Fury: (Bratva Fury)

by Alexi Ferreira

  When he told me about the mafia, I asked him why he didn’t leave it. He said that it was all he knew and that it was part of him, and if I wanted to be with him, then I would need to accept that part of him too. We don’t talk much about it, as I try to keep away from the subject as much as possible. The only thing I do when I see that he’s perturbed with something is try to get his mind off whatever is bothering him and get him to relax for a few hours. There have been many times when he comes to see me that he gets called away, and when those times happen, just before he leaves, I can see that other Vlad that he never lets loose when with me start to make an appearance. I am aware that he is dangerous. How can I have any doubts when the man enjoys kickboxing? But I’m not scared, as I don’t think he will ever harm me.

  The Vlad I have come to know knows what he wants and goes for it. He is a typical alpha male; he handles me with care but firmly. When he looks at me, his gaze alone can make me hot. I didn’t expect to be in a relationship with anyone; well, what Vlad and I have can’t really be classified as a relationship, especially with the crazy hours I keep at the hospital. Working in emergency has its downsides. The things I see every day is saddening, but to know that I am making a difference is what keeps me going. Vlad, too, keeps hectic times, and we sometimes go days without seeing each other, but when we do, he makes up for all those hours that we have been apart.

  Pulling into the driveway, I groan when I see the lights on. Paige is home. I know that the minute I walk in, she will be wanting attention. In a way, I don’t blame her, as she spends most of her day alone, so when she sees me, she wants to talk, but the way I feel today, all I want to do is sleep. I switch off the ignition and then close my eyes for a minute to try to build some patience before exciting the car and making my way towards our home.

  When I enter the house, the first thing I smell is burnt toast. Shaking my head, I make my way toward the kitchen to find Paige sitting at the small kitchen counter with a slice of toast before her and a cup of coffee. By the toaster, I see a burnt slice on the counter that was just left there by the dirty butter knife and the wet coffee spoon. Looking toward the sink, I see it is full of dirty dishes.

  “Haley, you’re home,” she greets, and then takes a sip of her coffee.

  “Hey, Paige.”

  “What’s wrong? Did you have bad news?” she asks as I drop my handbag on the only other chair in the small kitchen. “You are looking upset.”

  Well, that is an understatement. I come home from a double shift and encounter the kitchen a mess, but instead of starting an argument, I shake my head.

  “Just tired,” I mutter, and she frowns. Paige has the same honey-blonde hair as me, but instead of the long hair like I keep, she has cut hers into a bob style. I personally preferred her hair much longer, but it’s her hair, and I have nothing to say regarding it. Paige is also taller than me, but that’s where the resemblance ends. I’m petite like my mom was, and Paige is bigger boned, something that she resents me for.

  “Have you spoken to Vlad today?” I can hear the sneer in her voice, which has me tensing in reaction.

  “No, Paige, I’ve been working, and you know that I can’t have my phone on me when I’m working.”

  “You never know, he might phone the landline at the hospital.” She shrugs as she takes another bite of her toast and then washes it down with coffee. “Don’t you mind that you don’t talk to him for so long? Who knows, he might be dead with what he does.”

  I snap around to face her. “How can you say that?” I say angrily. She knows that when my parents died, I was only told about their death hours later because of an exam I was taking. I will never forgive myself for not being there for Paige when they first told her that they had died in that tragic accident. She knows that I always worry that something will happen to her and I won’t be told until later. That’s not cool that she uses that against me.

  “Say what? It’s true. He’s a criminal. At any moment, he can be shot at, and you wouldn’t know about it. Or maybe arrested. How would you know that he was arrested if you guys hardly ever talk to each other?”

  What she is saying is true, but it still hurts to hear it said.

  “He’s not a criminal,” I mutter. “Just because he does what he does doesn’t mean he’s doing anything illegal.”

  “Open your eyes. Anyone can see that he’s not a choir boy. He will be arrested sooner than you think. Then you will see that I was right,” she states angrily.

  “Why are you against Vlad so much? Can’t you just be pleased that he treats me well? Or that I’m happy with him?”

  “It’s funny how you overlook the fact that he’s a criminal for your own benefit, but if it concerns me, all hell will break loose if you even see one of my friends smoking.”

  “That’s unfair, Paige. I try to do the best I can with you. I worry that you will get mixed up with the wrong crowd.” Am I being unfair on her? I don’t ever stop her from having friends, no matter who they are. I always try to know who her friends are in case of an emergency or to make sure that she’s okay. Paige acts tough, but deep down, she’s just a lost young woman who was handed a bad card in her life.

  I’ll always protect Paige no matter what. She’s my blood, and nothing will come between that, but sometimes I don’t like her very much. She can be hurtful when she wants to be.

  “Get mixed up with the wrong crowd? What, like you?” she asks sarcastically.

  She’s right. What kind of example am I showing her when I’m seeing someone like Vlad? I should never have entertained the possibility of a relationship with him, not that that is what we have, because it’s not. The fact that Vlad travels a lot and can’t always see me because of what he’s doing has fit in well with my timetable, as I’m not home often because of work. I always pick up extra shifts because of the extra money, and even like that, things are tight.

  Sometimes he’ll come over and only stay for a couple hours before he must leave again. Other times he stays the whole night. I’ve noticed that lately, he has been spending more time with me than what he used to. I would love nothing more than to be able to have a normal relationship with Vlad, and I know that I will get tired of not seeing him enough, but while it lasts, I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible.

  Just the thought of him makes my stomach flutter. I never thought I would meet someone like Vlad. Just by looking at him, anyone can tell that he is dangerous, I know that if unleashed, his rage would devour anyone before him, but I also believe that his fury will never be directed at me. But Paige could be right. I would never have contemplated being friends with someone like Vlad, so why did I?

  “I know that it doesn’t make sense, Paige, but I have never met anyone who makes me feel like Vlad does.” I approach Paige and take her now-empty plate so that I can place it in the sink with the other dishes. “I know that he isn’t a model citizen, and he would never have been someone I would have gone out of my way to meet, but it happened, and we really like each other. Can’t you accept that and be happy for us?” I can see the angry look on her face and know that her being happy for me is the last thing on her mind at the moment.

  “No, I can’t. Why would I be happy for you when you’re clearly blind to his shortcomings. It doesn’t matter, anyway.”

  “Of course it matters. I want you to accept Vlad,” I say. I don’t want Paige to feel alienated every time Vlad is here. “This is your home, Paige. I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable by anyone who comes here, but Vlad is a good man. You are simply concentrating on one thing about him and not looking at everything.”

  “No, I’m not. I heard him telling you the other day about bringing in weapons. Is that something a good person does?” I look at her, shocked. I thought she was out that day.

  “He told me that in confidence, Paige. You’re not supposed to have heard that.” My heart is racing at the thought of what she heard. She will never accept Vlad now, and to be honest, I can’t blame her. I have always tried
to install good morals in her, and me dating someone who sells weapons that will kill people is not the best way to show her.

  “Well, too late, isn’t it?” she says.

  “Just forget about what you heard, Paige; this is not our business. What they do or don’t has nothing to do with you or me. You’re right; it’s not fair of me to want you to like Vlad when he stands for everything I have always told you to stay away from.” My heart feels like it’s being ripped out of my chest. I haven’t really known Vlad for that long if we count all the time we have been apart, but I have allowed myself to get attached to him in a way I have never been attached to any other man before.

  “What does that mean?” Paige asks with a frown.

  “It means that you win.” I will stop seeing Vlad. I don’t want to, but I need to make Paige my priority, and by doing so, I can’t have someone like Vlad in our lives. For a little while there, I thought that finally life had given me everything I ever wanted. Someone to lean on who would be there for me no matter what, but I should have known that life isn’t always that simple.

  “It doesn’t matter. It’s too late now,” Paige says as she shrugs and turns to leave.

  “What do you mean it’s too late?” I say as she continues walking down the corridor into her room. “Paige, what do you mean?” I follow her.

  “I mean that by now, he’s most probably been arrested,” she says nonchalantly, but by the way she is purposefully being evasive and not meeting my eye, I can tell that there is something she isn’t telling me, and I have a feeling I’m not going to like it.

  “You’re not telling me something, Paige. What aren’t you telling me?” I ask, but just then, there is a knock on the door. What now? All I wanted was to go to bed when I got home, and now it doesn’t seem like that is going to happen too soon. “This isn’t over. When I get rid of whoever that is, we are going to talk.”

  “Later. I’m going out,” Paige says as she walks past me and down the corridor to the door. I want to argue, but there is no use. I will confront her again after I sleep, because at the moment, my head is starting to pound. Paige opens the door, and I see her shocked look when she looks at whoever is on the other side.

  “Is your sister here?”

  Vlad? He usually lets me know before coming over. I walk towards the door just as Paige ignores him by walking past him and out the door.

  “Vlad?” He walks in and closes the door before I can reach it. When he turns to face me, I can tell that something is wrong.

  “Was it you?” I was about to rush to hug him, but I stop at his question. What does he mean?

  “Was it me what?” I ask, the fury in his eyes scaring me. I have never seen Vlad looking at me or anyone else like that before.

  “I only told you,” he says as he takes a step towards me. Instinctively, I take a step back and see him scowl.

  “Told me what? I don’t know what you are talking about.” I can hear the tension in my voice as my stomach is knotting in fear. I told Paige that I would stop seeing Vlad, but now that he is in front of me, I can’t do it. All I want to do is walk up to him and hug him close until I know that whatever is making him so angry goes away.

  “You are the only one I told about the shipment.”

  At his words, I feel my heart sinking as I realize what this is about. Oh no, what did Paige do?

  VLAD 3

  When I see the fear in her eyes, I know it’s her. It’s like a stab right through the heart to know that the only woman I decided to trust betrayed me. I take the step needed to reach her and place my hand around her neck, pushing her back until she’s against the wall. I see her shocked look, the fear radiating through every pore as she raises her hands to my arm. “It was you, wasn’t it?” I ask, hoping that she will tell me I’m wrong.

  “It’s not like that,” she says as tears streak down her cheeks.

  “Really? Then how is it? Tell me, because all I know is that our shipment was confiscated because you betrayed me.” I hate seeing her cry, but that’s not going to stop me from making her pay for what she did. How could I place Alexei and the whole Bratva in danger because of a woman?

  “I’m sorry, truly, Vlad.”

  How could I be so wrong about her? I should have investigated her background, but all I could see was her goodness, the way she made me feel. Was it all a façade? Because no one who shows that much goodness could possibly betray another. I opened up to her, something I do with no one, and she turned around and stabbed me in the heart.

  “You’re hurting me.” Her words have me loosening my grip slightly. Even after all she did, I still want to be lenient with her. How am I supposed to make her pay if I can’t see the damn woman crying? Fuck.

  “You will hurt much more by the time I’m finished with you,” I grunt, and see the fear intensify in the way her body tenses and in her beautiful expressive eyes.

  “Please, Vlad,” she murmurs.

  “Its too late for that. You should have thought about that before you went to the police and told them about our shipment,” I mutter as I look around. This won’t do! “You are coming with me.” I let go of her neck but take hold of her upper arm, seeing her wince as my fingers dig into her arm.

  “Where are we going?” she asks as I drag her outside and into the car. “I don’t have anything with me. Let me change. I just got home.” I look over at her in her nurses’ uniform as I start the car and grunt. She won’t need to be dressed for what I have in mind. She will regret ever having betrayed me by the time I’m finished with her.

  “Vlad, please, this isn’t you,” she pleads.

  “You don’t know what is me, but you will learn.” Her hands clench in her lap, a clear sign of stress, as she looks out of the window, the tears still streaking down her cheeks.

  “What are you going to do with me?” she whispers. I tense, my hands on the steering wheel, but I don’t reply, as I don’t yet know what I’m going to do with her, but one thing I do know is that she will be where I want her. I don’t know what all she told the police, but I will find out before there are any more surprises. How am I going to face Alexei and tell him that he is in this predicament because of me? The person he should always be able to trust let him down.

  We drive in silence through the city until I am turning into the basement of our building. I have a fight coming up in a month, and I should be concentrating on getting myself ready. This is not going to help with that. Parking the Mustang in my allocated parking space, I look around and see that Nik’s and Alexei’s cars are out. I want to get Haley up to my apartment with minimal interaction. It helps that she’s wearing her nurses’ uniform. The men will think that she’s here to help someone. I step out of the car and walk around to open her door.

  “Come.” As soon as she’s out of the car, I have my hand on her upper arm again and am guiding her across the parking lot until we’re both in the lift. When it stops at the top floor, I guide Haley out and towards my apartment door. As I place my finger on the scanner to read my fingerprint, the door unlocks and we walk in.

  “Where are we?” she asks as she looks around the apartment that looks out at the city below.

  “My apartment,” I say as I let go of her arm and shut the door behind us. I can see the surprise on her face as she looks out through the floor-to-ceiling windows. I walk around her to the bar, pouring myself a vodka. I turn to face her and see that she’s still standing in the same place I left her, but her eyes are now on me.

  “What are you going to do with me?” she asks. I can see shadows under her eyes, but I will not care. She went out of her way to hurt me; well, she must be prepared to pay.

  “First, I want to know exactly what you told the police.” She tenses, but she doesn’t reply, which has my anger rising another notch. “Haley, I’m not playing. What did you tell the police?” Again, she doesn’t reply, which has me snapping. I throw my glass across the room, and it shatters against the wall. I hear her cry of surprise as she jumps
in fear. I cross the room and am before her in seconds.

  “I’m going to find out what you said anyway, so why not make this easier for yourself and just tell me?” She looks down at the floor and shakes her head in reply. My hand snaps up to her jaw and lifts it until she’s looking directly at me. “Why?” I ask the question that above all has been twisting around and around in my mind. She gasps at how tight I’m holding her chin, but I need her to tell me. I need her to tell me how she can be so caring with me and then betray me behind my back.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispers, and then breaks down and cries. I let her go and take a step back in anger. I want her to feel the pain that I am feeling, but her tears unsettle me.

  “Sorry doesn’t tell me why,” I say angrily. I need to get out of here and punch something, because otherwise, I will do something I will regret. I walk over to the door and leave, closing the door behind me. I can still hear her cries, but I don’t look back as I walk towards the lift and down to the gym. I will beat my anger out at the gym. It’s the only way I have of ridding myself of the anger coursing through my body.

  I don’t know how long I have been here, punching at anything that will take it, when Nik walks in. I see him walking towards the changing rooms, and a couple minutes later, he is walking back out dressed for a workout.

  “Do you want to go a round in the ring?” I ask, wanting to actually feel pain so that I can forget about what Haley did.

  “Da,” Nik replies, heading towards the ring. This fight next month should be all consuming, driving me, but instead, the only thing on my mind is Haley. Fuck, I need to get her out no matter what the cost. I join Nik in the ring. We start to circle before I throw the first punch, and then the fight is on. Everything around me disappears, and only my opponent is in my sight.

  Nik is a good opponent and can hold his own, but he doesn’t have my skill, so soon, he is holding up his arms in submission, which has me grunting.