Dark Desires: Deliverance by Kourtney King

the easiest and will supply them timeously because I have you."
    Val stopped chewing
and swallowed heavily, "If there is a government embargo on such a deal,
what makes you confident enough to believe he would violate their policy?"
    "I can't say for
sure but love is a very powerful tool for motivation." He eyed her over
the rim of his glass as he took another sip. "We'll find out soon
enough."
    Fuck! He thinks Vlad
is in love with me! Shit! Shit! Shit! If this deal was
hanging in the balance of this so called "love" then she was royally
screwed. It had only been a few days after Vlad had given her a declaration of
assurance between them, that she was taken hostage. They had barely begun the
journey of being in a committed relationship. She knew she loved him but she
was uncertain whether her feelings were requited. Even if he had enough money
to rival Warren Buffet, she doubted he had the kind of power to commit sedition
without putting his livelihood at risk. Would he take that kind of risk for
her? The resounding no in her head incinerated her fragile hope and she
suddenly lost her appetite.
    "What's
wrong?"
    "Nothing. I've had enough to eat and would like to go to bed." She needed time
alone. She couldn't handle any more truths tonight.
    Something he said had
shifted Valerie's mood. He could sense it. Backtracking on the last few lines,
he filtered through what he had told her. Like a bloodhound, he locked on what
had affected her disposition. She was uncertain that love would be the right
tool to use against Vladimir. He had gotten more than he could have hoped for
tonight. He looked at her again and saw that her mind was adrift.
    "Did you like
the gift?"
    "What?" Valerie
snapped out of her ominous thoughts.
    "The
flowers."
    "Oh, yes.
They're beautiful." As if registering what Keyaan had just asked her she had a question of her own. "Why did you have them
brought to me?"
    "They symbolise
a new beginning."
    "Why are you
being nice to me all of a sudden?"
    "Would you
rather I was not?"
    She didn't have a
reply to that. At this point in time, she wasn't sure about anything anymore.
He stood up to take his leave. He loaded the remnants of the meal they shared
together into the food cart. When he was done he stood in front of her and bent
down to plant a kiss on her forehead before turning and leaving.
    The evening had taken
a strange turn. Keyaan was nothing like the man she
had imagined him to be. As she got ready for bed, her mind was trying to
reconcile the man Gabriella had told her about to the one that she had met. He
was calculating and taciturn as far as she could tell, but he didn't behave
like the tyrant people avoided and feared. Tonight she had just met a man with a
cause and a very wicked way of getting things done.
    She climbed into her
bed, closed her eyes and tried to find her happy place. She desperately needed
her happy place. The resounding image of Vlad popped into her mind, she hoped
that he would be able to work some kind of miracle to get her out of this mess.
The thought was shortly followed by how he made her ache with pleasure. The
irony of it all was not lost on her but what was a girl to do? She had gone
from having Vlad in various ways, multiple times a night, to having nothing.
The withdrawal was inevitable.
    Keyaan pushed the dinner cart out of her room and left it in the hall. One of the
servants would take it away. As he walked back to his office, he felt at peace
with himself. Having dinner with Val had been the most enjoyable thing he'd
done in a very long time. In her presence, he felt like the man he was a decade
ago, not at all the leader he was portrayed and under pressure to be. From his
bookshelves, he picked out one of his favourites – The Art of War by San Tzu.
     
    Val was about to
climb into the catacomb of sleep when the door opening jarred her awake. Like
the last time she kept her eyes closed and pretended at sleep. Fortunately, she
decided to keep her clothes on tonight. The