she heard the
bedroom door lock once more. The encounter had been unsettling. It felt like he
was marking her with the way his eyes traced every inch of her body. She needed
to leave, she wasn't safe.
When Keyaan closed the door behind him he was trailed by his
personal bodyguard who accompanied him on the grounds. Thinking back on the
woman he had just laid eyes on, he had to recant his earlier observation - Val
was beautiful. He could see why The Implaer was
besotted with her. It was her dark, innocent eyes and shy demeanour that
appealed to men like Vladimir and himself . They were a
mark of naivety when it came to their world. Where Vladimir had chosen to care
for her, he would have destroyed her. That kind of woman reminded him of… he
stopped that train of thought. The only thing he wanted to focus on right now
was securing his region, protecting his family and seeing to the mission his
father had left for him to complete. He would use her to his advantage and the
best part of it all was that he would enjoy every minute. He gave a slight
chuckle at his change of plans, neither Vladimir nor Valerie would have any
idea of what was about to hit them. He was a sick, twisted sadist with the
power of a king. He planned to make this an experience that neither one of them
would ever forget.
*****
The phone went off
and Vlad answered it one the first ring. He was restless and paced across the
open lounge as he anxiously waited for any information regarding Val's
whereabouts. "Where is she?"
"The phone was
last tracked at the airport. It's there as we speak."
"So she's still
in the city?"
"No. Whoever it
is that took her disposed of the phone there. I tapped into the security
mainframe and ran a search using her name but there were no hits. I then ran a
facial ID of her which took a bit longer and I got something. She was last seen
boarding a plane to Johannesburg. I have the passenger manifest but she's using
an alias. I ran the names and passports against the databases of the relevant
countries and only one seemed to be a forgery and a very good one at that. A
Mariam Kassim - wife of Mehmet Kassim ."
Vladimir's blood
boiled at the thought of another man claiming her as his wife. She's mine damnit ! Taking a deep breath he responded to Mike's update,
"Get me some eyes on the ground. I want to know exactly where they are
taking her."
"Already on it,
it will be a couple of hours before they land. Will call you
with any new developments."
"Great"
Vlad stated sarcastically before hanging up. He was torn between chasing after her
on the next available flight or waiting for his brothers' arrival to map out
the situation. Common sense dictated that he wait, plan and execute – it would
ensure that there were no catastrophes when he went in, yet everything in his
entire being longed to have her back with him, consequences be damned.
He went into Val's
study space, the green and white guest room that he meant to convert into their
shared office. He just needed to feel close to her before he lost his mind. He
brought his laptop with him and began to go through the various client emails
until he found the one that was the cause of this entire mess. He worked
diligently, sending out a few emails, setting up meetings on short notice and
listing contacts he would need to see personally. The task was monumental –
such operations took months to plan. He was hoping to pull this off in a matter
of weeks at best. He hated this part of the job and was looking forward to
never having to deal with the red tape of the industry ever again when he closed
shop. Before he knew it, it was early morning and he had dozed off.
˜ζ˜
Today Vlad was not in
the mood for work and decided to call it a day early in the afternoon. Just as
the cab was pulling in, he noticed Val walking into the lobby with another man.
They seemed to be on friendly terms and having a conversation that had her
laughing. He clenched his hands into fists and ground on his