Page 20

Wholly focused on getting it right, I'm surprised when I feel Sisi behind me, draping herself on my back, her hands coping a feel of my shoulders.

"You've been working out," she notes, her hands going lower and distracting me from my task.

"Yes." I give her a strained answer, breathing in her presence, her fresh scent invading my nostrils and hypnotizing me.

"Everywhere," she whispers, her fingers trailing down my back and to my ass…

My eyes widen as I realize exactly what she's doing.

The spoon drops from my hand as I swiftly turn around, caging her in against the counter. As expected, my phone is in her hand, as she's giving me the sweetest look on earth.

"You're sly, hell girl," I drawl, enjoying the way she's batting her lashes at me as if I didn't just catch her trying to steal my phone. "What's next? Call your big bro?" I raise an eyebrow at her.

She doesn't back down as she pushes her chin up, bravely looking me in the eye.

"Yes, in fact, I will," she tells me, and a smile plays on my lips.

Marcello was bound to find out at some point, so I'm not concerned abouthim that much. He'll definitely cause me to change my plans a little, but I've already decided that nothing and no one will ever take me away from Sisi again—including myself.

"Go ahead," I dare her. I wonder what she'll do when she realizes that Marcello won't be able to help. Not now, not ever.

She narrows her eyes at me, doubting my intentions. I just shrug, even pressing my finger down to unlock the phone. "Do it," I challenge her again.

It should be a good thing too, since I'll officially announce to the world that she's taken.

A suspicious frown on her face, she quickly goes through my contact list, dialing her brother.

"Marcello?" she asks when he answers, and I tug her hand toward me, ensuring the phone is on speaker. She gives me a deadly stare that I just return with one of my charming smiles.

"Sisi, God! Are you okay? Where are you?" Marcello goes off, firing question after question.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. For now," she adds, raising her eyes to meet mine.

"Where are you? I'll come get you!" he continues, but I only let her say New Orleans before I take over.

"Marcello, dear friend, or I should call you brother-in-law now," I add, ignoring the way Sisi's eyes are shooting daggers at me.

"Vlad," Marcello says tersely. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"No warm welcome to the family? Sad…"

"Vlad, why is Sisi with you? What the hell is happening?"

"I thought my note made it clear enough," I speak, pushing my finger against Sisi's lips to shush her, "I just retrieved my property.

You know, I tried lost and found first, but imagine my surprise when they directed me to a church," I feign a shudder, "you know how I hate those places.

" Sisi rolls her eyes at me, but I just continue, already hearing Marcello blow off in the background.

"But now that I've found her, I'm never letting go," I add, "just a friendly warning. "

"Vlad," I can hear the tension in his voice. "What the hell is your game? And what the hell is your business with my sisters. Sisi, are you okay?"

"Why does everyone think I'm playing a game," I groan, pushing my fingers against Sisi's lips when I see she's trying to speak. The little minx gives me a challenging look before opening her mouth, sucking on my finger.

"Fuck," I involuntarily mutter.

"Vlad? I swear if you so much as harm a hair on…"

"Bro in law, calm down. I'm not going to harm your sister. As a matter of fact, she's quite busy sucking on my…" I don't get to finish as Sisi's hand grabs the phone, pushing me off her.

"Vlad!" Marcello yells into the phone.

"I'm fine, Marcello." Sisi finally takes over, giving me a look that says stay put. "He's not going to hurt me, but he is quite adamant about marrying me."

"Already did," I add sneakily.

"I'm going to fucking kill him," Marcello keeps on cursing me out for a while, and even Sisi is getting bored of his tirade.

"I'll come get you, don't worry. I'm not going to let him get away with this," Marcello continues, and I realize it's time to put an end to the game.

Swiping the phone from Sisi's hands, I take over the conversation, making sure Marcello heeds my warning.

"Stay out of this Marcello. I let her call you out of courtesy, but make no mistake, you're never taking her from me.

This extends to everyone, including that skinny little kid that thought to marry her.

I will say this only once. She is mine.

And trust me, I'll forget all our history in a second if it comes to it," I tell him, my voice serious.

"You're insane," he replies.

"Maybe. But remember, I'm the type of insane that would level an entire country to the ground if it came to it. So do yourself and everyone else a favor and stay the fuck out of it."

"You're fucking dead, Vlad." I try not to roll my eyes at his threats, but it seems he just doesn't get it.

"No, Marcello. Anyone who tries to take Sisi away from me is fucking dead. You included." I grit my teeth. If I am forced, then I'll just show everyone why they called me berserker in the first place.

And no one will escape with their lives intact. "She's safe, and I won't harm her. That, you have my promise," I say, swinging my gaze back to her. "But she is mine ," I repeat before hanging up and flinging the phone on the ground.

"What…" Sisi's eyes widen. "You destroyed it…" she mutters as she stares at the broken screen.

"That was a warning for your brother, but also for you, hell girl." I tug her to me, forcing her to look me in the eye. "No one will ever take you from me."

"Until you get bored," she whispers.

"I won't ever get bored." I swipe my finger over her lips, her pupils dilating as I bring my head lower. "Now let's eat," I speak against her lips.

Unfortunately, we'd both forgotten about the eggs while on the phone, and so I managed to burn the only available food in the house.

"I'm ordering some, don't worry." I try to placate her a while later while I hurry for my laptop, suddenly afraid she'll be cranky if she gets too hungry, and that certainly won't get me any extra points.

It takes a while for the food to arrive, but once it's all spread on the table and we're both digging in, silence descends.

Her gaze swings back to me curiously every now and then, and even as I lose myself in her beauty, I try to remember some of the advice I'd read.

"You're very pretty when you eat," I compliment her, a small smile tugging at my lips.

Her hand stills midair as she's about to bite into a chicken wing.

"Not that you're not pretty every day. In fact, you're pretty every moment," I continue, afraid I somehow blundered it.

She tilts her head to the side, still watching me.

"Beautiful, not pretty," I amend.

Damn it, I forgot that women care about particularities.

"Is that so?" she asks, unconvinced, her hand brushing against her bangs and revealing the birth mark on her face.

"Of course. Even that splotchy thing on your face is charming," I add for good measure, since there's no part of her that I don't love.

She blinks twice, slowly. Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she suddenly gets up, taking the entire bucket of chicken wings and dumps it over my head.

"You're a cad," she mutters, stomping out of the kitchen.

And I'm left frowning, unable to understand what I'd said that was so wrong.

Fuck, but why am I such a big idiot?

Something I said must have upset her, and now I'm back to zero. Or is it minus?

I sigh, standing up and watching more tiny chicken wings fall out of my hair.

Why are women so difficult?