Chapter 10 - Pain

I winced in pain, resisting the urge to press the deep cut on my elbow caused by the broken glass.

“Shit” I groaned, getting up. I got on my feet and spun around in pain, only to find a huge figure in front of me. My heart almost jumped out of my body.

I stumbled back and hit a table, suddenly wanting to crawl into a hole. I was unable to focus due to the blood coming out of the cut on my arm. At the same time, the man is staring at me like he’s about to kill me.

I looked behind him, and found the door shut. I suddenly felt a rush of fear overwhelm my body. All of a sudden I find myself back in the dark room, a place that I never thought I would be again. But this time I am not only screaming from physical pain, but from another source of pain.

I suddenly felt in pain, an emotional pain. My heart was beating faster than it was meant to, I could feel my rib cages. The man in front of me suddenly got blurry and before I knew it, my feets lost all power and I was crashing down.

"No," I managed to blunt.

Tears blurred my vision, I could feel two hands wrap around me, placing me on the ground gently. I didn’t have the power to move or tend to myself, I felt lifeless.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Vladim’s POV

I knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but I also wasn’t expecting it to be that hard. She’s hard headed and doesn’t listen to anyone but herself. I haven’t had anyone speak back to me like that in years.

I looked at the contract and read the three points we added again to reassure myself that a contract was a good idea. I need these rules to keep her safe.

She seems a bit reckless and the type of business I’m in is not one for reckless people, I have to admit, she knows her way around the business, her father taught her well, but she enjoys walking on fire and I don’t.

I prefer to fly over the fire to my destination. Walking all over it is pointless and a waste of time. I don’t like wasting my time.

I slipped the contract back into my top drawer and locked it, then pulled out my computer and began working. One of the difficult parts of owning an illegal business is washing the money.

I found a way to make it easier on myself but that doesn’t mean it becomes any less risky. Having many men always comes with the risk of getting back stabbed or fucked over, especially when you’re number one at what you do.

I slowly got consumed into my work that I completely forgot about Irene being here. She's not used to the place so it would take her time to adjust but if we want people to believe the story of love between us, we would need to spend time together.

This is where I spend most of my time because my business partners believe that this is where I live.

It technically is because I stay here all day but this is not where I spend most of my nights. I don't want anyone finding out where I really stay so I try to keep that location as private as possible.

She is going to be here a lot and I would have to get used to it.

I didn't notice the time passing until I heard a loud knock on my door, grabbing my attention.

I say come in through the mic beside me that is connected to the door. Due to the room being soundproof, no one would hear me even If I shouted come in.

I expected to see one of my workers or Ilya walk through the door but I felt a stress on my chest when I saw Clyde's huge figure push my door open.

His blue eyes are dark and he has paint all over his clothes and his hair touched up. If I didn't know him, I would be intimidated by his emotionless expression.

I silently watched him sheepishly walk in, waiting for him to say what he was there for but he stood in front of me, scratching the back of his head and averting my gaze.

"What is it?" I asked, getting up.

"Man not to be mean but your girl is weak as fuck" He says.

I tense at the sound of him speaking about Irene, suddenly feeling restless. Clyde is not someone to be messed with and I won't be very shocked if he says he broke her bones or something, but I would definitely be mad.

"What do you mean?" I frowned, walking towards him.

"I didn't do a thing, she just saw me and collapsed. I knew I looked creepy but I didn't think it was that bad" He shrugged.

I walked and pushed past him, knowing exactly where Irene could be considering that's the only place that Clyde goes to in this house and a person like Irene lets her curiosity lead her into trouble.

I pushed into the small hallway and pushed the door open, only to find Irene on the ground, covered in blood.

I ran toward her and checked her pulse, before sitting her up, letting her body fall on me.

"I swear, I didn't do anything" Clyde says.

"Where is all this blood from?"I asked,

"She crashed with the cup and fell on it" He said, walking towards us before taking her other hand and showing me her elbow.

I cringed at the sight because there were still a few tiny pieces of glass in it.

"Take her to the room for me I will call the doctor and come there" I said, before letting him effortlessly scoop her into his arms. She looked like a child compared to him.

I took out the keys from the top cupboard and unlocked the bigger door for him, which leads to another hallway. As soon as he was out, the door shut and automatically locked.

I went through the smaller entry and headed for my office, where I called the home doctor with my phone.

I had Clyde leave the room before getting one of the few house maids to clean the blood and place a towel under her arm so that it wouldn't seep through the bed.

The doctor arrived in 20 minutes and began his work. He started by checking her pulse and forehead before dressing her wound and putting down some medication.

As soon as he was done, he turned to me and got up "For now I have dressed the wound, but you should prepare to take her to the hospital right now to properly get the glass taken out of the cut and stitched properly" I nodded.

"When will she regain consciousness?" I asked.

"She seems to have failed due to shock but it's nothing to worry about too much"

I accompanied him out of the room and let him go down the stairs by himself before going back in.

Clyde, who has been hiding in the balcony, came out and looked at her, then to me.

"She was crying before she passed out," He added.

"About what?"

"I don't know, she was repeating the word No, over and over again" He shrugged.

"Dude you scared her shitless" I sighed, sitting beside her.

She looks so calm and relaxed, her hair has gotten messed up. There is a long patch of rashes on her skin, which is probably from her allergy but her face is cleared out.

How can such a beautiful person be such a pain in the ass?

I stared at the dry tears around her eye, gently rubbing it off.

"I will take her to the hospital to get that cleaned up. You stay, I'm not done with you" I ordered, before calling Ilya to get the car ready.

Irene’s POV

When my eyes fluttered open, I wasn’t feeling particularly great, I immediately remembered the memory that my brain had hidden from me for years. My life is about to change forever because I don’t think I will ever be able to get back to normal, knowing that that happened.

A rush of sadness overwhelmed my heart as I tried to crumble myself but winced at the pain on my elbow.

“Be careful” Vladim’s strong voice says, which sounded more like an order. Within seconds he was right beside me, helping me push my body up. I tried not to shiver to his touch, tears blurring my vision.

I pulled my knees up and rested my head on them, letting my tears fall. It took a second before I felt Vladim’s arms wrap around me. It was so awkward that I had to resist the urge not to push him away..

“Call my dad for me please” I muttered, in between my whimpers.

I felt him take one hand off me and sometime later he was speaking to my dad. I snatched the phone out of his hand and put it on my ear.

"Papa please come" I cried.

I could hear the fear that he tried to hide in his voice when he responded "I'm coming"

Vladim pushed me back into the hospital bed and left the room which was good for me because I really couldn't handle being so vulnerable around him and I needed the lone time.

I had lost track of time from crying and staring into space but when I finally heard my brother's voice, I eagerly pushed myself up.

Hunter was the first I saw when the door pushed open, then Jax and Dad followed along.

"Hunter" I cried, getting teary again.

He ran to my side and hugged me, while dad hugged me from the other side. Jaz sat down and placed his hand on my legs.

I could see the sadness written all over his face, because our mother died while I was a child. I became like a child to them at such a young age and they all had to take care of me together.

They hated to see me cry more than anything and did everything they could to keep me happy.

"Is it true?" I cried.

"Is what true my child? What did you hear that got you so sad" Dad asked, taking a step back to look at me, while Hunter still held me.

"I remembered something Papa, I don't know why I didn't a long time before but I do now" I cried.

It felt like they knew exactly what I was talking about because they got pale, the color was washed out of their faces and they looked between each other.

"You knew?" I asked, taking Hunter's hands off me. He left me and sat on the other end of the bed, the same level as Jax.

"When we got you back, you were unconscious. The doctor was able to tell that you were abused and… Raped" Hunter says.

I cringed at the word but shut my eyes, remembering every detail of that day, all except the face of the man. His voice rang in my eyes, his laugh, his grip.

"Then why don't I remember?" I asked, opening my eyes.

"We thought you would when you woke up, but you didn't. The doctor said that your brain probably shut it out as a safety mechanism but it could get triggered by anything" Dad says.

I pulled my knees up and rested my arm and my head on it again.

"I would prefer to have known 5 years ago" I say softly, mostly to myself.