55 Val Demands The Truth
ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.
55: Val Demands The Truth
In the dark, Val sat on the floor by the door waiting with buds in her ear listening to the symphony orchestra play along side a rock band. The sound was contrasting and yet made for an orgasmic experience — all of Matt’s music did that. Her heart squeezed again thinking about him. She missed him so much it hurt, a knife to the gut.
When the light in the hallway came on, Val pulled the buds from her ear and stuffed them in the front pocket of her hoodie.
She heard voices and figured it was the secretary or personal assistant speaking to their boss.
The soft spoken masculine voice soon reached her ears as he stood right outside the door working the lock.
Val looked up at the opening as soon as it cracked. A man wearing a crisp business suit paused looking down at her with half shock and half excitement. He looked back at whoever was in the area and said in Egyptian Arabic for them to hold all of his calls and not to disturb him for a couple of hours.
Then he walked into the office without turning on the lights.
Neither of them said a word as he moved silently in the dark to his desk.
With the creak of his chair, him sitting down, he said, “You finally visit after all this time and this is how you approach me? Is everything alright, Vala?”
“Only my mother got to call me that. You don’t.” She reached for the light switch over her head clicking it on. Sitting behind his desk, looking thinner than the last time she saw him, was a man who looked a lot like her mother — greenish brown eyes, honey bronze skin, thin gray hair, and a pristine posture.
“You may not believe it, but I wanted to be in your life. It was your mother’s choice to-“
“Tell me about my father.”
The man looked down at his desk, averting his eyes. Mistake number one. “Alphonso De-“
“Not the man everyone claims is my father. My real blood father.”
Those eyes closed and thin shoulders rose and fell as if he was taking in a deep breath.
“Uncle.”
His head snapped up in shock. She never openly acknowledged him as her family especially since he never came to her mother’s rescue. Or her father’s. Or Val’s.
“I want the truth. Or so help me, I will end the line of our family today. In this office.”
“Even if you kill us both the House will live on.”
“But the original family will be nothing more than a memory. And how much longer do you think it will survive without the enforcement of the code?”
He nodded. “You’ve done your research.” He leaned back in his chair and sighed. “Fine. You need to know anyway. I was hoping to tell you once you finally took your rightful place.” He grew quiet for a moment then slowly spoke in that soft accent. “The truth starts with a plot. The House of Serket always had a standing feud with the Radfords long before even I was born. I think it was more a turf war than anything. Our job was death. Theirs was protection. Often the two sides clashed when their jobs overlapped — they needing to protect a client that the we planned to kill. Regardless, father had a plan to completely eradicate Radford, Giordana Romano — my half sister.”
Her mother.
“There is a reason your mother was never openly accepted into our family. Not because she was of mixed blood. Or because we were ashamed of her. But because she had a duty. She could never be traced back to us. Therefore, she had to turn her back on us as we did her. She understood and accepted that.”
“You planted her in the Romano family?” Val asked following the stream of logic.
“She was Romano. Her mother accepted my father’s offer. The Romano family is one of our secret allies. At least they were until Travis destroyed them.”
Val remembered the history she learned about Radford. When her mother fled, Radford cut down what remained of Romano trying to get to her mother.
“So my mother seduced Radford. Made him fall in love and marry?”
“Yes, that was after she spent her adolescence ruining his father and that company.”
“She was the reason the company failed?” Val remembered learning how the company was in ruins when Travis Radford inherited it.
“Yes. She brilliantly worked behind the scenes with some talent she recruited. They all worked in secret to ruin his father.”
“The parents died unexpectedly… My mother?” she asked remembering reading it was a car accident.
“No. Radford.”
“He killed his own-“
“He hated seeing his father ruin the company. So he stepped in before it got out of hand.”
“That’s when my mother seduced him.”
“Yes, because unlike his father, Travis was far…far smarter. Devastatingly brilliant. And crueler.”
“He learned the truth didn’t he?”
“Not all of it. Your mother was near flawless in her work. Her only mistake was helping Alphonso become Radford’s second in command. A spy for her. You see, De Luca was also one of our allies as well as a close ally to Bellini. Radford used him to get close to Walthour. And once he did, he grew in power and resources exponentially. He learned what was going on faster than my dear sister could stop him. When Radford found out they plotted against him, they barely got away with their life. And you. Radford gutted Romano and De Luca, thinking they were the heart of the issue. He never knew about us. My sister hid us well. And I don’t think his father ever told him or ever got to before he died. Then again, we laid low. So low, it appeared we no longer existed.”
“So Alphonso is…is what to me?” Val asked fisting her hands so hard her nails cut into the skin.
“He was nothing more than a servant to us, just like all of De Luca and Romano…and many other families. He served your mother and you until the day he died.”
Val stood and stormed across the floor. “You knew Radford was my father!”
“Vala-“
“You’ve been watching me haven’t you? You’ve always watched me. You’ve seen me with…” Tears streamed down her cheeks. “You knew.”
“We will never intervene. You know the code.”
“You’re damn code got my mother killed.” She gritted out. “Your damn code had me kill my own flesh and blood. Your motherfucking code has me sleeping with my brother.”
The man nodded somberly. “So be it. But the code is what has made us the best. Or am I wrong?” He asked watching her, a sadness she didn’t want to acknowledge reflected back at her.
“This is why I will never take my place among you.”
“Vala-“
“Don’t call me that. Never again. And stop watching me. I’m no heir of the House. I am Val — a nobody.” Then she turned and marched to the door, pulling the hood of her black hoodie over her head. “You will always be my precious niece. My sister’s heart. And the backbone of the code.” Was the last thing she heard before she slammed the door behind her.
ORIGINAL CONTENT OF D.C. BLU. DO NOT COPY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE WITHOUT THE AUTHOR’S PERMISSION. PLAGIARISM IS CRUEL. PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL.