Page 143 of The Cute Psycho

"Tempting," I drawl, dragging my nails down his chest.

"But not productive. At least for now." He gives me an intoxicating smile. "Maybe later," he whispers against my lips as he gives me one last kiss.

Reluctantly, I leave him as I make my way back to my room, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up with me.

But as I go to bed, I can only dream about how sweet the future will be.

30

SISI

"I'll see you later, Venezia." I give her a hug as I rummage through my bag, making sure I have everything with me. With how hectic things are around here, I have to catch a taxi to take me to the hospital.

I'd talked with Adrian in the morning, and he'd assured me that Marcello is doing fine, having just woken up from his surgery. Hearing the wonderful news, I couldn't help myself as I'd promised to meet him at the hospital to visit my brother.

Too bad there's still no news of Lina, and to some extent I am worried that her conflict with Marcello will extend to us, too. After all, she hadn't returned any of my calls yet.

Trying to think of a way to get her to talk to me, I don't even notice when a van pulls over right in front of the gates of the house. My reaction is entirely too delayed as I turn around, feeling a sharp pain in my neck before I tumble to the ground. My eyes heavy, I have the vague impression that someone is carrying me toward the van.

The sound of a moving car makes my ears prickle, and I'm jolted awake by a sudden stop.

"Krasivaya," I hear a man murmur in my ear, his hands pawing around my rib cage. I start fidgeting, trying to shake him off, but Irealize there's rope all around my upper body, holding me in place. My feet, too, are tied around the ankles.

"No, shto eta?" the same man asks, brushing my bangs aside to reveal my forehead.

"Don't touch me!" I hiss, moving my head to the side.

"Vasily," another man whistles, "the kitten has claws," he laughs derisively.

I take a moment to look around, noting there are five men inside the van. Four of them are around forty or fifty years old while the one next to me seems to be the youngest at around thirty.

"Kuznetsov doesn't have bad taste," one of the elders says in an accented voice, and it finally dawns on me why I'm here.

Vlad.

"I thought he was gay," the younger one laughs.

"Maybe she's his beard."

"Let's hope not, or the plan won't work," the elder says, turning his attention to me.

"Tell me, little bird, are you his beard?"

I narrow my eyes at him, not entirely sure of the question but not willing to show them any weakness.

"Last I checked he was clean shaven." I smirk down at him.

He stares at me for a second before bursting into laughter.

"Oh, she's a feisty one. Maybe not his beard, after all. God knows, a meek one wouldn't stand a chance."

"Here we are," one of the men in the back signals, "bag her up," he says and I frown, not understanding his meaning.

Out of nowhere, a gag is placed in my mouth and a huge bag is thrown over my head as one of the men drapes me over his shoulder, exiting the van.

It seems that Vlad's really pissed some people off this time. I know I should be scared, but for some reason I trust that Vlad won't let anything happen to me.

These guys, on the other hand... I feel bad for them, and I would have told them as much had they not put this blasted gag over my mouth. They might think they know Vlad, but they're in for a pretty big surprise when they realize just how dangerous he can be.

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