Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Valerio
T wo years. 730 days.
That was how long I had waited for this woman. I had searched for her high and low. I had exhausted all my resources just to try and find her. And even with all the millions of dollars I had spent on private investigators, sketchers, and bribing various FBI agents, I had still not found her. Only to find that she had been under my fucking nose running within the same circles as I did.
Cielo .
I sipped on my cranberry juice while I watched her and that ass wipe of a fiancé move through the room. Sergei was a sleeve. No one in our line of work was a saint, not by a long shot, but there were lines that even we never crossed. Child trafficking was most definitely one of them. But if that wasn’t bad enough, there were rumors of the man getting into the organ smuggling industry.
Danill was an idiot. How could he put his ‘beloved sister’ in harm's way like that? Danill’s father had been deeply embedded in the Russian syndicate before Savina’s father had to put a stop to him. It was not a surprise that he had been ostracized from society. But if he wanted to rebrand his family, this was not the way to do it.
I watched the way Sergei had her glued to his side. He was a possessive little twat, but he also seemed to be parading her around like a trophy. And I could not fault the man there. Anastasia was the diamond of the ball. All eyes gravitated toward her without even truly trying. She had this captivating energy.
“Brother.” Andres came up beside me. “Would you like to tell me why you have been looking at Danill’s sister like she is your last meal on this Earth?”
I sipped on my juice, ignoring him.
“Silent treatment? Surely, we are above that?” When I didn’t respond, he sighed dramatically. “Must you always behave like a child?”
“Yes,” I quipped. “Why did you invite Sergei?”
“My wife,” was his simple answer. “She wants to make a show of this gala. As you well know, this is simply just a statement party. We need to still show that we are the Family that remains on top.”
“The King and Queen of the streets of New York.” I drawled.
“And beyond.” He chuckled under his breath, taking a sip of his drink. “I am less than pleased having him here, but we cannot deny the pull that he has within the Russian community. The Irish are still a problem, and the tensions seem to be getting more intense with each passing day. Savina wants to avoid an all-out war, but I don’t really give a fuck. Eradicate them all, for all I car.”
“Careful, brother. You are starting to sound like a xenophobe.”
My brother rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean. The issue is we keep trying to cut off their heads, but they are like a Hydra. You cut off one head and then two more grow in its place. We must pierce the beast from the heart.”
I remained quiet. My eyes stayed trained on Anastasia. I watched the way she interacted with people as she continued to be paraded around like a champion horse. She had that smile of hers plastered on her face, but it didn’t reach her eyes the way I imagined it to be. But my God, was she ethereal. She had this air about her that made her seem unworldly, like she was a different breed of woman that had never existed before.
“She is taken, Valerio.” My brother interrupted my thoughts. “I know that look on your face. You cannot have her. She is not yours.”
I tore my gaze from Anastasia and looked at my brother. “And who says I want her? I’m simply looking at Sergei. Is it not my job to analyze threats? Your wife just invited a cobra into the rabbit hole.”
His eyes pulled together, not appreciating my little remark. He downed his drink and excused himself to head over to Savina, who was talking to some of the other guests. Had my sister-in-law not been in the crime world, she would have made a brilliant politician. The way she schmoozed people was an art form that many presidents hoped to master.
Anastasia’s eyes briefly flicked my way before she snapped her gaze back to the small group she was speaking with. I didn’t miss the small flash of something in her eyes.
Oh, cielo , our little game had only begun. She wanted to run, but the problem with that was that I loved to chase. No matter how far away she wanted to roam, I would find her, and I would make her mine. Sergei was simply a small little hiccup that I had to overcome.
“As I live and breathe, Valerio Valdez.” That voice . As a boy, it had haunted me and had been one of the recurring roles in my nightmares. Vance Leamen walked toward me with that disgusting yellow-stained smile. His eyes locked in on mine but, for some reason, he was not as menacing as he had been when I was just a boy.
“Vance.” I gripped the glass tightly in my hand, so much so that I thought it would shatter in my hand from how tight it was. “Looks like Savina is letting anyone in these days.”
He threw his hand back and let out a boisterous laugh. “Still got that humor, boy. It’s been some time. You’ve grown since I last taught you.”
Taught me ? The man had some nerve. If what he had done to me was teaching me, then the world was a fucked up place. He had tortured me in ways that no child’s mind should ever be subjected to.
I had buried those memories so far down my head that I had forgotten it had happened. But seeing him again forced that lock open, and they started filtering through.
Blood. There had been so much blood.
“I was very sad to hear about your father.” Vance didn’t even look the slightest bit apologetic. It was no secret that their relationship had soured over the years. “He may not have upheld the Code, but he did raise two lethal men as his sons.”
My stomach curled. The memories of the cell, the wet, the cold, and all that blood. They filtered into my mind, assaulting my thoughts. I tried to push them back, but they kept coming back, each time stronger and louder than the last.
“Look, Valerio, I think maybe it’s time we put the past behind us,” Vance began.
I snapped my neck in his direction, my body filled with fury from his words. “Behind us? You want me to forget all that you did to me? To my family?”
Vance’s eyes widened a fraction. “Valerio…”
I shoved my glass into his chest, successfully staining his white shirt with the cranberry juice.
“Get out of my sight.” I walked away from him and made my way to the exit.
Air. I needed air. My chest felt like it wanted to cave in on itself, and my heart scraped against my ribcage.
I walked down the empty hallway until I came to a door that led out to a balcony. Perfect . Exactly what I needed.
I stumbled onto the empty balcony. The cool New York air whipped against my skin and cooled the heated surface. I walked to the ledge and braced my hand against the edge. The breeze picked up, and the small beads of sweat eased the bunt that torched my skin from all the adrenaline that pumped into my veins. I undid the top button, but my throat still felt like it had fists around it. The oxygen refused to leave my chest no matter how many times I huffed and puffed.
Fuck .
I was spiraling. I could feel it.
You’re my son…
It is what it is, Valerio…
Do you not want to be one of us…
My father’s voice filled my mind and bounced off the inside of my skull.
“Get out of my head, old man.” I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ground myself. My therapist had told me that I needed to find a center when I felt like the world was pulling away from me. Normally, counting would help, but my mind felt too busy for that. I couldn’t even keep a straight thought, let alone which number came after the other.
Shit .
Pull the trigger, Valerio…
Pull the trigger!
My eyes snapped open, and I turned and threw my closed fist to the nearest thing to me—the window. The knuckles broke through the thick glass, and it shattered onto the floor with a loud crash. Surprisingly, I felt no pain in my hand, but I knew that had to do with the adrenaline that pooled into my system.
The voice in my head quietened, the banging drew back, and my body returned to itself. I no longer felt like I was free falling. I was stable, rooted, and secure.
My breathing slowly began to even out as I calmed down from my high. I withdrew my bloodied hand from the small square I had shattered. My eyes darted down to my knuckles, assessing the damage.
“Valerio?” Her eyes were wide, and she looked petrified.
I had seen that look of terror on many faces when they came to meet me. They were often the last looks I would see before I inevitably pulled the trigger. I was used to it. I had become so accustomed to it that the pitiful pleas of mercy didn’t sway me. But seeing that look of terror and fear in her eyes was something I could not stomach.
She feared me. I could see it in her eyes, even after she blinked and forced her true emotions back. It was too late; I had already seen it.
She stepped toward me with her hand twitching at her side.
“Are you okay?” Now her terror had turned into concern and… pity?
I could take hatred, I could stomach destain, but pity? That was something that I could not allow. I was a Valdez. Pity was not an emotion that you associated with someone like me.
I looked away from her and shook my bloodied hand at my side. “I should call it a night.”
I didn’t give her a chance to respond. I simply brushed past her and walked off the balcony like I had bell fire hot on my heels. I didn’t know what the fuck that was about, but now I had some pent-up anger that needed to go somewhere.
I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed a number I rarely ever used.
“Well, this is a shocker. To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr Valdez?” Quincy's voice came from the receiver.
“I need you to bring a man to me. Make it inconspicuous. I need it all to look like an accident.”
“I was getting bored anyway. Who are we killing?”
“Vance Leaman.” Today would be the day that Vance learned not to try and fuck with me. I was not just like karma, when I came to collect a debt, I came seeking high interest.
Maybe getting my hands a little bloodied would ease the tight feeling seeing Anastasia had left me with. It was this gnawing and nagging feeling that just refused to let up.
I took my phone out again and dialed a number that I had not made use of in a very long time.
“Hello?” she answered on the first ring.
Typical. The woman was about as desperate as they came. I knew she wanted the life that I could potentially offer her. She didn’t care if I was the devil’s reincarnate or not. She would give her soul for a Hermes bag.
How deep our society has fallen .
“I’m coming.” That was all I said before I hung up the phone and made my way out of the building and to my car.
It didn't take me long to get to the building. For years, I had frequented the high-class establishment before I was forced to reformate by my brother and sister-in-law. The receptionist greeted, but I didn’t return the sentiment.
I had no time for pleasantries. I wanted one thing and one thing alone, and that was to fuck the last hour out of my head.
I walked into the red room and Brenda was waiting for me in her lingerie. Had my mind not been so busy, I would have taken time to admire her.
“Valerio Valdez.” She hopped off the dresser and sauntered toward me. “It’s been long.”
It had been a while since I had visited the brothel. I had no need for it since my reformation, but seeing the events that had taken place only an hour ago, I needed to blow off some steam, and Brenda was just the woman to do it.
My eyes raked over her body. I could feel my dick straining against my trousers.
Brenda batted her eyes my way and gave me a flirty smile that did nothing to appease me, but I let her believe it did.
“Undress.” I unzipped my pants and allowed my dick to flick out.
I watched her peel off the little pieces of cloth that could hardly pass as clothes off her body. She shimmied out of her underwear and then stood before me, waiting expectantly.
“Hands on the bed, ass to me.”
She did as she was instructed. She was as obedient as ever, just how I liked them. I stepped forward, stroking my cock as I analyzed her perky little ass. Brenda didn’t shy away from the cosmetic procedures. She was more plastic than flesh at this point, and at certain angles she was hard to look at.
“New ass?” I smacked her left cheek hard, to which she gripped the white sheets and smiled back at me.
“Just for you,” she used her flirty voice.
“And every other man you fuck.”
I pressed my hand into her back and forced her down so her ass was right by my dick. She moaned in exaggeration, trying to give me a show but I didn’t need any of that. It turned me off, but I tried to push the thought out of my head. I needed to fuck whatever was going on in my head right out.
I moved my tip over her slickness. She was already wet for me.
I plunged my dick inside of her and she moaned into the air and filled the room with her screams. She sounded like a shrieking banshee. The sound was like nails to a chalkboard, but I tried to focus on her pussy.
I smacked her ass, and she moaned again, but this time I took the lingerie she had discarded on the bed and stuffed it into her mouth to muzzle her screams.
Finally. Peace.
I grabbed her hips and surged my dick inside of her. I slid in easily, and she bucked under the pressure.
“Fuck! You’re so big.” At least that was what I thought she said. The muzzle was doing its job well.
I pounded into her, not allowing her a second to breathe. I was trying to fuck the last part of the night out of my brain. But every single thrust that I gave her only caused more images of her to filter into my mind.
She had seen me when I was crashing and that was a low point that I never wanted anyone to witness. There had only ever been one person who had seen me in a state of vulnerability, and I had told her to never speak of it again. That incident didn’t happen.
“Yes, oh, fuck yes!” Brenda had removed the muzzle and was now trying to sound sexy. Whoever had told her that she sounded sexy doing that had punished us all.
“Shut up,” I grunted before I pulled out of her harshly and hoisted her so she was upright. She gasped and tried to kiss me, but I dodged her lips. “No kissing.”
Kissing felt far too intimate for me. It was too personal.
Some would think I was stupid for saying that seeing as I was fucking her raw like nothing. But there was something about kissing that made the connection feel personal.
I lifted her and plunged my cock inside of her again with ease. She spread her legs wider and held onto them expertly with her hands. She stared at me like a starved animal that had never seen food in its entire life.
“I missed you. Fuck you look so—ah!” I grabbed her throat and tightened my hold on her neck. “Yes, choke me harder.”
She was a masochist, and it had been one of my favorite things about her. I relished being able to punish her and she took it with a smile because the pain excited her. It awakened whatever wounded monster lay underneath.
So why was it not enticing me now? Why was it that, when I squeezed my eyes shut to will the pleasure into my system, I only saw a pair of green eyes staring back at me?
“Yes, oh God yes, fuck me like you hate me!” Brenda choked against my hand which remained on her neck. “Oh yes!”
I picked up the pace and released my hand from her neck. I snapped my eyes open, and my eyes connected with the bruise that had formed on her skin. When I moved my eyes upward, I had expected to see brown eyes staring back at me, but instead, I was met with green ones. They weren’t filled with sex or desire inside of them. They had a softness to them, an innocence that I craved to corrupt.
I wasn’t fucking Brenda the high-class whore that I had requested. No, I had the woman that I had pined after for years in my arms and my dick was in her soft pussy.
“Valerio.” Her voice filtered into my ears, only making my dick twitch.
Thrust after thrust I watched her draw closer and closer to the edge. Her walls massaged me, drawing me with her to the cliff’s edge.
“Yes. Fuck. Me.” Her screams vibrated off the walls of the room and tore through the thick haze of lust and passion. “Yes!”
I thrusted into her violently, feeling the high drawing closer.
Just a little father and…
“ Cielo …” I roared into the red room as the orgasm tore through me. It ripped through my body violently, leaving me completely and utterly spent.
For a moment, I existed in this bubble with her. I existed with my drug, my kryptonite.
Then I blinked, and reality set back in.
Brenda stared at me with a wide smile on her face. Her makeup was smudged and her face dripped with sweat. Her baby hairs clung to her forehead, and her chest rose and fell hard as she tried to catch her breath.
Fuck. This girl was everywhere, and I had no idea how to keep her out.
“You were—hey where are you going?”
I ripped myself out of her and tucked my flaccid cock inside. I didn’t even bother to say anything to her. I just turned and left the red room. But before I made it out the door, I tossed a wad of hundred-dollar bills onto the small table by the front.
“Valerio!” she called after me.
I knew women like her well. She would claim she was in love with me but, in fact, she was in love with what I presented to her. I was no better than a serpent—a cobra.
I hypnotized you with my dance. Everything about me drew you in. My scent, my face, even the way I looked at you. It was the complex intensity of the danger. It intrigued you. It made you take one step closer in my direction, and that was all I needed to strike and administer my poison.
Some would have seen my treatment of Brenda as harsh, but I was doing her a kindness. She was better off this way.
So now it begged the question of why was I being cruel to Anastasia by bringing myself closer? She would likely perish if she got too close. I should do the noble thing and leave her be.
Unfortunately, I was no noble man, and I was far too selfish to think of anyone else but myself.