The File by Gary Born

Author:Gary Born
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Fiction & Literature
Publisher: Histria Books
Published: 2023-02-25T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 34

Yan Wu

He woke late. It was long past noon. She had been up for hours, sitting on the veranda in the back of the villa. She hadn’t left the house. There was nowhere to go, and the Americans might be looking for them. After he woke up, she came back inside and kissed him gently.

He hadn’t showered. He ignored her kiss and went into the kitchen, helped himself silently to the coffee she had made, then checked his computers and phones. He didn’t speak to her. His face darkened as he checked his emails. He cursed under his breath, frowning at his laptop. He turned the computer off, then logged into it again, scowling at the screen. She suppressed a wave of anxiety. She had seen that expression before.

“Fucking Alexei,” he swore. Then more curses, now in Russian.

She didn’t reply. It was important to stay out of his way when he was like this. Let him calm down, then try and comfort him. That usually worked.

It didn’t work this time. He didn’t calm down. He slammed the laptop shut and then kicked the table in anger. He kicked it hard, with his bare foot. It must have hurt. He cursed again, shouting now in Russian. He disappeared into the bedroom. Her heart leapt. Maybe he would shower, cool off, and emerge as if everything were normal again.

He didn’t. He came out of the bedroom, face red with anger. His belt dangled ominously, from one meaty fist. She braced herself.

“Stupid bitch,” he swore at her. “This is your fucking fault.” He was crazy now.

She avoided his glare. He took her by the arm and half-dragged her off the sofa. He gripped her hard, nails biting into her flesh. She let him pull her across the room. It wouldn’t help to fight. She had learned that the hard way. He dragged her into the bedroom and pushed her onto the bed. He cursed again, in Russian, froth on his lips, his eyes squinted and dark. She rolled onto her stomach, protecting her face and breasts. He cursed again and snapped the belt. It made an ugly crack.

She ignored the sound. She tried to let her mind drift, away to that place she found in her exercises. The place of calm and peace, detached from the fear. Detached from the pain. He lashed her viciously across the buttocks with his belt. Again, and then again and again. Hard, brutal blows that made her gasp, made tears leak out of her eyes.

She didn’t resist, didn’t scream, just tried to stay in that faraway place. It was an ancient temple, in the mountains, silent and serene, with a row of willow trees along a stream, and a tranquil courtyard. She forced his grunts and the belt away, out of her mind. And tried to let the beauty of the willows wash over her. Soft, swaying in the wind above the streambed and the mountain waters, beneath distant peaks, covered in snow.

He threw the belt against the headboard.

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