Page 30 of Corrupt: XXX Vadim 2
As soon as I finish the final braid, she lurches to her feet and snatches the brush. Then she climbs under the blankets, tucking It under her arm.
“Goodnight,” I murmur as I escape this time without a word from her.
A small smile shapes my mouth as I return downstairs. Before I remember that, I shouldn’t be doing things like tucking my one-night-too-many-stand’s daughter into bed. If anything, I should be putting distance between us.
And her father.
The man whose voice alone makes me quiver, even now as he speaks to someone else, his tone low and strained. “…I didn’t know until two years ago. For obvious reasons, it’s not something I’m eager to discuss.”
“That’swhy you went off all that bloody time,” a man replies, his accent distinctly British. “I thought it might have been because your old partner died, but… You didn’t think to ask for fucking help?”
“I thought it was best to keep her separate from me,” Vadim says. Even from this distance, I can picture his expression—tortured, guilty eyes, and a tight frown. My heart aches, and I long to run my fingers through his hair until his devious grin returns in full. “I’ve changed my mind since.”
“Why?” the other man demands. I think I recognize his voice—Milton.
A low sound issues from Vadim that could be a laugh from a normal man. “Why not? If Maxim can become father of the year, I can’t? My daughter is at leastmine.”
“But how? Don’t tell me you knocked-up some woman and just left her. That’s not like you.”
Vadim’s silent for so long. Finally, he sighs. “Do you remember my last owner?” he asks, his tone gruff. “The one they called The Collector?”
“I remember him, the sick fuck,” Milton snarls. I imagine his handsome visage twisted with anger, his dark eyes narrowed. “I remember the rumors as well. Don’t tell me…”
“They’re true.” Vadim sounds so cold. So distant. A stranger. “He had that name for a reason. Hiscollection. He always spoke of breeding his favorite toys, be them animals, or…”
I’m drawn forward three more steps before I have the sense to stop at the base of the staircase. Their voices must be coming from the study—I don’t see anyone in the foyer or the living room.
“He must have stored his samples in a place where they were spared from the purge. I’d thought I’d burned everything else to the fucking ground.”
“Samples?” Milton’s tone conveys enough horror for us both. “Fuck! Do you know who her mother is? And how could hissamples… Maxim said she’s young. That bastard died over a decade ago.”
“I don’t know why or how she was born,” Vadim admits. “As for her mother… I do have one hunch. You might even remember her.”
“Another ‘favorite?’” Milton asks, hissing the term.
“Her name was Irina.” I’ve never heard Vadim’s tone so detached. Broken. “Magda has her eyes. If I would consider anyone an ally in that world, other than you… But most would not understand our relationship,” he adds. “With your convenient knowledge in psychiatry, I think you’d deem it something along the lines of…Unhealthy codependency with anti-social attributes.”
“Oh?”
“You know what it’s like,” Vadim says softly. “When you question your own humanity. When you crave validation and power so badly, you’ll do anything to find it? Confide inanyone.”
“I understand,” Milton says, his voice a rasp.
“Irina and I were more partners than anything else. In manipulation. Deception. Seduction. We made a game of it. Stealing tokens to prove who was the better player. Looking back, I think it was the only way we could survive. She disappeared before I gained my freedom,” he adds. “Whether she was killed or escaped, I never found out. But now I suspect she left on her own. Left me behind. To her, it would be just another part of the game.”
“And your child?” Milton presses. “Is she part of the ‘game’? Have you tried to find her, Irina? You cite my ‘psychiatric’ experience, which you gladly make use of. And yet, in all of our sessions, you’ve never mentioned her.”
“I don’t know,” Vadim says in a tone that makes something inside me throb. “If she is alive…she’s deliberately concealed herself from me. When I found Magda, she had no documentation. No birth certificate. It’s like she appeared out of nowhere, but the doctor who did her first examination claimed that she had been well-fed beforehand. Well-groomed and her vaccinations appeared to be up to date. The only abnormality was that her diabetes was dangerously uncontrolled.”
“Could she have been planted?” Milton wonders. “Where you would find her.”
“If Irina is her mother…” He trails off in that way he does when he’s mulling something over. Something puzzling like the prospect of me leaving, or a woman who may or may not be the mother of his child. “Why have I never mentioned her? We all had our ways of coping,” he adds softly. “She could see those around her as creatures to protect or toys just as easily. When she left, there was no point in dwelling on her. She wouldwantme to dwell. And now? I don’t see her abandoning Magda without a reason.”
“A fucked up one from what it sounds like,” Milton hisses. “I have to ask. Was… Was she part of the trade, your girl?”
“No,” Vadim says, and I sense them both release sighs of relief. “Her examinations revealed no sign of abuse. She’s had a relatively normal upbringing. No matter her origin, I will protect her.”
“And you won’t be alone in that.” The heat in Milton’s tone challenges Vadim’s own assurance.“Milton sees me as a scared little boy he’s sworn to protect.”But duty is a very different animal from unquestionable loyalty. “Can I see her?” he asks.
