Page 128

Eyes wide, I look up to see my brother and Lina in the doorway. Marcello has a murderous expression on his face as he's pointing a gun straight at us.

"Really, 'cello?" Vlad drawls, taking a step forward. His arm is still stretched out to keep me behind him.

But some type of warning goes off in my mind, and I swat his arm aside, going to his side. I watch in horror as blood pools from his shoulder, the bullet deeply lodged inside. Vlad doesn't seem to even mind it as his gaze is firmly on my brother.

"Are you crazy?" I twirl around, yelling at Marcello. "And you." I turn my head slightly. "You just got shot!" I exclaim, already panicking. I've never seen Vlad hurt before, and the sight of that blood running down his shirt is enough to make me hyperventilate.

It's one thing when he's in a fight and I know there's no one who can best him. But it's quite another thing in this situation, because I'm sure he's not going to engage my brother in any way.

I've seen it before, at my birthday party. There's a part of Vlad that considers Marcello his closest friend, and even though my brother may not share that sentiment, it's clear that Vlad's skewed moral code would never allow him to do something to him. In his own warped way, he cares about Marcello.

Vlad's lips pull up in a twisted smile as he places his hand over the place he'd been shot, feeling for the hole. Fingers drawn together, he sticks them inside the wound, looking for the bullet.

My eyes must be the size of two saucers as I can do nothing but stare at this display of insanity.

His lips twitch as he finds the bullet, more blood dripping from the wound and down his hand. Once he has a good grasp on it, he tugs it out, dropping it to the ground with a thud.

His shirt is a mess, the material shredded around the gun site. But it's the bullet hole that has me worried, so angry looking as it gushes out even more blood.

In all the medical shows I've watched, it's always imperative tonotremove the foreign object, as it might lead to hemorrhage.

Vlad knows this too. I know he does. So what does he think he'll succeed with this display?

I act out of pure instinct alone, grabbing the hem of my dress and ripping the end of it. I don't waste any time as I hurry to his side and start wrapping the material around his shoulder and across his wound.

"You're crazy," I mutter, a little put off with him for taking his own safety so lightly.

We survive an almost plane crash just for him to bleed out on me from an unnecessary gunshot? No, Sir. I won't have it.

"I'm your crazy," he murmurs softly, his gaze gentle as he looks down at my efforts to reach his shoulder and properly bandage it.

Belatedly, I hear the sounds of steps behind me, and so I do the only thing I can. I spin around and I place my own body in front of Vlad's.

"Enough!" I tell my brother.

He's maybe a few steps away, his gun still pointed at Vlad. Lina is behind him, her gaze filled with worry as she looks between me and Vlad.

"Sisi, get inside the house," Marcello barks the order, his eyes fixed on Vlad.

"I'm not going anywhere," I reply, firmly placing myself in front of his gun. "And you're not shooting anyone either."

"Sisi, go inside." He grits his teeth, and I wonder if this is his boiling point. Still, knowing Vlad's hardheadedness about my brother, I'm not about to leave him alone so he can offer himself up as a sacrifice.

"No." I take a few steps back until my back hits Vlad's front. "I'm not leaving my husband," I state confidently.

"Husband?" Marcello sputters, and Lina's eyes widen as she looks at me intently, probably trying to ascertain the validity of the claim.

I blink twice as I realize a loophole I hadn't thought of before. Leaning into Vlad, I whisper, "The marriage is real, right?"

"Of course it's real," he replies immediately, almost insulted, "I wouldn't fake marry you."

"Good." I nod. "Just wanted to check since the minister seemed a little off. I thought maybe you hired an actor," I admit thoughtfully.

"He was real," Vlad mutters, "I just used a little intimidation on him, nothing more. But the certificate is real and filed. Made sure of it myself." He preens, and somehow I can't take him seriously with a gaping hole in his shoulder that's now bled all over the strap of material I'd wrapped around it.

"Great," I add drily.

"Sisi!" my brother yells at me and I jerk away from Vlad, a little disoriented. "I don't know what he told you to agree to marry him, but you need to back away. I'll take care of him."