Page 16

SISI

A throbbing in my temples forces me to open my eyes, my lids are heavy, my entire body aching. It takes me a moment to regain my bearings and remember what had happened.

Pulling myself up, I note I am still in my wedding dress. But one glance around the room and I realize I'm in a foreign location.

I'm sitting on a huge king sized bed in the middle of an equally enormous room. I try to move my limbs, happy when I see that nothing is wrong with me.

But what happened?

I remember being so deep inside my head, trying to block the ceremony out and everything around me, that I hadn't realized when the whole church had filled with smoke. And then…

My eyes widen as I recall his words. In my ear. His arms. On my body.

"What in God's name happened?" I mutter aloud, more to myself.

The entire room is empty save for the bed. The almost ceiling high windows allow plenty of light to infiltrate the room, and I have to turn my gaze away, my eyes blinded by it.

I swing my legs off the bed, heading straight for the door.

If this is another one of Vlad's games, then he's going to be in for a small surprise, because I'm not about to allow him to embroil me in mood swings.

I can already foresee why he'd done this. He'd been too bored and had decided to mess with both me and Marcello.

A bitter smile escapes me as I realize I shouldn't think myself that important to him, after all hadn't he said the exact thing? That I wasn't the only woman in the world? He'd likely done it to toy with Marcello.

Regardless, I will not sit by and wait for him to make a fool of me again. No matter how much my heart still beats painfully in my chest knowing he's somewhere close. No. Our time has passed.

Wrapping my hand around the handle of the door, I pull down, not surprised to find the door locked.

Like the windows, the door is ceiling high as well. It's old too, the wood spoiled around the corners, the painting coming off in ugly stripes.

For a moment I'm saddened by what I'm about to do, since this is clearly a historic building. But he has left me no alternative.

Raising my foot, I balance myself on my other leg as I try to gain as much momentum as I can before kicking.

The sole of my foot connects with the wood, the sound reverberating in the room.

It's not budging.

The more I kick, the more I realize that for all its dilapidated appearance, the wood is strong — too strong for my puny kicks.

"Damn it," I mutter, using the back of my hand to wipe the sweat off my brow. It's hot, and this dress is weighing a ton.

A few deep breaths as I scan the room, and I decide I need to change strategies. Whatever happens, though, I'm not about to let Vlad get away with this. He may be bored, and looking for pawns to move around in his game of chess, but I won't be one.

It's only now that I realize what Marcello's been saying all along. Vlad doesn't know the meaning of friendship, or any relationship. He only knows how to use people to achieve his goals.

Like he did with me… until I proved to be useless to him.

Even now, he probably has some cameras installed somewhere, and he's watching from behind his wall full of screens, chuckling at my expense and at my poor attempts at escaping.

As soon as the thought forms in my head, I turn swiftly to the ceiling, finding the camera immediately.

Feeling my ire rising, I stomp until I'm standing right in front of it. I don't know if this has sound or not, but I have nothing to lose.

"You chose the wrong person to mess with, Vlad," I tell him, looking straight at the twitching lens. "You can't beat someone who has nothing to lose." I smirk, my hands going to my lengthy wedding dress as I grab onto the hem.

Without even thinking, I tear the lace up to my knees, revealing the satin shift underneath. Using my teeth, I do the same until the lower part of the dress is completely gone.

With some breathing room, I'm immediately more at ease, air flowing around my legs and refreshing my body. My movements also feel less restricted.

And because I'm running on extremely low patience, I give him the middle finger too. Oh, how I wish I saw him react to that .

But I don't have time to think about that. Not when I need to get out of here.

Seeing that the door will not be a good option, I head to the windows, exhaling in relief when one of them opens.

At least I won't have to break this.

But my relief soon turns to fear as I gaze down and realize I'm nowhere near the ground. What is this? Second? Third floor?

"Good grief!" I get an overwhelming urge to cross myself, because even seeing how far the ground is from my position, I can't help but focus on it.

"It's not like I haven't done this before," I try to convince myself.

But it wasn't this high?!

"Okay, it's now or never," I whisper. The more I think about it, the more scared I'll be and I will never do it. Since I don't fancy remaining a prisoner, this is the only option.

"Fuck you, Vlad," I mutter, incensed that he'd put me in this situation in the first place.

Grabbing onto the frame of the window, I climb up on the sill, holding tight, my eyes half-closed.

"Why does it have to be so high?" I cry out in frustration.

But taking a deep breath, I still myself.

One. Two. Three.

And I jump.

Eyes still closed, I wait for the impending contact with the ground.

"Still dying to fall under me, I see," a voice says in my hair, strong hands holding on to me as they lower me to the ground.

Opening one eye, and then the other, I don't even know how to react to seeing him in the flesh.

I blink, my eyes on him as if I'm trying to figure out a puzzle.

He's still the same, even though it's been more than three months since we've last seen each other. But there's something different.

I can feel it.

His skin is tanned and there's a new stubble that wasn't there before. In all our time together, I'd never seen Vlad as anything but clean shaven.

The change is not only skin deep though. More than anything, there's something different about his energy.

Something warmer… something…

Stop!

I'm doing this again. Trying to understand him where there's absolutely nothing to understand. My lip curls up in disgust at my own self and my reaction to him, and I shove my hands forward, pushing him off of me.

"Damn, hell girl. Is that how you greet your future husband?" he drawls, his voice still holding that alluring quality that always seemed to make me its captive.

I swallow, my own body betraying me as goosebumps form all over my skin.

"What did you just say?" I frown, taking a step back and putting some distance between us.

"Good on you to wake up," he says, his eyes looking up and down my body in a strange manner. "The minister is waiting."

He doesn't even let me reply as he wraps his fingers around my wrist, tugging me toward him and all but dragging me toward the entrance of the house.

My eyes widen as I realize where we are. Or rather, as I repeatedly blink, sure this must be a dream.

"You didn't…" I whisper as I take in the front of the house, once again proving my suspicions that he did.

"You brought me to New Orleans?" I ask in shock, staring at the most beautiful house I've seen in my life. I should know, since I've been stalking its social media page for a long time, simply mesmerized by the history and the architecture.

I should have realized thathe would monitor my social media.

Damn!

"And your future home for the foreseeable future," he says, his fingers digging into my flesh as he leads me up the three steps in front of the entrance, only stopping when we reach the great hall where a man in a suit is waiting in front of an open book.

"Mr. Kuznetsov," he smiles, his eyes moving to me, "and the future Mrs. Kuznetsov I presume?" he asks.

"Kuznetsova, but yes. Now, why don't we get this done fast. I'm in a hurry," Vlad comments, his entire body tense.

I'm so shocked by the turn of events that I find my reaction delayed as I step back, wrenching my hand free from his grasp.

"What the hell is this, Vlad?" I turn my blazing eyes on to him. I can't believe the stunt he's pulled, especially since he's made it clear that he had no use of me before.

So what changed now?

"Sisi, keep your voice down." He comes closer to me, his scent inundating my senses. "You will agree to everything the officiant says, and you will sign your name on that piece of paper."

"You're crazy." That’s all I can utter as I take in his features, the way his lip curls up slightly in an arrogant smirk, or the way his longer than usual hair falls on his forehead, making him look both younger and more dangerous at the same time.

"I'll do no such thing," I hiss at him, taking yet another step back.

He doesn't seem to understand that I don't want to be anywhere near him as he moves me into the wall, caging me.

"You will." He leans down, his breath brushing against my earlobe in a slow and sensuous caress. "You will say yes. You will smile and then you will sign your damned name on that piece of paper, or your God help me, you won't like what I'll do."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I frown, his sudden outburst sending chills down my spine.

His hand comes up to cup my jaw, turning me so I'm looking into his eyes.

"Don't try my hand, Sisi. Not this time. I'm two seconds away from blowing up, and there will be a lot of bodies if you don't do what I say." He grits his teeth, his eyes unyielding as his fingers tighten over my flesh.

"I'm not marrying you, Vlad," I say, my voice softer. "Not now, not ever." I grab his hand and throw it aside, pushing my shoulder into his to evade him.

He's quick as he snakes one arm behind my waist, pulling me flush against him.

"I won't say this twice, hell girl," he rasps against me, and I feel the coiled energy in his body, the way his fingers play over the small of my back as if he might break me in two at any moment.