Dark Desires: Deliverance by Kourtney King Page A

all due for a
well-deserved break – he sure as hell needed one. He buzzed them in, turned on
the charm and opened the front door, the bottle still in hand.
    "Hello
ladies" he gave a devil-may-care smile.
    "We're here to
see Val" Macy stated, in a tone that brooked no argument.
    The smile that had
been playing on Andrei's lips fell as quickly as it had appeared when he
realised that what he had been expecting, and what he got, was the polar
opposite. He was not very adept at dealing with people unless he was giving
orders, tempting them into a business deal or charming their underwear off.
Gathering that he would not be able to apply his aforementioned skills in this
particular situation he decided to get Vlad. He would know how he wanted this
problem handled.
    "Hold on a
second." He left them at the door as he headed out to the guesthouse in
search of his brother, placing the wine bottle on the counter along the way.
    Macy was not going to
wait a minute longer. It had been over a week since she'd last spoken to one of
her closest friends and when Natasha called her up in a panic, she gathered the
girls - Tony included, and made her way to the beach house. She hadn't met the
man that was putting Val through the emotional ringer. One minute she was so
caught up in him that she completely forgot about attending their bi-weekly
lunches and in the next, she came back to them looking like a lost puppy. A few
days that, she found out that Valerie was moving in with him via her brunch
invitation. She would not be able to determine what was up or down with the
couple until she saw them for herself.
    They had passed by
her old house and found that her room was packed with boxes and none of her
housemates had seen her since she last came in to arrange the move. Valerie had
become scarce over the past few months. Nevertheless, she knew her friend and
she knew Val would never be so careless as to leave her things behind.
Something was going on and she doubted any of it was good. She planned to get
to the bottom of it today.  Not waiting for an invitation, she let herself
in with her friends following closely behind.
    Andrei returned to
the house, with Vlad in tow, to find that the girls he'd left at the door had
made themselves comfortable in the lounge. "Make yourselves at home" he muttered sarcastically.
    "We're not
leaving until you bring us our friend" Macy stated in defiance.
    "In the event
that she's not a missing person, I would understand her reasoning behind
falling off the radar if I lived in a place like this," Toni said as she
twirled her index finger around in gesticulation to her surroundings.
    "It's just not
like her Toni. We talk almost every day. Even though it hasn't been as frequent
as it used to be with the new men in our lives, she would have at least sent me
a text after a few days of silence. Something is wrong" Natasha explained
throwing a glare in Vlad's direction.
    Vlad took a seat on
the opposite couch facing all three women. He had gotten to know Natasha when
she came over for Sunday lunch with her boyfriend Mandla .
He could understand the accusatory look she was giving him now, he was the last
person to be seen with her closest friend and he'd fucked up in a major way
since then. As for the other women gathered before him, he vaguely remembered
meeting them at the club when he ran into Val the night following their
hook-up. It was unfortunate that they were meeting under these strenuous
circumstances.
    There was a thick
tension that had settled around everyone in the room. Natasha had gotten a good
look at Vlad and he didn't resemble the well put together man she had met the
last time she was in his home. His eyes were bloodshot and seemed tired as if
he had not been getting much sleep. His usually smooth face was covered in a
light beard that had grown out from days without shaving. If she had suspected
that something was amiss before, seeing the state of the man in front of her
had confirmed it.
    "Where