40. Daniela

FORTY

Daniela

A principal's office always makes me feel like I'm in trouble. It's not even my school and I'm an adult, but nerves swarm me as we get closer. It turns to anger seeing Viktor's face set in hard lines. His friend is sat next to him, both of them have wrinkled clothes and matching red knuckles on their little hands. Two boys sat opposite four older boys. Bullies.

Val turns into an executioner and his knuckles crack from the force he's using to clench his fists. He softens slightly when he reaches Viktor, and he holds his chin checking the redness under his eye.

"It won't bruise," he confirms before muttering, "weak bitches can't even fight."

The receptionist glares at me as I try not to laugh, and I turn so it's hidden from the children. The other kids are at least three years older, and all have a mix of bloody noses and lips. One of them must have got the worst of it with his eye already swelling. The principal steps out of her office and has that face that tells you you're already in trouble. It falters when she sees Val and her eyes track his tattoos .

Swallowing around a lump in her throat, she gestures towards her door and tries to sound powerful. "Mr. Vartanov, if you'd like to join the rest of your family."

He's menacing and doesn't show his confusion while mine is written all over my face.Val walks over to my side and guides me with him. I try to keep myself back, but he gives me a deadly look that has me moving. I don't know which family I expect to see when we step inside, but it isn't Tali, Ana, and Katya.

The principal tries to hide her fear, but it doesn't work as she slowly sits behind her desk and explains what happened.

"I'm sure you agree it's a peculiar situation when I have a student's aunts and uncle at the gates eating popcorn while there's a brawl."

I drop my chin to my chest to stop from laughing out loud. I know which one was eating the popcorn as Tali spreads his legs and puffs his chest out with pride.

This family is so fucked up and she continues listing their wrongdoings.

"Add to that the altercation that occurred during drop off, I'm unsure how to handle it all. Your brother was also cheering while the other two were giving Viktor, what I believe were tips on how to fight."

There's nothing but pride on everyone's faces. The twisted fucks are happy about what they've done.

Raised voices come through the wood before Val can say anything and it's Viktor's shout that has us all moving as one. "Get out of my face, you're old and screaming at a kid like a little bitch."

He doesn't curse, ever.

He sounds older and I hate it. Val is a blur of movement and the middle aged man that was leaning over Viktor hits the floor. He drags him up by his collar and Tali loses all playfulness, even Ana and Katya become deadly. I'm a lamb surrounded by wolves as I move forward to check Viktor is okay. Some stupid bitch grabs my arm, looking me up and down with disgust.

I can handle the look, that doesn't bother me, but her words have me acting like everyone around me.

"You need to teach your son not to be an animal, he broke Leighton's nose! "

My fist flies out without any idea on what I'm doing, and pain rattles my bones. "Now yours matches."

Stupid cunt.

Viktor's not an animal. He's a boy and the other kids are older than him. They should know better. I go to his side and his mouth is open, brows raised, while I ignore the fact that I've broken my hand. Checking that he's okay and that the old fuck didn't touch him, I gently close his mouth so he's not catching flies.

Val and Tali keep the man restrained and his face is all red. I recognize him from magazines but not enough to know his name and the older kids are silent. I'm pretty sure Ana is trying to work out if she should throw her own punches when heels click against the floor. The newcomers join our affray, and it gets weirder with Vlad and Inessa walking in. Tali nudges my foot and looks like a puppy again with his whispered, "The parents are here."

They're all weird as fuck, this isn't dysfunction. There has to be another word for people who have a full on brawl in a school when they're not even children. Vlad goes to play mediator or bruise up the principal while Inessa is different than I've ever seen her. She's like a shark and her eyes bore into the older man as she assesses him.

"Mr. Lehman, is it?"

How the fuck does she know his name?

When he nods with fear I gain a new respect for her. She smiles but even that's cold as she looks at the older kids then back to him.

"Do one of these children who attacked my nephew belong to you?"

His face slowly falls, and he drops his anger towards Viktor as he turns to his kid, the one that's the most bruised.

"What have you done?"

There's so much fear in his voice and everyone sinks back as Inessa takes a step closer to him and whispers, "Your business proposal was as weak as your son. Consider this your formal rejection." Her voice drops further and it's too low for me to hear, but he pales as he audibly gulps at whatever she's saying with a smile on her face.

Holy shit. I want to be her when I grow up even though she's younger than me.

Val sits in the chair the opposite side of Viktor's friend and stretches out like an arrogant shit. Tapping the other boys shoulder, I try to smile and put him at ease but he's staring at everyone wide eyed. The poor kid was just helping his friend and ended up in the middle of all of the Vartanov crazy.

The car is silent as we drop Max home and the tension rises as soon as he gets out. Val isn't shouting or even angry, but Viktor stares out of the window deep in thought. Val stops outside an ice cream parlor and looks in the back with a wide smile.

"Cone or a cup, little man?"

This day is getting weirder. Getting Viktor's answer, he stops himself moving towards me and quickly gets out the car.

A little head pokes between the seats and Viktor's voice is quiet but I feel guilty. "Why didn't you say you're not my mom?"

Fuck. I fucked up, I only heard the dumb twat call him an animal and couldn't react to anything else. Kids learn what they see and I'm the adult, so I apologize.

"I'm sorry, I was angry at what she said and didn't think."

He laughs it away and mocks my form. "You're supposed to plant your feet and you held your arm too tight. Was it the first time you ever punched someone?"

My hand is still throbbing, but Viktor's laughs ease the pain. He's busting a gut when Val comes back holding two cones and a plastic bag. Passing us our ice cream to congratulate us both on a successful first fight, he picks my hand up and turns it so he can place the ice directly on my knuckles. He takes out two cubes and wraps them in a napkin before passing them back to Viktor.

"Put it on your cheek, it shouldn't swell but just in case."

Such a heartwarming weird as fuck family.

Holding my cone out to Val in offering, he scrunches his nose up and refuses impolitely.

"No, you're fucked up and like cherry."

Both father and son say in sync, "It's medicine."

Cherry is the best flavor; they can stick with whatever nastiness they picked. Turning to Viktor, in the back he has chocolate sauce around his mouth and ice cubes on his face .

"Oh yeah, what did you pick then?"

He's Val's double with the smug smile on his face giving his answer. "Cookies and crème, you don't have ice cream without chocolate. It's wrong."

I'm arguing with a child about ice cream flavors, but I will die on this hill. "It tastes like dirt. Cherries are a fruit at least."

This feels like family, Val's hand gently strokes my numb hand as he drives, and I stay in the heated debate about which flavor is best. We're still refusing to admit the other is right as we pull up outside their house but the smile on Viktor's face has gotten bigger and bigger. He's such a cute kid, there's no sign of the toxic woman who gave birth to him.

Val stretches over me getting wipes and then fitting his body through the gap between our seats. I'm a pervert because a man wiping ice cream and chocolate sauce of his son's face should not be anything but sweet. I want to jump in his lap. Seeing my dopey expression, he smirks and takes out another wipe before brushing it against the corner of my mouth.

"You had a little drool on the corner."

Asshole.

The back passenger door is yanked open, and Tali has an edge to his voice as he gets Viktor out. "Inessa has made you food, go in before it gets cold."

His eyes are drilling into the side of Val's head, and he jumps in the back. Pushing his face between the seats like a psycho, I shove the cone in my mouth, so I have something to do.

He's brimming with violence and looks between the two of us. "So, what were you two doing together?"

This is what I imagine a disappointed parent is like. All authoritative, asking questions they already know the answers to. Two sets of eyes are fixed on me waiting for anything to come out of my mouth while I shove more into it. Val's are hopeful but Tali's are angry.Unhappy with my silence, Tali grabs the end of the cone pulling it out and raises an eyebrow. He'll be pissed, it was the one thing he always warned me away from saying Val's dick is cursed.

Val hardens and I want to run away. "Don't pull things out of her mouth, dickhead."

It gets worse when Tali fires back without missing a beat, "The problem is what you're putting in there. "

My skin is on fire. He's never been disrespectful to me or a prick. Or anything other than Tali, my friend who's always been there for me. Tears burn the back of my throat at his dickhead opinion.

I flinch at the threat in Val's tone. "Watch how you speak, Vitali."

Hearing his full name sounds strange coming from Val, it's always been Tali when they're at home. He softens and hugs me around the seat and kisses my hair. "I didn't mean that. Whatever Val's dumbass has done you can tell me."

Definitely not accepting that offer after his reaction to silence.

He tries to coax me out and I lift my head when he asks me to talk to him. I can't keep the hurt out of my voice. "Are you going to say more bullshit and act like a prick or actually talk?"

His remorse is visible, so I let it go and we get out of the car walking towards the paddock. Val's eyes are warming the back of my head, but I'll always be safe with Tali. He's a little puppy and he has never spoken to me like shit.

Once we're away from Val, he sits on the fence and holds my shoulders scrutinizing my features as he speaks slowly. "My brothers are the best brothers but that doesn't mean they're good people."

I sit beside him and lean my head on his shoulder. They might not be good in the sense of the law with all the criminal shit they do but they're better than my family.

All of them commit crimes. The difference being that the Vartanov's are there for each other and actually care. There's nothing but conviction in my voice. "Val's not a bad person. Neither are you."

His sigh is full of secrets, but he doesn't voice them and wraps an arm around me. He goes into protective mode as he kisses the top of my head and softly says, "I know you've loved him all this time. Is it serious?"

I don't have an answer and Valentin is still sat in the car watching us. I shrug and look up. His eyes go to my necklace and his head drops back dramatically with a curse. "For fuck's sake. When did he give you the necklace Dani?"

His eyes harden and I speak slowly not understanding why it's a big deal. "When we were kids, I've never taken it off. "

The curses increase and I watch Tali go through a breathing technique as he tries to temper himself. When he's managed to do it, he makes a promise around a grimace.

"If that cunt hurts you I'll kill him, if you want to hurt him I'll help you."He wraps his arm around me tighter and holds his middle finger in the air towards his brother. "And you're still sleeping in my bed, he can get fucked and hug himself, the lonely fuck. If you try to go in his bed, I'm sleeping between both of you and there better not be any shaking in the middle of the night."

"No comments about cursed dicks?" I ask.

He shakes his head and sighs, "I want my brother to be happy, if you're going to be an idiot and ignore that he's a dickhead, that's on you. But I won't lose you by telling you what you can and can't do."

"Very mature."

"Priorities," he whispers. "Val has grown up since he had Vik, he knows that family is important, and he's never looked at anyone like he is right now."

I lean into him as I look at Val, trying to see what he does as he says, "He looks at you the same way he looks at Viktor when he gets on his horse, fear and pride, so I know he won't hurt you."