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“Everything cannot be said over the phone.”
“Wait, Vlad...”
“Start packing. I’m outside.”
And just like that, I was summoned. No explanation was deemed necessary, just something about a war and how Ihadto move in with him, like that was the safest option we had. He didn’t care that I barely stuffed my stomach with lunch, or that I had to get to the gallery a couple of hours.
Oh, no.It was whatever Vlad wanted that Vlad got. And he wanted me in his house until the war—that I still knew nothing about—was over.
I dumped the duffel by the trunk and left the navy blue box beside it.
A robin flew above our heads and perched on a tree not far from the car. His ever-watchful eyes followed it, distracting him for a minute, and I seized the opportunity to thrust a finger out and poke him in the chest. He caught my hand before it landed on the fabric and yanked me closer.
Through hooded eyes, he glowered at me. “Were you about to poke me?”
“Don’t you deserve to be poked?” I fired back and tried to wriggle my wrist out of his grip. He was a big, strong man. He didn’t budge. “You didn’t bother to help me with the bags. Such a gentleman.”
I expected anything from him but a laugh. It was deep and rich and his white teeth bared as he stepped back, loosening his grip on my hand. He opened the door and entered into the car. “I’ve never been a gentleman, Mariana. You know that. Get in, or my brothers won’t stop bugging my phone.”
Vlad was many things; domineering, full-on crazy-wild, supersexy,and hot, in all senses of the word. But he also possessed the infuriating trait. Yes,definitely.Very infuriating. Under the searing sun, I narrowed my eyes at him through the side mirror and, reluctantly, joined him in the car.
***
The interior of the house was even more magnetic than the modern but majestic brick-walled, exterior décor, with the dramatic water fountain at the center of the gravel driveway. I dropped the duffel at my feet and tilted my head backward for a better view, shamelessly gaping.
There were a few art paintings hanging on the wall, a few flower pots positioned here and there too. A bifurcated staircase stayed in the center with two upper staircases branching out on either side, and two tall brown doors just underneath the sturdy build.
If a grand entrance was what they were aiming for, a grand entrance was what they got. But Vlad blew my mind bytelling me earlier that this was just one entrance into the house, apparently structured fornormalguests like me who expected to see a normalhome.
The sound of a door creaking lightly on its hinges and shutting behind me reeled me back. I dropped my head just in time to see Vlad roll up beside me with the navy blue box. A glint of amusement swam in his eyes.
“You like your new home?”
He stood so close, his elbow brushed against my arm in the mildest way, but mere contact with him always set my skin on fire. I cleared my throat and looked away from him. “I think this,” I motioned a finger between me and him “should be called third-degree kidnapping.”
He rolled his eyes and took a step further into the house. Away from me. “You came with me willingly.”
“Reluctantly.”
“I don’t remember forcing you into the car.”
I scowled. “I got in because you saidget inwith that tone.”
He flicked his ponytail and cocked his head to the side. There was that overly confident, arrogant,I’ve wonglare he shot at me that I badly wanted to wipe off his face with a...
“You got in because you wanted to, Mariana. Not because I forced you. Get your story straight.”
I gritted my teeth and folded my arms across my chest. He got under my skin...irked me!But I did miss him a lot and was secretly glad that I got to see him again and spend more time with him. My heart did a funny skip at the mere thought.
I wasn’t going to tell him though. I had already bared my vulnerability last night, holding his hand and telling him I missed him.Whatwas I thinking? He didn’t say it back, but I saw the answer in his eyes. Then, and even now, I could tell that Vlad missed me just as much.
“Sheis Mariana?”
My spine stiffened. The person that said that, in the most condescending manner I had ever heard, wasnotVlad. I whipped my head toward the direction of the husky voice, and at the bottom of the brown sturdy staircase stood the bearer of the petulant tone.
I remembered him from the casino. He was big. Bigger than Vlad, and taller too. But they shared similar features; dark-haired, broad chest, strong jaw, piercing blue eyes, and an intimidating presence that almost made me shrink backwards.
Almost.
