17. Bianca

"Ithink I managed to convince him about the hotel," I say over the phone to Vlad.

"I"m curious, what did you come up with?" he asks with a chuckle.

"That I got rained on by pigeon poop and had to take a shower before a meeting?"

"B!" Vlad groans aloud. "Tell me you didn"t actually say that?"

"Well…" I bite my nails. "It was along those lines."

"And he actually believed you? I stand corrected, your husband is a wimp."

"Hey! I told you to stop insulting him. I can assure you he is not a wimp."

"Only a wimp would buy that shit because he"s afraid to accept the truth. I really don"t know why you"re so obsessed with the guy."

"If you knew him, you"d be obsessed with him too," I retort, because honestly, in my mind, everyone should be obsessed with Theo.

He is just that special.

"Sorry, B, I don"t swing that way."

"You don"t swing either way, do you?"

"B, don"t let out all my secrets, malyshka. I need a little mystery. I"ll also have you know that leading the Bratva is hard, and my Tinder dates would take offense to me showing up with blood residue on my sleeves after a bout of torture," he whines, and I can already imagine his face.

Truth is, I"d never seen Vlad with a woman, a man, or any other individual. I don"t know whether it"s his maniacal side that drives them off or merely his disinterest.

But then again, Vlad"s never shown any type of feelings other than loyalty. Even his sense of humor is a mask that he started using to avoid scaring people off. It was also why I was the only one who could be partnered up with him, anyone else being too terrified of him.

He"d fought against it at first, saying he didn"t need a partner, especially a little girl, but his father had known that he required someone to keep his blood lust in check.

The thing about Vlad is… he seems affable and normal until something sets him off. Then God help anyone in his path. Supposedly, at fifteen, he"d single-handedly offed an entire gang in Harlem, only with his shashkas, and it had taken a sedative to calm him down.

"I"ve heard some chicks dig the whole blood and gore thing."

"They do only if I"m a sparkling vampire. I keep up with the times, you know. They"d run for the hills if they knew my body count."

"What"s your body count?" I ask cheekily.

"I don"t kill and tell, B."

"You"ve probably lost count."

"Yeah… I"m going to plead the fifth on that."

"What kind of assassin are you if you don"t have any notches?"

He pauses as if it"s a foreign concept. "Do you?"

"Of course. I"m very organized. I would also like to know how many times to ask for forgiveness if Theo finds out."

"Damn, little goddess. Seriously, what did you see in that wimp? You got a suit of all things. Couldn"t you at least have gone for a more hands-on profession?"

I sigh… We"d had these conversations before. Vlad"s always of the opinion that in our profession, you cannot risk any attachments. He"s also never approved of Theo, thinking he was too weak for me.

"Theo has a great capacity for kindness," I say. "He has something I completely lack."

"So, that"s it? Just because he"s normal?" He says normal as if it"s the plague. Understandable, though, since we"d both been told we"re abnormal our entire lives. We"d both learned to pretend, though.

"No, not just that. I don"t know if I ever told you how I met him for the first time. It was at my father"s house, and he was hosting a business dinner. As any dutiful daughter, I had to keep up appearances and attend.

"You know how I was with my father"s associates. I would always keep my mouth shut and plan their deaths slowly in my head. Well… one of his guests got a little too drunk and insulted me, calling me a doormat, a decoration, and asked how much to buy me."

"Did you kill him?" he suddenly interrupts me.

"A year after, I couldn"t risk suspicion."

"Yesss!" I imagine him bumping a fist in the air based on his excited tone.

"Back to the story. He was also getting into my personal space. Theo was the only one who told the man off, defended me, and was on the brink of punching him."

"Oh, so he has some balls?"

"Shut it. He was being kind to someone he didn"t know. More importantly, he stood to lose the most, given that he was looking for support from those people."

"Fine, so he"s a principled asshole. Still don"t know why you bother so much," he mumbles.

"You wouldn"t understand. You"ve never loved someone like I love Theo."

He"s quiet for a minute.

"Is it love, though? Are you even capable of love?"

I contemplate his question.

"I don"t know. I don"t know how regular people love. I only know that what I feel for him is strong enough that I"d kill anything and anyone attempting to harm him. So, whatever I am capable of feeling is all for him. "

"I"m jealous, little goddess." His voice is dreamy. "I wish I could feel… anything, really. The only semblance of feeling I can muster is when I kill, and even then, it"s like a high that wears off almost as soon as it starts. Fight for your wimp then, B. You know I"ll always have your back."

"I know, Vlad. Same here."

"Now, though, the real reason why I called you."

"You didn"t call to ask for the state of my marriage? I"m disappointed."

"As you can see, I"m very invested in your marriage, but that"s not why I wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, what is it?"

"The arms dealer you said you were meeting on Monday. I got some intel that it might not be legit."

"What do you mean?"

"Several organizations have been trying to acquire those new weapons from them. All of them have been busts."

"Fuck! I was looking forward to a new rifle."

"I want in on the guy you"re meeting, though. There have been rumors of rats that target specific people for these purchases."

"And you think because of my connection to you, it might be someone on the inside?"

"I"m not sure, but I don"t want any loose ends. If there"s a rat in my midst, I have to exterminate."

"Okay, let"s do this then. The meeting is Monday at two p.m., Room 204 at Empire. We can go earlier and set up the room."

"It will be like old times, little goddess."

"Like old times… Sure." I chuckle, knowing fully well that old times means chaos and mayhem.

"I"ll pick you up at your apartment."

"Fine. I"ll see you then."

"Later." He hangs up.

Talking to Vlad always puts me in a good mood. But now that my marriage isn"t on the brink of collapse anymore, I"m in an even better mood. Since tomorrow marks the start of the weekend, and both Theo and I are free, I decided to plan a little something to show him that he"s the only object of my affection. Or obsession, I should say.

I smile to myself, mentally planning our weekend escapade.