd paid my mother to abort me. My birth mother had
become a nun – I wasn't interested in talking to her." He thought back to
the pathetic man who had sired him, and all he could muster up was disgust.
He'd watched his mother from afar. He couldn't bring himself to meet her.
“Coming from someone with experience in having fucked up parents, I don’t think
you should tell them. I’ll tie up any loose ends that would expose them to the
truth.”

Her
heart broke all over again when she heard of his childhood. She thought that
being abandoned by his adoptive parents was awful, but this… she wanted to find
his father and castrate him. As for his mother, she didn’t quite know what to
think of her. She could see the point he was trying to make. Sometimes the
truth was better left untold. Their conversation made her want to read Keyaan’s
diaries even more. If Kamal was right, and he wasn't as twisted a person as the
one she'd met, then she could rest assured that her children wouldn't go
through the same pain that Vladimir had endured when he dug into his past.

Then
there was the issue of Keyaan being a sheikh and after meeting Kamal, he didn't
strike her as a man who would turn away his brother's children. He'd looked
disappointed when Vladimir had claimed the twins as his own. There was no doubt
in her mind that he would feed them a much rosier version of who their father
was. Grief and loss had a way of distorting the truth of the life people led.
We immortalised them in perfection, trying to hold on to the happier times.
There would always be bad blood between her husband and their family.

Vladimir
was already a grenade without a pin. The only reason he hadn't exploded was
that no one had stepped on his toes. Val knew that she could restrain him at
the best of times. But when push came to shove, she held no power over his temper.
After their sit down with Kamal, he was still a raw nerve and that was her
doing. If she couldn’t learn to accept the darker side of him then for how long
would their bond hold steady before it frayed and broke? It was this fear that
let her turn a blind eye to The Impaler. From the little she did know, he only
became that man when the person standing on the receiving end was deserving of
his wrath.

She
wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, inhaling
the unique scent she had come to know as Vladi
mir.
Her decision was set.
She would read the diaries and burn them.
"Bury it. All of it. I
don't want them to find out anything. These children are ours. They will always
be Branzas.”

*****

Vlad
didn't know when it had happened, but he had become a sentimental man. He had
stopped asking about the ring because he wanted to do things right. He wanted
to marry Valerie all over again in a wedding she deserved. He had phoned her
mother one evening and asked her about the channels he should go through for
the traditional ceremony. Thembi was pleasantly surprised by the call and again
gave him the rundown on the purpose of
lobola
.

She
also brought up the pregnancy, and he agreed to honour that custom as well. He
had slept with Valerie unprotected the second time that they'd met and every
time after that since his returned to Cape Town from Ar Raqqah. Protection or
the consequences that would follow, even after their initial pregnancy scare,
were a non-factor in his mind at the time. Based on their trajectory before the
kidnapping, he was certain that she would have been knocked up before they tied
the knot anyway. He had already claimed the twins as his and he would present
himself as their father to her family.

Andrei,
Raven, Mihaela and their son Dorin flew in to represent Vladimir's side of the
family, and Thembi, her two brothers as well as their wives came down to Cape
Town to stand in for Valerie. His wife was excited to have them all under the
same roof and fretted over the catering. The one thing he had not counted on thanking
his lone lucky star for was her acquiescence in staying off her feet as the
delivery date drew near. 

A
bottle of Tovaritch was poured for all to ease them into conversations. Even
though this was supposed to be a negotiation, all Vlad could think of was
showing her family how much he valued his wife, how willing he was to build
relations with them and assuring them with confidence that he was capable of
looking after her financially and otherwise. That is why he had offered to pay
three times the amount requested.

“What
kind of negotiating is that?” Andrei asked in Romanian wondering whether he had
misinterpreted the word based on Vlad’s actions.

“Are
you saying that she’s worth any less?” Vlad replied back.

Right,
this was his little sister after all. “If I were sitting on her side I would have
asked for ten times as much – considering the groom,” he smiled and poured
himself another glass of the vodka.

The
rest of the day was spent eating and getting to know Val’s uncles who gave him
more advice on what not to do in marriage than what he should be doing. They
loved Raven, who agreed with everything that they had to say. He did have three
years of experience which was more than both his brothers combined. Andrei
disappeared a few minutes after the spotlight was shone on him. Knowing his
baby brother, having a wife and kid was a notion that his mind skipped over
like a muddy puddle he didn’t want his Givenchy Oxfords touching.

Everything
was going perfectly. The only thing left to redo in Vladimir’s mind was his
proposal. Apparently slamming a five carat diamond over breakfast was not the
way things were done according to Raven, who Vlad was learning had become the
married version of Casanova.