13. Daniela

THIRTEEN

Daniela

nine years later

T wo months of being home and I keep waiting for someone to show up at my door. It doesn't feel like home anymore, neither does tio's. I don't have anywhere I belong and any excitement over my first showcase is muted as I do another check of all the pieces. It's just like a rollercoaster, excitement and fear fill me in equal parts at the thought of a Vartanov knocking on my door. They weren't in their old house when I mustered up the courage to try to find them. The drive back from New York was the longest ninety minutes of my life because they've disappeared.

Repositioning my necklaces so they sit perfectly under my collar bones, I remind myself of what Daniel said before I force my way into the crowd I've been avoiding.

I have a home and it's always going to be there for me .

I can fail and it's okay because family catch you. Blowing out a breath, I keep repeating it as I walk through the gallery to the front where Ellis is stood. She's the first professional who believed in me after a woman found my portfolio online and offered me the world to commission pieces for her. Zenith was my first client as an adult, and I wouldn't have developed the courage to fly back if she didn't give me the perfect excuse. My agent doesn't take anyone's shit, including mine, and I'm sure she would have drugged me if I turned down the casino job.

The showcase is packed full of people and Ellis lied when she said it would be casual. I'm dressed in my normal clothes while other people are in beautiful dresses. Isabella is going to be happy she was right and gloat that I didn't listen. Seeing me fidget, Ellis comes to my side and points out the stickers under my work.

"They're here to see the art and you're amazing. Don't worry, Dani."

I try to find the confidence I had when I was younger and give her a small smile. Tali would always bolster me, make a fool of himself so no one was looking at me while Val stood at my side protectively. Getting lost in my own world is easier than focusing on people and I walk around the room examining the other displays.

My entire body freezes when I turn to make another lap. My heart is beating too fast, and Vlad is even more terrifying with age as he stands there. He looks the same and he hasn't even aged. The only difference is that his eyes are colder.

Swallowing around my fear, I manage to choke out, "How did you find me?"

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 fa?ade 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 was taken 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 at the 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.

"Oh fuck," I manage to stutter out. "Someone might see."

His anger comes back as he bites into my neck. "Good. Let them fucking see you're mine. Maybe then you'll act like it."

He covers my mouth and bands his arm around my back.His eyes are wild, the lighter yellow, sandy swirls are dark. The cruelty that never touched me in childhood is all that's in front of me now. But I still want him, I still love him, and I'll never stop.

I've fantasized about finally having him, all of him. I worked my hand between my legs and let my imagination guide me. It's mixed with having him in my life again. But it's never been like reality. There was never hard stares and hard dick. It was always one or the other.

My body jolts from the force of his thrusts and my scalp scrapes against the brick with his hand over my mouth. He's pushing all of his anger into me, and I hold on to our friendship, my first love, the man of my dreams who's changed and spits his accusations.

"Nine fucking years Dani, and you've turned into a dirty little slut getting fucked in broad daylight."

Locking my ankles tighter on his back, I nod and push my hips down.The hand over my mouth moves until his fingers are digging into my cheek and my lips are pushed open. He leans over and spits into my mouth. I should be disgusted. But I moan.

What the fuck is wrong with me?

I smooth my hand across his nape and up the back of his head before grabbing the longer strands in my fist. His palm isn't covering my mouth as I fight him back refusing to let him hurt me.

"Fuck you," I spit back both verbally and physically. His tongue flicks out to mix his spit with mine on his lip, and his voice darkens. "Curse again and I'll piss in your mouth."

Valentin isn't the only one who gets to be angry. I lost things too. I lost everything. He only lost me.

His fingers are bruising as he holds the back of my thighs, pulling me away and dropping me on my feet. My hand leaves his hair, and he grabs my hips to turn me to face the wall so fast I feel dizzy. Heat covers my back as he presses his chest into me and kicks my ankles apart. My cheek scrapes against the rough brick surface as he pushes back inside me.

My head touches his shoulder, and he softens slightly despite the venom in his voice. "You're soaked like a dirty little whore."

I throw my head to the side at the insult and press my hands flat against the wall for leverage to push my weight back. All it does is push him deeper into me and weakens my plea.

"Don't speak to me like that."

Grabbing my wrists in one hand, he holds them against my stomach and works his other hand between my legs. His fingers are threatening as he taps against my clit, and I bite my lip to stop any sound leaving me. His teeth latch onto my neck and he doesn't soothe the sting as he moves up to whisper against my ear, "Were you ever mine?"

I want to touch him, but he tightens his hold on my wrists, cutting off blood to my hands.A moan wraps around my answer as I push my back ass back

"I only ever wanted to be yours."

The answer is nothing other than the truth, but he hates it and tortures me. He drags my arms up and holds them against my throat in the crook of his elbow. His hips speed up as he circles my clit and he continues punishing me with his teeth against my neck.

The only thing I have control of is my bottom half and I fuck him back. Every angry thrust is returned. His bites have me clenching my inner muscles in response. Twisting my head back to get more air, those blue eyes are darker. Filled with torment and violence when they weren't before. There's no taunt or comment, he doesn't slow down, and I don't stop moving my hips. But our eyes are frozen on each other. The only part of us we can't mask.

My mouth opens on a silent scream as he slaps the tips of his fingers against my clit. He moves forward swallowing any sounds that could follow. My hands are pushing into my windpipe as he forces me to look up to the sky and fully seals his lips over mine. We're opposites and it works My body shudders in his hold, and he grinds into me as sparks ignite in my stomach. Light spots dance behind my eyelids as his forearm applies my pressure against my neck. My entire body convulses, I can't move in this position and I'm not capable of pushing him away mentally.

Val tenses every muscle, turning rigid at my back, and his teeth dig into my lips forcing them closed before he loosens his arm enough for me to breath. The guards are down as he stares into my soul. There's no warmth in his eyes despite it filling me as he comes.

My Val comes out and he soothes the sting of his teeth while loosening his hold on my neck. Wrapping his arms around my middle, he holds me pouring emotion into my mouth. I pass it back and wait for my fingers to stop tingling with the blood rushing back in. This is my version of him, the kiss is sweet and gentle just like I remember.

There are no candles and rose petals, no ring on my finger, and my name is still the same. But I'm home. He turns cold again as I twist my upper body so I can touch him. I wince as he roughly pulls out of me, but it doesn't make him soften and he tucks himself away without saying a word to me. I'm blinking dumbly, trying to figure out how to ask what the fuck his problem is when he turns around and leaves me.

He's left me in a loading bay with my ass literally hanging out. The fucking prick doesn't turn around, he doesn't come back and even hand me a damn tissue. Just walks away slamming the door behind him and crushing me in the process.