Page 64 of The Cute Psycho

When we get out of the car, I am back to my old self—or as much as can be.

"I'll take you to my room and you can have a nap before I take you home," I tell her, leading her inside.

"What are you going to do?" She frowns.

"I need to pay my friend Petrovic a visit." That is my first order of business, since whoever had paid those men to come for me had to have been quite desperate. Now, to me that only means one thing.

Petrovic knows something.

"Can I come?" she asks, skipping up and down to keep up with my stride.

"No," I answer, my tone not leaving room for discussion.

Whereas at any other time I may have let her, I can't risk it right now. Not with her seeing the state Petrovic must be in, nor with the fact that she might influence him intonottalking.

When we reach a big steel door, I press my finger to the biometrics pad and it swings open.

"Wow, this looks like a fortress," she notes when she sees the thickness of the metal door.

It is.

I'd had that built a couple of years ago when my blackouts had become more frequent, my level of bloodlust almost doubling. It's to keep me in and to protect the people who work for me fromme.

What Sisi doesn't realize is that the entire compound is built with one express purpose—to keep me in. Considering my grasp on sanity is questionable at best, I need to make sure that I'm contained—should the day come when I finally lose it.

Inside, the room is bare except for a king-sized bed, a wardrobe and an adjoining bathroom. Not that I need much.

"Make yourself comfortable," I tell her, taking off my blazer andplacing it on a hanger. "You can take a shower if you'd like. There are clean towels in the closet." I point toward the wardrobe.

She takes a seat on the bed, testing the softness of the mattress, and I have to wrench my eyes from her, knowing that if I keep on staring I'll only imagine what I'd like to do to her on that bed.

Shaking myself out of my reverie, I leave the room, heading straight for the garden.

When I open the door, I'm instantly greeted by a putrid stench, and I'm happy I didn't let Sisi accompany me.

"Oopsies, he doesn't look so good," Vanya chimes in, startling me with her voice.

"Long time no see, stranger," I add strategically, curious to see if she's going to comment on her absence.

"You missed me?" She preens next to me, coming to hug my midriff.

"Where were you hiding, V?" I ask, but she just smiles at me, shaking her head.

"Wouldn't you want to know?" she says cryptically before dashing off to greet our lovely prisoner.

The bamboo sprouts have already grown, and three of them have impaled his body. He is writhing in pain as a movement causes the bamboo to shift in its socket.

Two bamboo sprouts have pierced through his upper thighs, and one of them had already made a clean break as the head reached the other side of his leg.

The third one, however, seems to have perforated his anus.

"Lucky bastard," I mutter, amused at the irony.

Blood and feces are pouring down the length of the bamboo, both contributing to the smell that's permeated the entire room.

With his head hung low, he moans in pain as he moves his neck, trying to raise it to look at me.

I am very surprised that he's still holding on, all things considered. But I think I owe some thanks to Maxim, as he must have ensured that Mr. Petrovic did not die of sepsis until now.

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