Valon: What Once Was (Volkov Bratva Novella)(18)

While Bastian didn’t look particularly thrilled that his opponent wasn’t as bloody as they normally were, he could not complain about the results of it.

He’d been left to do as he pleased for the rest of the night, and for Valon, that meant staying awake until his body gave out and he finally passed out.

It was going well until he heard multiple pairs of feet outside his door and soft curses that were aimed at someone he couldn’t see. Before, Valon had always jumped at the slightest sound, always worried that someone would try to sneak up on him and attack, but with the tales of his skills traveling far and wide, there was no need for him to be afraid anymore.

Even injured, he could kill with his bare hands.

The door was shoved open without warning, Bastian strolling in as he always did. Everyone else knocked because once when Strom barged in and startled Valon out of his sleep, he showed him how that was a bad idea.

Not moving from his position on the bed, Valon turned his head in Bastian’s direction, his face not giving anything away as a girl was shoved into the room behind him, two of Bastian’s men taking up the doorway.

Valon barely spared her a glance as he asked, “Am I needed?”

“No, no.” Bastian chortled though no one else laughed. “I’ve brought you a gift.”

Valon wasn’t particularly fond of the gifts he liked to give, but he wasn’t stupid enough to turn him down. “Oh.”

Bastian snapped his fingers and the girl was given another shove, closer to Bastian this time. It became abundantly clear, though it wasn’t said, that the gift was whoever this girl was.

She was barefoot, much as Valon had been when he’d first arrived, but unlike him, she had a sheet wrapped around her body, held closed by tiny fists. She had large eyes, almost too big for her oval face. She was trembling, more from fear than cold.

That fear only made worse when Bastian gave a yank on the sheet she held, pulling it away from her body, revealing her nudity.

He might have been a killer and was particularly brutal with his fists, but he had morals…questionable morals, but morals all the same.

Valon kept his eyes on her face for a long moment before looking back at Bastian and the pleased smile on his face.

“She is beautiful, no? Firm breasts and I was guaranteed she is untouched.”

Neither of those descriptions meant anything to Valon. “Okay.”

“Don’t worry,” Bastian explained, misunderstanding his lack of a reaction. “She’s legal.”

Now that did mean something to Valon after seeing the girls that Bastian preferred, but he would never take his word for it. “What do you expect me to do with her?”

Bastian laughed loudly, looking back to his men who cracked a grin at his expense. Despite their entertainment, they didn’t turn their laughter on Valon. They couldn’t even meet his eyes.

“Enjoy her. I’ve forgotten what little you know since you’ve been so lucrative for me over these years. I’m sure she’ll teach you everything you need to know. Or would you prefer someone break her in first?”

To that, Strom perked right up, his eyes sliding over the girl in blatant, though malicious, interest.

The girl, whoever she was, shook her head, still trying to shield her nudity as best she could with her hands. Whether she had formed her own conclusions about Valon, she clearly saw him as less of a threat.

While he might not have looked at her directly, Valon did notice the way she was turned in his direction, clearly wanting to get away from the ones who had brought her in.

He shouldn’t have given a shit about her. No one had ever given a shit about him since he’d arrived in this place, but even still, he found himself saying, “I’ll keep her.”

Bastian clapped his hands together, looking entirely too pleased about that. “Good. I’ll leave these for you. Lock her up once you’re done. We don’t want our new friend to try anything while you’re sleeping.”

He tossed Valon a pair of manacles, winking at him as he and the men headed out, but before he was gone, he slapped the girl on the ass.

Once they were gone and the door was closed behind them, Valon climbed off the bed, rolling his shoulders as he finally took the time to look at the girl properly. Her eyes widened as she realized just how tall he was, her eyes flickering over him, lingering on his bloody knuckles.

As he walked forward, she took an equal amount of steps back, whispering a plea, thinking that he intended to hurt her. He merely reached for the sheet that Bastian had thrown down and tossed it to her.

He climbed back on the bed, getting right back into the position he’d been in before she was brought to him. While he might have been looking back up at the ceiling, he was very aware of her still hovering in that same spot.

She still didn’t move from the position she was in, almost as if she thought he was toying with her and the moment she did actually try to cover herself, he would attack.

But he wasn’t thinking about her. Rather, he was wondering what in the hell he was going to do now.

____

It was like having a f*cking pet, except he didn’t want this one.

While Loki was free to roam around—no one dared tell him otherwise—she was kept locked in his room whenever he left, and even when he was there, she still sat in the same spot on the floor, bundled under a sheet. As the temperatures were steadily decreasing, Valon frowned at the sight of her there, knowing from experience how cold those floors could get.