She's my one hope in this fucked up world, the only star that shines brightly just for me. And no matter what, I'll regain her trust.
But where to start?
I also need to do it fast, since I'm sure Marcello will eventually figure out it was me who stole her from the church, and he'll come after me—guns blazing.
It's the reason I'd chosen this location, since it's far enough from New York to not give him any ideas, but it's also a place I know Sisi's been in love with for a long time.
Admittedly, I only know this piece of information because I've been monitoring her entire internet presence from day one, often shadowing her movements on the web to understand her better—her likes and dislikes.
When I'd seen that she'd saved multiple pictures of this location, including some of the city, I'd immediately put an offer for the place, intending to surprise her.
Alas, the surprise seems to have fallen rather flat, and she wasn't that impressed with me.
At least all my snooping has ensured I have all the knowledge to court her properly this time. She might be upset with me, but I'll do everything in my power to show her I am in earnest.
I've made extensive lists of items that she might enjoy, and with the help of some very insightful articles on the internet on how to court a woman, I'd designed the perfect plan to woo her.
Surely, at least some of the surprises I have planned should chip away at her distrust.
Bu even that makes me a little apprehensive, since the first one had already gone so badly.
I turn to look at the desolate gaze of the broken teddy bear and my hope crashes even more in my chest.
And I still have the gigantic bear I'd gotten for her birthday...
She'd not reacted as I expected her to. I thought that since she likes teddy bears so much, an entire legion of them would make her extra happy.
It only made her extra mad.
I should have realized she wouldn't trust my intentions, since I haven't given her much to go off. From the moment she's stepped into this house I just threatened and taunted her, because going on the defensive was so much easier than opening myself to a hell lot of hurt.
But it's not a good strategy.
No, according to online articles, I should try to show her my vulnerable side, not my barbaric one. Of course, all in addition to gifts, compliments, and attention.
I certainly have my work cut out for me if I'm to believe these online gurus. But since I don't plan to give up—not until she forgives me—I have an entire list of things to do that should put her in a more forgiving mood.
Finishing my rather short wallowing session — since I can't afford to lose any precious wooing time — I take a shower and choose my clothing carefully.
One article had specified that I should put effort in my appearance, so I'd spent the entire night online shopping trendy outfits.
Since I'd ventured into the crazy world of online shopping, I'd also ended up getting her many things that women apparently like — perfume, jewelry, handbags and shoes. And because I'd never realized how pricey these things are, I'd had to have a few words with my bank repeatedly throughout the night.
I guess that's what happens when you spend thousands of dollars on clothes.
And while I'm still waiting for those to be delivered, I have another surprise planned for today.
Freshly showered and with a new attire—a fashionable one—I head to the front of the house to receive the custom order I'd placed for chocolate.
After all, every single article mentioned chocolate and that women love it. I also know for sure that Sisi loves sweets, so it should definitely earn me bonus points.
Signing my name on the form, I tug inside the cart full of chocolate treats, including one rather large chocolate fountain.
I quickly install everything in front of her room—an offering to my goddess—and then I wait.
I stare at my watch anxiously, waiting for her to open her bedroom door and see the sea of chocolate I'd laid at her door.
Right on the dot, she swings the door open, her eyes widening as she takes in my surprise. I watch her expression carefully, hoping to see a positive reaction.
"Seriously?" she asks, rolling her eyes at me and raising her skirt to bypass the chocolate.
I watch stupefied as she leaves the hallway, making her way downstairs.
She didn't even bat an eye.
Not one to give up, I quickly follow her.
"You like chocolate," I say when I find her in the kitchen, looking around the various empty cabinets.
She pauses, turning towards me to raise an eyebrow.
"What are you trying to do this time, Vlad? Poison me? Give me some type of potion so I succumb to your wiles?" she shakes her head at me, turning her attention back to the kitchen.
"I didn't put anything in it. Look," I tell her, showing her a big box of chocolate and the fact that it's sealed shut. I open it and pop a few pieces in my mouth, wanting her to see there's no poison or any type of potion.
She watches me through narrowed eyes, almost as if she doesn't want to believe me. All the while I can't help myself but stare at her, her beauty never failing to make me speechless.
Even with her short hair, she's simply stunning, and those full lips... I have a hard time swallowing as I get lost in her features, her honey-colored eyes keeping me captive.
Damn, but she makes me forget myself.
"It's really good. Have some," I take a few steps so I'm closer to her, thrusting the box of chocolates in her face.
She looks down at them for a second before shaking her head.
"I'm hungry. So unless you plan to feed me some actual food, I don't care for chocolates now," she says, and my eyes widen.
Of course! Why didn't I think of this?
"Perfect." I smile at her, placing the box on the table and grabbing her hands to lead her to a chair. "Sit down and I'll make you something to eat." I say, a little too enthusiastically for someone who doesn't know how to cook.
But how hard can it be?
"No poison," she mutters with half a smile, and I can't help the happiness the blooms in my chest when I see that. Even if it's half—it's halfway there.
"Of course. I'll make you the best breakfast," I declare.
Leaving her at the table, I ransack the kitchen for some food, realizing that I hadn't gotten much.
There are just a few eggs in the fridge. Nothing else.
Shit!
Looking back, I see her watching me expectantly, and I know this is something that I cannot fail.
Taking the eggs out, I try to remember if I've ever read how they are cooked, and then follow the steps from memory.
Identifying an omelet recipe, I find a bowl, and cracking the eggs I start whisking them.
"I didn't know you could cook." Sisi notes from behind, still watching me intently.
I didn't know either.
"Piece of cake," I beam at her, even though inside I'm sweating at the thought of doing this all wrong.
It's just eggs! How hard can it be?
When the mixture seems to be homogenous enough, I heat a pan and pour it inside.
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 on 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 st
eal 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 at my lips.
Marcello was bound to find out at some point, so I'm not concerned about him 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 towards 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 ok? 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 ok?"
"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 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 dumping 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?
Being completely ignored by her makes me believe I have to change strategies. At least slightly. The clothes, shoes and bags had all arrived, but she hasn't even acknowledged them. She'd once again rolled her eyes at me and moved on.
Luckily, this time I stocked up the kitchen so she had ingredients to make something to eat.
For all her annoyance with me, she did make enough food for two, and gave me a plate too. I have to admit I might have stared at it a little too much, that she almost took it away from me.
"Are you even eating?" she'd asked, her voice telling me I shouldn't upset her further.
But it wasn't that I did not want to eat. Rather, I didn't want for it to be gone so fast. After all, it was something she'd made with her hands—for me.
Well, not for me, but still, it felt like it was for me and I wanted to keep it for a little longer.
"Of course," I'd immediately answered, taking my fork and digging in.
Ah, but it had been so good.
I don't think I've eaten food that good in my entire life, and I was sure to point it out to
her. But even that compliment had gone on deaf ears. She'd just nodded and then left for her room after she'd finished, instructing me to wash the dishes.
The cold treatment continues for over a week. I try to bring her gifts to show her that I'm in earnest, but she just ignores them, looking me dead in the eye and scowling at me, as if I were the scum of the earth.
In a way I am, because I know what I did to her was unforgivable. I know I hurt her too much for her to ever give me another chance.
But I can't stop trying. Not when the alternative is a slow suffocating death. Because without her I'm definitely headed for an early grave.
There's a little comfort in knowing she's near and no one else can get to her. But how does that even help me when she's scorned every single attempt I'd made at showing her how much I'm repenting for my behavior?
The time passes, and while she doesn't seem to actively go against me anymore, probably already resigned that there's no way out, her behavior towards me doesn't thaw.
When another week goes by and I've still not made any headway, I know it's time to change strategies.
And so I find myself with a conundrum. What can I do to pacify her? To make her see that my attempts are genuine, and that my compliments are from my heart too?
Maybe I should just give her my heart on a platter.
But that won't work. As much as I'd love to do that, I would like to be present to see her reaction to it, and I wouldn't be able to do it dead.
What if...
I pause, an idea taking root in my mind. And just to be sure I'm not making any more mistakes, since I wouldn't like to upset her again, I open my laptop and I start surfing the FBI's most wanted list.
Then I just work my magic to find someone in the city.
A little more time consuming than I would have liked, since now I'll miss a morning of gifts. But maybe she'll appreciate the extra creativity.
Armed and with a well-devised plan, I make sure to lock the entire house before I leave for the night.
Michael Garrett.
The one man who'd ended up in the vicinity happened to be the most wanted pedophile in five states. While Maxim gets me a weekly supply of prisoners for my therapeutic process, this needs to be more personal, since I'm doing it for Sisi.
Morally Ambiguous: A Dark Mafia Romance (Morally Questionable Book 4) Page 44
