VALENTINA
After I agreed upon helping them, Agent Vitali lead me to the room which is right beside that interrogation room.
He asked me to rest and he went to talk to the seniors or whatever.
Where he has locked me this time is a plain room.
White room.
A white bed. White sheets. White floor. White attached door.
This is unbelievable. I am beginning to despise white color.
I sigh out and jog toward the bed before laying down over it. I have been unconscious for a whole day and when I woke up, I was already in that interrogation room, handcuffed to the table.
Before that…
I was out on shopping. I was allowed to go shopping only once in three months and many guards followed me around.
I don’t even know how they managed to kidnap me after dodging all those guards.
I just remember going inside the lingerie store’s dressing room. Before I could undress completely, another man had appeared in the room out of nowhere and he sprayed something on my face.
I fell unconscious after that.
To think about this…Was it Agent Vitali who kidnapped me? I don’t know…
I heave a heavy breath and stare up at the stark white ceiling.
As I stare at it blankly, my mind goes to the usual thinking again.
They took everything. Thorn Clan. They took everything.
How is it like to live without a soul?
How is it like to breathe without a life?
How is it like to scream without a voice?
How is it like to bleed without a wound?
It must be damaging, it must be hurtful, it must be brutal, it must be traumatic.
...It must be unexplainable.
Who knows it better than me? They made me face this everyday.
They made me live without a soul.
They made me breathe without a life.
They made me scream without a voice.
They made me bleed without a wound.
They took everything. My soul. My life. My voice. My wound.
And they kept it caged in a golden cage just like my body. I was left to be just a slave and a body...
A soulless, a lifeless, a voiceless, a woundless body.
They took everything from me. Thorn Clan. They took absolutely everything. But they couldn't take one thing from me. It was my wish to see them in ruins.
May their souls become their demons,
May their lives become their nightmares,
May their voices become their screams,
May their wounds become their ruins,
May they lose everything just like they made me lose it all.
These wishes kept my soulless, lifeless, voiceless, woundless body going.
These wishes are still making me keep living and I think they are going to come true now.
I desperately hope that, because this is the only thing keeping me alive.
***
MATTEO
I drive out of the intelligence agency. My mind is still caught up in her words. She seems to hate Thorn Clan too much.
Not just Nico but Thorn Clan.
I don’t need to ask why. I already know why she hates the Thorn Clan. I will deal with this hate.
But right now, I have another important thing to do.
I drive to my secluded house and stop the engine of the car. Heading to my house, I unlock the door and step instead.
“ Took you long enough. ” Leo pops out of the kitchen, his mouth stuffed with popcorns, suggesting that he is about to watch movies in my house again.
I move past him without replying and drop the coat on the couch, before plopping down on it.
‘ Monsters deserve no compassion…or loyalty.’ Her words have really impacted me.
“ What happened with Valentina? ” Leo comes and sits down beside me, before stuffing a handful of popcorns in his mouth.
Valentina. I think about her again.
Her porcelain soft baby skin is perfect for carvings but she chose the other option.
Her long auburn hair look good in a ponytail. It makes me want to do the forbidden things to her.
Her baby blue eyes are sharp and deep. She hides many secrets behind those round innocent eyes.
Her small button nose makes her look cute when she is taking deep breaths.
Her full pouty lips can attract anyone easily. Her lips make a man wonder about what magic her mouth can do.
She is a full package. A seductress without trying. She is like a Diamond in this coal world. She is different.
Now, I can understand why Nico fucked around but still kept her as his girlfriend. She is hard to let go and seems unreplaceable.
“ I wouldn’t have caught her and asked for her help if you had done your job perfectly, Leo. ” I shoot back at Leo, who stops chewing on the popcorns all of a sudden.
“ I have told you many times. I am a close man to your Nico, but I don’t stay with him all the time like Valentina does. ” Leo begins chewing after defending himself with the lousiest excuse ever.
“ Whatever. ” I rub my temples, my mind forcing me to think about Valentina all over again.
“ Is it time to bring down Nico with Valentina’s help now? What are you going to do about the agency? ” Leo asks questions after questions, causing me a headache.
“ Don’t ask questions, Leo. I don’t like questions. ” I warn him in a grim tone.
He falls silent after the warning.
I am not a very good or manageable person. Leo knows he shouldn’t infuriate me.
“ Nico and Intelligence agency will never know what hit them. When they will finally be able to see, I will be the head of Thorn Clan alone. ” I stare at the wall, before I turn to look at Leo who looks to be lost in thoughts.
“ You want to ask about Valentina… ” I voice out his thoughts and grab his undivided attention.
‘I want to destroy the whole Thorn clan.’ Her statement makes me sure that she hates Thorn Clan.
It will be better to say…
She is still holding onto the past incidents and she STILL hates Thorn clan.
‘ It doesn’t matter to you. I will help you but only if you are capable of bringing The Thorns down.’
I am skillfully capable of bringing down empires like these.
She wants me to help her tear down Thorn Clan in return of her help.
That’s never happening.
A King never tears down his own Kingdom.
Liars don’t like other liars. She is too wrong about this.
Liars adore other liars.
It’s a never-ending game of chase between two liars that makes them adore each other.
It’s the rush of excitement they feel to uncover the truth which pushes them to stay close.
It’s a stupid contest between two liars. It’s something like… Who is the better liar?! It keeps them on the edge.
I detach my gaze from the wall and pin my gaze on Leo, who looks curious.
“ Valentina was my little brother’s whore for half of her life… ” I whisper to myself, knowing that Leo is able to hear me too.
“ and now… ” I look up, my eyes displaying all sinister emotions perfectly.
“ She’s mine. ”
VALENTINAI don’t know for how long I cried. I told him everything, almost everything and then cried for him too.Can I do anything worse than this?I sigh, now laying over my bed. He left earlier, saying he had to be somewhere else. I don’t know why but he looked baffled, as if there was something he couldn’t understand and didn’t like either or as if he had to make a decision he didn’t like.I release another heavy breath and stare up at the ceiling. My hand reaches out to my dry lips, my fingers tracing the outline. The touch of his lips still lingers on mine.I never knew a man’s touch could feel so good. I am only familiar with the agony the men in my life brought me.Pulling my hand down, I purse my lips and continue drilling holes in the ceiling.The loud ding noise of the main door opening breaks me out of my trance. I sit up in the bed.My heart begins to beat fast. Fixing my eyes at the door, I wait for Agent Vita—no—Matteo to come to my room.Time passes but he doesn’t come
MATTEOShe is so beautiful. When I look at her from close, that’s what I always think.She is beautiful but she is beaten and broken. She is damaged and dangerous.They had taken her innocence and her peace of mind. It hurts me to know that whatever she does now to bring her old self back, it won’t ever be enough.Valentina is gone. It seems the innocent girl, the one who was whole, had died a long time ago and what I see now is the broken shell of a person she once was.She is a danger to herself at this point, because she can’t control her rage, her thoughts, her memories from claiming her again and again.I hate to admit this, but she is a threat to everyone around her as well.As I hold her broken, crying self in my arms, I silently feel miserable for her.So beautifully broken she is. So impossible it is to fix her now.I should have
VALENTINAI close my eyes. The vein in my neck throbs against the tip of the bloodied sharp knife.He is going to kill me.“ If you attack someone, you have to do it right, Darling because if you fail and give them a chance, they won’t hesitate before slicing your pretty throat open. ” He whispers against my lips.The tip of the knife presses further into my neck but never pierces my skin. He doesn’t want to kill me.I open my eyes, meeting his gaze from up close. He looks like the epitome of perfection, someone without any flaws when he is so near.For a moment, I forget where I am standing. I forget about the knife held against my neck, I forget about the seduction and hidden serious look in his eyes.I see him for what he is. The emotions flickering in his eyes, the raw desire and the painful ne
VALENTINA~LITTLE WHILE EARLIERAgent Vitali leaves me in my cage and for some time, I just stand in front of the door, staring at it emotionlessly.Then, anger sears inside me. I want to get out of here - these words become an itch under my skin.I turn around on my heels and go to the kitchen to drink water. I need to calm the hell down.When I am near the sink, my eyes land on the knife holder placed close to it. I pause in my way, a glass held in my hand.He manipulated me, lied to me, gave me hope just to snatch it away once more. Just like everybody else.My emotions turn hard, my eyes zeroing in on the knife holder.I think there is only one way to get out here. I need to threaten Agent Vitali somehow or injure him a little so he can let me go. It’s a foolish idea - I know, but I can’t think of anything else right now.
MATTEOStanding on the rooftop of one of the highest buildings in the X city, I wait for Leo while I stare at the city before me. Everything seems so bright and dazzling from up here. The whole city is drowning in light and it feels like darkness has no home down there.But, I know what resides down there. It’s anything, but light and something like the evil darkness.Blood, Gore and Coldness exists in every corner of this city. It’s because this is the Thorn Clan territory. The rule and order of this city has long been in the hands of the Mafia Clan everyone fears. I have seen it from close, before I was kicked far away from the life of luxury and pleasure.I inhale the cold air and push my hands into my pockets.I aim to bring the light back.With the thought of light, Valentina’s face revolves in my mind. She looked so hurt when she realised that I was onl
VALENTINATaking his words to be true, I grab the plate from him. I am still suspicious, but I guess there is no harm in eating the sandwiches if this is what he wants me to do.I grab the first sandwich and start eating it. My eyes meet his dark eyes occasionally. The tension between us is dangerous.The way he looks at me always does strange things to me. I want to lean in, touch him, want to know what he truly feels and thinks and needs.Agent Vitali pushes his hand forward and places my stray hair behind my ear. My chewing mouth pauses as I find it difficult to move for a second.His thumb slides down my cheek and halts at the corner of my lips. My heart does somersault in my chest, wanting to break out of the ribcage and land near his feet if given the chance.“ What do you want so bad? ” His voice is a mere sensual whisper, a question he is asking to himself