Dark Desires: Deliverance (10 page)

"I'm not your
friend. We may be on friendly terms but we are not friends. This is strictly
business
."

"Then let us
talk business." It was
Taras
that interjected.
"You pulled out of the trade and cut all ties. We accepted it even though
we did not understand it. A week later you come back and want a sizable order.
The same one you contracted before your departure. What is even more worrying
is that you won't tell us who it is for. Surely you can identify with our
apprehension, especially after sending in someone outside of the circle."

Vlad slid the folder
that was in front of him at
Taras
who sat directly
across from him and in the middle of
Ermolai
and
Borya
. They pulled out the contract he had signed in
Istanbul. "Everything you need to know is in there." Each man took
their time perusing its contents.

"You must be
joking."
Borya
sneered in disgust as he looked
at Vlad and then his other partners.

"Yes, this must
be a joke. You know which side we are on in this war.
Which
means you know our answer.
" Was
Taras
comment after flipping through the
document.

"Let's not mask
what this war is about
gospoda
. The Americans
want oil even though they publicise it as a crusade for democracy and Russia
has its own commercial interests in the way or arms as well as enjoying a
pissing power contest with the U.S. We've never cared about the cause only our
bottom line" Vlad countered.

"Yes but in
certain regards like this one, our hands are tied" replied
Ermolai
.

"I see. Then I
have no choice but to buy from the Americans. They seem to comprehend that
money talks in this business better than here in Russia." Vlad focused his
gaze on
Taras
. He knew that this deal depended on his
agreement. He wielded the most power among the three. The other two men looked
at their leader and then Vladimir.

"Give us some
time to talk this over"
Taras
requested in a
low, calm tone. He doubted that Vladimir would turn his back on them but he was
also not a man who bluffed.

"You have
twenty-four hours." Vladimir stood up, buttoned his suit blazer and walked
out of the boardroom.

At the end of the
short engagement,
Razvan
was stupefied. Vlad had
placed all his cards on the table in a take it or leave it fashion. He sat
silently throughout the meeting and watched the power dynamics that played out.
It appeared that Vlad and
Taras
held the most
authority in that room. It was now a matter of who would fold between the two
influential men. The most poignant question of it all was whether Vlad would go
to the Americans if the Russian suppliers folded. It was not an alternative
they had discussed however, he was quickly learning that his brother wielded a
lot of power in this world and he would go to any lengths necessary to get
Valerie back.

"Vlad, are you willing
to go to the Americans if this falls through?"

"Yes."

"You do realise
you could face greater problems after you have Valerie back if that is the
route you choose to take."

Vlad knew the
consequences of choosing to work with the U.S but he'd made up his mind. Val's
life was more important to him than his own. "I have worked with those
men, I know how they think. These governmental problems don't affect us. If
they can't show any loyalty now, any loyalty to me, then we are done."

Back at the hotel,
Razvan
located the piece of paper he had taken from the
beach house after meeting with Val's friends. It had been over a week since
they met and he remembered the parting plea to keep them updated and the
emotion displayed by the woman who Vlad had called Natasha. He would, at least,
let her know that they were making progress. Andrei could not be bothered to do
it and Vlad had slipped into a detached state of mind to keep himself focused.
As usual, the finer details were left to him. He dialled the number.

"Hello?"

"Hi, it's
Razvan
. We met at Vlad's house and your friend wrote your
number down."

"Yes, I
remember. Do… do have Val with you?"

"No, not yet but
we're close. She'll be home soon."

"How long is
soon?" He could hear the distress in her voice. "Are you talking
about a few days or weeks or even months?"

"I can't confirm
an exact time." The meeting was intense and the outcome appeared
uncertain. In the event that they did have to go to the Americans then they
would be waiting for a while longer. "I just thought calling to let you
know we're close would put you at ease."

There was an extended
silence on the line. "Thank you for letting me
know
."

"Your
welcome."
He ended the call. There was nothing
else he could offer her and it was awkward enough that he was thrust into an
emotional hole with people he didn't know. Shortly after, Vlad walked through
the door. They were staying in the apartment he owned in Moscow.

"I want you to
know that I assigned you to deal with the Russians because they were the safer
option. They aren't duplicitous in nature and I couldn't risk your name being
thrown around in the Middle East."

"My only regret
is that I couldn't handle this myself."

"And my only
regret is that you chose to get yourself involved. You have a family."

"You are part of
that family. So is the other idiot running around in the sand" he joked in
an effort to lighten the mood.

Vlad gave a weak
smile. "What about
Mihaela
and your son…
Dorin
."

"I was just
about to call them." He waved the phone in his hand. He could see that
something was troubling Vlad. "What is it
frate
?"

He released a deep
sigh, "Does it get better? Once you left the criminal life, did you
constantly have to look over your shoulder or sleep with one eye open?"

"For
a while, yes.
I was absent a lot during
Mihaela's
pregnancy. In that time, I was tying up loose
ends."

Vlad pulled
Razvan
into a bear hug. "Thank you, for
everything." He looked into his brother's eyes and retreated out the door.

Razvan
was missing his family. Playing with his son and his wife's cooking were the
things that truly made him content as a man these days. He stripped out of his
clothing and climbed into bed before calling
Mihaela
.

After the walk and talk
with Gaby, Val's schedule was back to normal. Meals were being brought in by
Moe with no visitors in between. They had fallen into a lull of saying words to
each other with little to no meaning at all. Every now and then Val would give
him an arbitrary fact based on whatever literary work occupied her mind at that
particular time. The guard didn't add much other than "fascinating".
To everything she told him most replies were either a sound bite or a sentiment
around the word "fascinating".

Gaby had teased him
on the day she was let out by asking what he thought about the made over
Valerie. He blushed, fumbled for words and eventually had to look away. A good
stack of books was growing beside Val. She liked
it,
it was as if they were an abacus of the time she had spent in her prison. They
ranged from philosophy to politics, and included a biography and some fiction.
She had to admit that the sheik's tastes were the diverse collection of a
well-educated man. Tonight she was engrossed in a set work from her high school
days.  Turning the pages of The Tenant of
Wildfell
Hall by Anne
Brontë
, she heard the familiar sound of
the door being opened.

"Good Evening
Moe" she mumbled behind the pages of the hardcover.

"Ah, but it's
not Moe." She slowly peaked over the pages when she heard the distinct
voice of her captor. She had hoped that she'd seen the last of him. It had
become apparent that her prayers were in the constant rejection pile of
heaven's lists. Not wanting to entertain the reasons behind the unexpected turn
the night was taking, she focused her eyes on the letters in hand.

"Come have
dinner with me."

"I'm not
particularly hungry right now" she replied, determined to stay focused on
the plights of the characters.

"I'm sure you
have some questions. My only rule is that you sit and eat with me if you expect
any answers."

She didn't like the
games he was playing, not one bit. As far as she was concerned she knew enough.
The rest was irrelevant or more likely to give her a headache. His cryptic
responses tended to lead to more questions than if he had said nothing at all.

There was a frown on
Keyaan's
face at her indifference. He was not expecting a
jubilant reception on her
part,
however, the aloofness
she was demonstrating was a bitter surprise. He shouldn't have listened to his
brother. Kamal was infatuated beyond reason. He refused to acknowledge that his
beloved was out to slander his name to anyone who would listen. "Did she
say something to you?" his voice held an edge that he tried to prevent
from coming through.

"She's a good
person." Placing her index finger between the pages she was currently on,
she held the cover closed with her thumb and rested the book on her chest as
she gave him her full attention. "On the contrary, she may have retracted some
of what she said about you that first day we met."

She held his gaze for
a few seconds in a demonstration that she was telling the truth.
Keyaan
was sceptical to believe her, but when the quiet
lingered for too long she returned to her reading. Val found herself turning
the pages, one chapter after the other, she even found herself switching from
lying on her left side to her right. Still he did not move or say a word.
Eventually, her stomach grumbled and she gave in to the call of hunger knowing
that her food was cold. Walking to the tray, she retrieved her plate, all the
while pretending that he was not there. She climbed back on the bed trying to
balance a spoon in one hand while holding the pages open in the other.

"Have I done
something to annoy you? I agreed to let you walk the grounds, against my better
judgement I gave you back your trying friend, I gave you the clothes on your
back and the books whose company you choose over mine are from my private
collection."

After taking her time
chewing and swallowing a few bites, she answered him. "Why did you feel
the need to do all of that? Why do you try to be courteous? It won't make me
forget that I'm here at your command against my will."

Her defiance and the
fire burning in her eyes beckoned him. It had been a very long time since
anyone, let alone a woman, challenged him outside of Kamal. She remained on the
bed, so near yet so far. He had thought about her constantly for close to a
week since their last encounter. He was trying to keep his distance but tonight
his resolve had wavered. "Should I stop?" She didn't say anything.
That beautiful mouth of hers that mere moments ago spat words of reprimand
remained shut. He took his own cold, untouched meal off the tray and went to
sit on the opposite side of the large mattress. He could see her weariness as
he approached. "You remind me of someone who was once very dear to
me."

Val didn't like the
intensity in his eyes or the slight ring of longing in his voice.
"Someone like a sister?"

The sheik gave her a
smile that reached his eyes, "yes in the beginning". For a moment his
eyes held an emotion she couldn't place and before she could identify it, he
blinked and it was gone.

The tension between
the two of them was building to an unnerving level. In an effort to ease the
strain that hung in the air, she went down a different avenue in conversation.
"Why does everyone fear you?" This time, she was intentionally trying
to antagonize him. If she could create a hostile environment, surely that would
guarantee an early retreat from him.

"Who is
everyone?" he asked calmly.

"I don't know…
the servants and guards."

"I employ them.
I give orders and maintain very strict rules with a reward and penalty system
in place. I have very high expectations and even higher standards for those who
make up my household. I was in the army not too long ago so what some may
misconstrue as fear is actually respect." As if reading her mind he added,
"With Gabriella, our differences have to do more with the circumstances of
why she is here rather than her character. My brother has never toed the line
and it appears they have that trait in common. They are both opinionated and
strong willed. Kamal is too stubborn to follow the plan our father set out for
us. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices at the expense of self for the greater
good. Those two don't see it that way." He caught himself as if something
had just occurred to him. "Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds
discuss events,
weak
minds discuss people."

Val knew the quote,
it was by Socrates. Funnily enough, she had finished The Trial and Death of
Socrates by Plato around lunch. Grateful for the small window of opportunity
she changed topics yet again. "So you fancy yourself a philosopher?"

"Philosophy is
about people's systems of thought. So you could say that we are all
philosophers at varying degrees."

"What is your
philosophy on letting me go?" She could have phrased it better or asked it
earlier, however, there would never be the right time or right way to ask your
abductor when they planned your release. The opportunity had presented itself
and the urge to ask jumped out of her. They looked at each other for a long
time. Her dark eyes met his hazel ones with neither backing down. To look away
would mean to concede that she was intimidated by him. Even though she was,
admitting to it would be a much more egregious fault. After a long moment, he
was the one to withdraw from the duel as he stood up to retrieve a gift box
from under the cart's tray.

When he placed it on
the bed, Val looked at it as if it contained a bomb. Her senses on high alert
she dared not touch it. "What is it?"

"Open it."

"Not until you
tell me what it is."

Keyaan
had found the evening to be exhausting. She was more closed off and guarded
than ever before. The opposite of what he was expecting after the numerous
gifts he had extended to her that week alone. He pulled off the lid and pulled
out an emerald green scarf. He walked over with the delicate material between
his hands and eased it around her neck. When he stepped back to admire it on
her she ripped it off and tossed it back to him.

"You haven't
answered my question. When are you letting me go?"

Even before she had
opened her mouth to speak, his ears rang with anger and humiliation at the complete
disregard she had shown for his present. He barely heard her as he turned
around and moved to the door. He had to leave before he did something he would
regret.

The door flew open
with such force Mohammed's gaze went to the person who came through it. Sheik
Keyaan
looked murderous as he stormed down the hallway. He
had been expecting the sheik for a while now. The man had spent hours in there.
He wasn't one to eavesdrop, more so whatever the sheik chose to do in his
private time was none of his business. With the sound of resounding stillness
meeting his ears, he began to worry for Valerie.

He peeked into the
room to see that the trolley was at its usual place by the Ottoman and the
diminutive woman was perched on the bed. It was a widely known secret that this
woman was affecting the king, the question was why? During her brief outing,
all the male staff had been given strict instructions to stay out of her way
and in the event that they did cross her path they were ordered to avert their
eyes. When Gaby asked for his opinion on her new look he was caught off guard.
He didn't view women in that light and the struggle to reply as any red blooded
man would or feign disinterest had left him a blubbering mess of
speechlessness. He blushed at the memory and closed the
door,
he would give her a few more minutes before clearing up. 

*****

Taras
had agreed to the deal with an added clause - Vladimir would have to pay for
the merchandise at an increased 50% of the original price. Since he had pitched
the deal as a business transaction, he was told to look at it as the cost of
insurance in the event that they had their distribution licence revoked and
needed to ‘pay their dues' to get it back. Supposedly this "fee"
would cover the risk the members were taking in supplying an order to an
organization that was on their blacklist.

Vlad could care less
about the money, even if he ran at a loss he would still fork out the necessary
costs in obtaining what was needed. He and
Razvan
had
flown back to Istanbul and were meeting with Andrei who had finalised the
shipping. The tension that had coiled itself around every muscle in his being
began to ebb knowing that negotiations with other corporates wouldn't be
necessary.

Mike had also gotten
back to him on the woman in question that was captured alongside Val in the
photos. Her name was Gabriella
DeGouvia
. She was
speculated at being involved in a romantic relationship with the Saudi prince
who was second in line to the throne. Kamal Al
Asaad
Shaheeb
was not a campaigning politician but rather an
active economist that was focused on sustaining the booming market of his
Emirate state. There was nothing of significance there.

What caught Vlad's
attention was the repertoire of his older brother who had studied at the best European
schools, gone Ivy League and then was conscripted into the army where he had
worked his way up the ranks from private to Brigadier General. He was known for
his firm hand and there were rumours that he was a depraved soul who committed
heinous acts behind closed doors. The trepidation to get Val home increased at
the thought of the kind of man who held her captive, he would not leave her
there a minute longer than necessary. At his apartment in Moscow, his brothers
gathered around his home-office putting together any last minute details for
the drop. Ignoring them, he dialled the number in the brief.

"Hello"

"Sheik
Keyaan
Al
Asaad
Shaheeb
" he gave a mirthless chuckle.

"Who is
this?"

"You have
something that belongs to me and I want her back."

Keyaan
pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at the receiver in disbelief.
This was his private line. How did The
Impaler
manage
to get his number? No one but those closest to him
were
privy to that kind of information unless there was a leak. Quickly getting over
the initial shock, he feigned nonchalance. "Vladimir."

"Yes, the day
after tomorrow
be
ready to collect your shit. Now, I
suggest you put Valerie on the phone."

Not missing a beat,
Keyaan
replied, "That won't be possible. I just came
back from dinner with her and she's not in the best of moods today." He
smiled as he imagined the look on the other man's face with the knowledge that
he was the one to spend nights with his beloved Valerie. The artillery had come
in much faster than he had anticipated and instead of the satisfaction he
should be feeling on a plan well
executed,
only dread
welled up in his chest. He was running out of time with her - time he didn’t
even know he wanted until now.