Adrik
When I claimed her, that was it. I made her mine and betrayed her. She longed for a story that wasn't mine to narrate, so I did the only thing a man like me would-I sent her back. Little did I know the secret she was keeping. The worst of all...
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"Has Vlad called you back?" I nursed a glass of vodka as I stared into the abyss of the dark sea that separated us. I bought this beach house for her, and now my plan got fucked with because Vlad refused to pick up his fucking calls. Twenty-four fucking hours and nothing.
"No." I remained calm, although I felt the last of my control snap a few hours ago. He had to get her away to the heliport where we usually landed. That bastard hasn't been answering any of my fucking calls since yesterday morning.
"Do you think he got caught?" Marco pushed further.
"When is Vlad ever caught?" I growled, throwing back my drink and loosening my tie. "That fucker, Antonio had him do something. Can you hack into the cameras there?"
"I tried that, and nothing. The cameras were off." That gut feeling didn't come. "It turns out there was a glitch in the wireless network. Alessandro lives in the countryside, far from the mainland, so it often happens."
"I'll go and grab her myself." I gritted my teeth. This house was not supposed to be empty. Her screams and insults were missing in the chill, cold night as I happily sipped on some vodka, but that taste was bitter on my tongue.
"That's too risky since you don't know how things are there. Maybe wait until Vlad calls."
"He could find a damn phone somewhere in the town. I didn't hire him to sit tight and kiss Antonio's foot." I knew that fucker wasn't dead, either.
"Vlad is all about precision and planning. Maybe things switched up."
Marco and I's phone dinged as a notification came through. I quickly retrieved the device from my pocket, and my heart stopped. For the first fucking time, it stopped like a knife sliced through it.
"Adrik?" Marco's incredulous voice barely registered in the ring in my ear. I sprang into action, my chest rising and falling in angered pumps. I pressed my phone to my ear—nothing.
"Blyat!" No service. "Blyat, blyat, blyat!" I slammed the phone across the wall and, amid rage, gripped the table and flipped it over. The bottle of vodka and Marco and I's glass toppled to the floor, the glass shattering as a reminder of what would happen to me if I didn't get her fast enough. "Marco, I swear," I clenched my fists almost painfully. "If Javier gets his hands on her..." I ran my fingers through my hair. "Who sent that picture?"
"I'm working on it," I hadn't realised he'd set up his laptop and connected his phone via USB. "I should be able to get the location, but not who owns the phone. Whoever it is knows who you are. If Javier had her, she would be in ropes or even bruised." I felt that hidden darkness seep into my bones and stared hard at the sky. Limb by limb—bone by bone—blood for blood. War.
"Let him." The two words were colder than the air that I breathed.
"Gavno." Marco snarled, knowing I'd awaken the beast inside of me. He had only seen it once before I left for the military. I killed twenty of my father's close friends with a dull blade. I tore them limp by limp as retribution for what Fyodor did to me. The bastard laughed in my face, and that rage earned me respect and fear in the military for years.
