Consent (The Loan Shark Duet 2)

“Call off your men.”

“You made a big mistake.”

“That’s your opinion, and you know I don’t care about what you or anybody else thinks. Valentina is going to be the mother of my child. From now on, she’s family. That wipes away her debt and keeps her and anyone remotely connected to her safe.”

I don’t say what I suspect, that the baby may already be gone. It doesn’t matter whether I bring her back pregnant or not. Eventually, she will have my child, even if it takes years and thousands of rands of fertility treatments. I don’t care. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know it’s a lie. I do care. I do care if she wants to be a mother. More than that, I care if she wants my child. Unfortunately, when it comes to life and death, we don’t always have the luxury of choice or answers to our questions. Maybe it’s better that I don’t know the answers. I already know I’m a monster, and she hates me. What I’m doing to her is selfish, wrong, and immoral, but I’ve never claimed to be a good man. I wanted her from the moment I saw her. I still do. More than ever. Letting her go is the one thing I’m not capable of.

Magda is still regarding me with contempt. I’ll go as far as to say with hatred. Even as she speaks, she picks up her phone and dials a number. “You foolish boy. This goes to show men can never be trusted. It’s too easy to lead them around by their dicks.” A ringtone sounds on her phone, followed by a curt answer. “Scott, turn back. The hit on Charles is off.” She listens to a reply. “We still want the girl, but bring her in unharmed.” She cuts the call and glares at me. “You do realize you’ve given all your power away. Now, she holds the power over you. I hope this makes you happy.”

It’s been a long time since Valentina took power over me, and a man like me can never be happy. I’ll settle for being content, and I’ll be that when I get my precious property back.

My mother needs to understand one thing. “If a hair on her head is harmed, I’ll take it as a personal attack on me and my family. All gloves will come off.”

“This can never have a happy ending.”

I don’t want to hear my mother’s prophecy, because it hits the instinctive knowledge inside me with a bullseye. “Just make sure your men understand. She’s my responsibility. Anything they find, anything they hear, sniff, guess, or divine, I want to know.”

“You will. I owe you a fuck you for getting tangled up between that whore’s legs and screwing this up for the family.”

I inch closer to the desk, towering over Magda. “Careful. You’re talking about the mother of my child. This is your last warning. Insult her again and you won’t like the consequences.”

The smile that cracks her thick layer of foundation is artificial. “I’d love to see how you explain this one to Carly.”

It’s a low blow. Since considering the possibility that Valentina may be pregnant, it’s something I’ve contemplated. I’ll have to lie to my daughter, telling her some rosy shade of pink bullshit story about Valentina and I falling in love, when in reality nothing can be further from the truth. There’s no way to ensure Valentina will keep her mouth shut about the circumstances of how we ended up in bed. I seduced her, but I did it against her will. There’s little difference between my kind of seduction and force. For all I know, she’ll take revenge in telling Carly how I stole, blackmailed, and tortured her for nothing but my pleasure, only so I can feed my sick addiction to giving her pain and orgasms. Her tears and pleas make me hard, but her climaxes make me explode. The combination of the two––her pain and pleasure––is the biggest aphrodisiac. Beyond that physical part, something else has started to develop, these things she makes me feel, like the agony that’s slicing through my gut right now.

“I’ll deal with it,” I say bluntly. “No one says a word to Carly but me.”

“Oh,” she snickers, “I wasn’t going to volunteer. I’ll leave the unpleasant task to you.”

“Good. I’m glad we understand each other.” I walk to the door and turn. My smile is as cold as her eyes. “Congratulations. You’re going to be a grandmother again.”

I don’t wait for her reaction. I go back to my study to start my own search.

It becomes apparent I have nothing to go on. Valentina destroyed her phone in no place other than that godforsaken area where she used to live, and she hasn’t touched the money in her account. Even though she couldn’t afford a plane ticket, I set up a search for travelers by plane and bus. Trains going farther than Pretoria are non-existent, so that leaves me with private taxis, but none in the Johannesburg area has crossed the city borders during the last few hours. My hackers plant bugs in electronic banking and medical servers to raise a flag if her and Charlie’s names pop up anywhere on the system. I inform my network of colleagues and police informants to be on the lookout and offer a huge reward for any information on her whereabouts. Then I drive to Kris’ house, who’s shell shocked. She shows me Valentina’s text when I finally convince her I’m only trying to keep Valentina safe, and demands to know why Valentina ran. I don’t tell her about the baby. For now, it’s best that only Magda, my bodyguards, and I know.