33. Adrian

It"s been three days. Three days since Bianca"s left the apartment and hasn"t picked up any of her things. Three days in which Bianca hasn"t as much as called or left a message.

I should be glad—cutting the ties so efficiently.

But I can"t.

I miss her.

I can"t sleep. I can barely eat. And when I"m at home, all I do is look at photos of us.

Pathetic, I know.

She never loved you.I try to tell myself. She"s not capable of it.

No matter how much I try to come to terms with it, I can"t.

I"m in my car, heading to a meeting, when my cell rings.

"Hastings here," I activate my Bluetooth headpiece and answer.

"No… " I can hear a vague sound in the background.

"Mr. Hastings, just the man I wanted to talk to." When the voice comes through, I realize who it is. I frown, trying to think why he"d reach out to me. My relationship with Vlad is casual at best.

"What is it, Vlad?" I ask, a bit tersely.

"I have something of yours," he says and pauses. "Although she"s a little damaged." Something of mine? Now that"s unusual. But I"m curious, so I ask.

"What are you on about, Vlad?"

"Bianca, do you want to say something to your husband?" Vlad says, and my hands clench on the steering wheel. Why would Bianca be with Vlad? Then I hear a small "Theo…" followed by a loud wailing "Theoooo!"

My foot hits the brake without even realizing. I look left and right and decide to pull over to compose myself.

"Vlad? What"s the meaning of this?" I can barely breathe, thinking of all possible scenarios. Her voice… Lord, her voice.

"I told you… your wife is a little damaged."

"What do you mean by that? Tell me?"

"Do you care?" he asks casually, and I curse under my breath. "Vlad, just tell me!" I demand, and he chuckles.

"If you want to know, you can come by. I"ll text you the address. It"s up to you." He hangs up the phone.

I"m stunned for a moment before I hit the wheel in frustration.

Please be okay, Bianca,is all my mind can process at the moment.

I don"t even think; I copy the address and input it in my GPS, changing direction and heading straight to Vlad"s house.

So much for a clean break

The entire way to the address Vlad provided, I"m wrecked with worry. What could have happened to her? Is she ill? Did she get herself into trouble? Is she in trouble with Vlad? How exactly do they know each other?

When I finally arrive at the destination, armed guards greet me, who perform a rudimentary search on me.

Of course.

Then, one of them escorts me into a very normal-looking mansion.

"Where is she?" I bark when I spot Vlad at the entrance. He gives me an amused smile and looks at his watch.

"It only took you a half hour. Any traffic violations, Mr. Law and Order?" I grit my teeth at his sarcasm. "I mean, never let it be known that I"m heartless." He cocks his head to the side as if thinking about something."Come, she"s sleeping now."

He leads me towards a room on the other side of the house. I"m so keen on finding out what happened to Bianca that I"m not even taking any precautions, like assessing my environment or keeping my eyes on potential dangers.

Vlad opens the door to a small room, and on the bed, I see the figure of my wife, sound asleep.

"What"s wrong with her?" I ask as I near the bed and take in her ragged appearance. Her hair is knotted and messy, her clothes damp and clinging to her form. Her face is pale, her lips chapped and dry. I immediately run my hand on her forehead, noting she is feverish.

"She"s detoxing," Vlad answers, leaning on the door frame. "We had to sedate her because she stole a gun and attacked me."

"What?" I whip my head around to regard him.

"Come, let her rest. She"ll be as good as new by the end of the week. You must have a lot of questions and as it happens, I"m feeling mighty generous."

He stands and motions me out, leading me to what looks to be a study. He shuts the door behind us and takes a seat at his desk, telling me to do the same.

For a second, there"s only silence, and I see him staring very intently at a pendulum on his desk. Then, as if he remembers I"m still in the room with him, he turns to me and gives me a jolly smile.

"Now, where were we?"

"Maybe on the why Bianca is here," I answer drily. It"s clear to me that no one means her harm here. If they had, she wouldn"t be sleeping peacefully after pointing a gun at Vlad. On that point, I"m relieved. But I still want to know what Vlad is willing to impart.

"I"ve known your wife for over ten years." He pulls a drawer, taking a pack of gum and popping one in his mouth. Chewing on it, he continues, "She"s what you"d call my friend."

I frown at this. Over ten years? Friend?

Hell no.

Even as a dude, I have to admit that Vlad is an attractive guy. There"s no way…

My suspicion must be written on my face because Vlad scowls and stops my train of thought.

"Easy, boy. It"s probably not what you"re thinking of. I mean… ew. No offence, but I"m not one to exchange bodily fluids… with anyone." He makes another disgusted face at the thought before continuing, "I don"t know how much Bianca"s told you but… we used to be partners."

I release a breath I didn"t know I was holding at his confirmation that they"re strictly platonic, although I mentally chastise myself for even caring.

"In…?" I ask, and he shakes a finger at me.

"You know exactly in what." No incriminating evidence. I chuckle but let him have his way.

"Then I guess you also know she"s a sociopath," I carefully add, watching closely his body language.

"Of course," he readily agrees, popping another piece of gum into his mouth. "That"s why we were partnered in the first place. You see, we share a similar affliction, Bianca and I. But my case… is a little more volatile," he casually says. "Our temperaments were opposite, but complementary. And we worked perfectly together."

"What was she, fifteen, sixteen? How can someone that young do that?"

He drums his fingers on the surface of the desk. One glaring thing about Vlad is that he can"t seem to stay still.

"Did she tell you about her nanny?" he asks, and I nod.

"Then you realize it"s not too young. By that time, she"d already had years of training. I"ll be honest, I"ve never seen anyone with a better aim than B, only when she"s not coked up though." His use of her nickname grates me, but I have to admit that he knows things about her I don"t. I can"t deny that they have a special bond.

"How long has she been using?" I ask what has been on my mind for days now.

"Honestly… I don"t know. It"s not her first rodeo with coke, though. She"s had on and off periods with it, but she"s never truly been off it, I think."

"Why though? What would prompt her to do this… any of this?" I ask, almost exasperated.

"She"s not normal, Hastings. She"s not and never will be. You have to come to terms with this if you want to be with her." I want to correct him and tell him we"re already over, but I let him continue.

"For people like us, it"s hard to conform to normality. To social norms. We just need a trigger and off we go. Hers was the nanny. Drugs… let"s just say they help us be less apathetic. When all you know is a sea of nothingness, you"d do anything to cause a little wave."

"So that"s how you"re justifying her being an addict?" I ask, shaking my head at his logic. "By that logic, you should be one too."

His eyes are on that pendulum again.

"We all have different drugs. Mine just don"t happen to be an illicit substance." He doesn"t elaborate on that.

I sit still for a moment, digesting what Vlad"s saying. But I still can"t help myself. I want to understand. Hell…

"How can I even contemplate being with a person who manipulated and lied to me? She isn"t capable of empathy, of love."

"Is she not?" he asks, his eyebrow raised. "Don"t get me wrong, I"m not sure she"s capable of those things either. But I"ve known her long enough to see how irregular her behavior is towards you. For someone who kills in cold blood, the instinct to protect is entirely antithetic. And yet, all she"s ever done has been to protect you."

"What about you, then? If you say you don"t feel either, why are you helping her?"

Vlad chuckles, shoving yet another piece of gum in his mouth.

"I"m governed by a very simple rule of retribution, or an eye for an eye. The only difference is that I pay back those who help me in kind too. Bianca… she may not be normal, but she"s the most loyal person you could ever find. Don"t let other inconsequential things detract from that."

"You call murder inconsequential?" I add sarcastically.

"In the grand scheme of things? Yes. And if you knew who those she dispatched were, you would see that the world is a better place without them. One thing I can promise you, though, is that she"s never, ever, hurt an innocent person."

I think on that and reply, "I think we can agree to disagree."

"I"m disappointed, Hastings. I wouldn"t have taken you for a narrow-minded type of fellow."

"Again, I wouldn"t call disapproving of murder narrow minded."

"And yet your past says otherwise." I freeze. What does he know?

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." Slowly, his mouth curls upwards. "But alas, I cannot make your decisions for you." He stands, and I can see I"m being dismissed. "You should know though, she"s doing the detox for you."

"She should do it for herself, not for me." I stand as well, ready to go.

"It"s up to you." Vlad shrugs and says with finality, "I thought you could use a different perspective. My job here is done."

"Just… take care of her."

"Always." He gives me another charming smile before seeing me off.