Page 20 of The Cute Psycho

But the type of love she's talking about? The butterflies mixed with bodily fluids and eternal devotion? I mentally groan at the picture, firmly depositing it out of my mind.

Thattype of love isn't for me, and likely won't ever be. After all, I have but one purpose.

Find my sister's killer and return the favor. When that's done... I'll have to see if I'll stick around.

After the confrontation with Misha, things get progressively worse at home. My father sends me on mission after mission just to ensure Misha and I are not in the same location at the same time. At any other point, I would have been thrilled to perform sanctioned killings twenty-four seven. After a while, though, even the prospect of blood fails to rouse my interest.

My mind, my biggest enemy, won't leave me alone. And it's not only in the form of little Vanya hanging around me at all times. No, this time I'm getting increasingly paranoid about Misha and his intentions.

He'd had a doctor see to his eye and put it back in place, so the damage had not been too bad. But his behavior afterwards had been deeply concerning. He'd been... nice. Or as nice as Misha can be. Still, it had been entirely too disturbing to be on the receiving end of such non-assholery.

He'd even apologized to Elena.

Extremely unlike Misha.

The more I became suspicious about my brother, the more I started doing unnecessary things. Like hacking into the live feed of our compound. Or the mainframe. Or everyone associated with Misha.

When you're as antisocial as I am, you tend to develop hobbies that don't involve... socialization. Or humans. Or anything that lives, breathes and talks back. Except for Vanya, but she's not really alive, anyway. Computers are heavenly manna for someone like me. Not only are they extremely interesting, but they also provide constant challenges for me, since my impatience might be my winning quality.

My time is split between a computer screen and corpses, so you could say I've become an expert. In both.

"Are you going to keep on doing that?" Bianca asks, yawning and stretching back.

We'd been assigned to supervise an out-of-state shipment of drugs. A little unusual, since our missions in the past always finished with someone dead, but still within normal parameters, considering my father's plan to keep Misha and me separated.

I shrug, closing the laptop and placing it aside. Imighthave been doing it ad nauseam, since my curiosity won't let me rest until I get to the bottom of everything that's happening, but I'm not about to let Bianca know about my suspicions.

Not when there's little evidence to support my theory. I only have my intuition and my not-so-stellar people-reading skills — which no self-respecting scientist would take as anything but bogus.

"I'm bored," I reply.

She sighs, almost exasperated.

"You've been bored for the last three missions," she continues, and I stifle the urge to roll my eyes at her.

We may be a team, but we still get on each other's nerves... most times.

To pass the time, I switch to reading at some point, exchanging more jabs with Bianca in between.

It's not until the truck carrying our asses and the merchandise comes to a sudden stop, throwing off our balance, that we realize somethingmaybe off.

Both Bianca and I react to the potential threat — her hands on her guns, my fingers wrapped around myshashkas.

It didn't take long for us to realize we'd been sent into an ambush, with people coming at us from all directions.

But they hadn't banked on one thing. For all our bickering, Bianca and I are top-class assassins, and forced proximity has only enhanced our work compatibility. We killed fast and in sync. Whoever sent these guys clearly hadn't done their homework.

When all the corpses lay on the ground, it became clear this wasn't just a simple attack.

"Bratva," I grimace as I note their tattoos.

Suddenly, my previous concerns become urgent, and I can barely contain my ire, getting behind the wheel and yelling for Bianca to get in the car.

"It's a coup," I add, eventually, my eyes fixed on the road as I break all speed limits.

"A coup? But who?" She frowns.

"My stupid ass of a brother, that's who. Fuck! I should have seen it coming. Misha's always been power-hungry, but I didn't think he had it in him." The words pour out of me.

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