Picture of my lovely, handsome Vitaly on the side! 

Chapter 3

Blaine and I kept a routine for the next two days. He was quiet for the most part. I didn’t bother trying to talk to him. Every time we did talk, we ended up arguing.

Both Blaine and I had received some clothes. What that told me was that Vitaly was planning to keep us for longer than Blaine had anticipated.

While Blaine was offered jeans and t-shirts, I had mainly received casual dresses. With the exception of sleepwear, my clothes were practically useless. I ended up stealing two t-shirts from Blaine and wearing some of the shorts they’d given me to sleep in.

Blaine claimed that Vitaly was being resourceful— and not a complete ogre with us— because he knew who Blaine was and what he would do if either of us got hurt. The only thing I saw was that no matter how rich Blaine was, Vitaly had still managed to kidnap him.

A bag full of toiletries was also delivered for both of us. While Blaine's pouch had the essentials, mine had too many other unnecessary things, like makeup and accessories.

We were served three meals—breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Vitaly didn’t come to check on us, but one of his guys became a regular in our room. Yurik. He mainly walked in, checked how he were doing, and he usually made small talk with me.

Those were the only times Blaine showed any kind of emotion. He would get angry and come to my side. Most times than not, Yurik and Blaine ended up fighting. Every time after Yurik left, Blaine stayed in a bad mood for hours.

Three days of being in there had finally broken me.

I couldn’t stop thinking about my mom and Alan. I couldn’t even begin to image what they must’ve been doing. They were going to be so worried and with no clue as to where I was.

Blaine’s brother, Alexander, was informed that he’d been kidnapped. Me? No one knew I’d been roaming around Hale Industries so late at night. My mom was probably going to assume I was dead in some ditch, or some other story just as hideous.

I tried to suppress a whimper. Right after that, I heard shuffling behind me.

“Madeline?” Blaine called.

I grunted to let him know I had heard him. I knew if I spoke up, he’d be able to tell something was up.

I was lying down on the couch, facing away from Blaine and the room. It had become a regular thing for me, clinging to the couch like if it was my safeguard. Blaine hadn’t minded taking the bed. Although I hadn’t given him the option, he hadn’t bothered to offer it up either.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

I could feel him standing right next to the couch, looking down at me. I grabbed the pillow I used to sleep in and completely covered my face. I wasn’t going to let Blaine see me, especially not after how well I’d managed to keep it together for the past few days.

I felt Blaine’s hand slowly sliding over my waist. He was trying to get me on my back so that I would turn to face him. I didn’t want to turn though. I had been crying and I was sure it would show. Whenever I cried, my eyes got puffy and my face always got red and blotchy and messy.

“Madeline,” Blaine called again, softly shaking me to get me to move.

I didn’t move and I put all the strength I could in keeping away from him.

“Let me see your face or I’ll force you to move,” Blaine said.

“This is your fault,” I accused, but my voice sounded weak.

Blaine didn’t reply anything.

He slipped his arm under me, and grabbed me in his arms. I yelped when Blaine sat down on the floor and he brought me down on his lap.  

“You’re crying,” he said, running his thumbs under my eyes and clearing away some stray tears.

Touching him was a whole different experience from the last three days. As soon as his fingers landed on my skin, I felt little electric currents creating a tingling sensation wherever his hand grazed. I thought he felt it to. His eyes widened and he pressed me even closer to his chest. I couldn’t describe why that happened but it was strange.

I shuffled off his lap and took a seat right next to him, feeling shy all of a sudden. My face had heated up, and the room suddenly felt too small. Our backs were resting on the couch. It was comforting to know that he was close to me though.

I was still unsettled by that moment we had. I had a moment with Blaine Hale. It had been the first time he had really touched me. Before, his hand had been protectively wrapped around me, but he hadn’t touched any part of skin.

“You don’t look like the type of girl that cries too often,” he commented after a few moments of silence.

“I can’t believe I’m even here, with you, in Russia,” I meekly said.

“How do you know we’re in Russia?”

“I don’t, but I assumed.”

I had asked Yurik if we were in Russia, but he never wanted to confirm it. Blaine had dismissed the idea, claiming Vitaly wouldn’t be stupid enough to take us to his home country. What guided me was that if the guys weren’t speaking English, they were speaking Russian. I honestly doubted Vitaly only hired Russians, unless we were in Russia.

“Good assumption. I was still hoping we were in the US.”

I shook my head at him, and chuckled.

“It was a long flight.”

“How many hours was it?”

“I honestly don’t know. I was too nervous to keep time or to notice anything at all, really. I just know it felt like an eternity before we landed.”

Blaine stayed quiet after that. He seemed to be thinking about something. He was always thinking about something. I was glad that he hadn’t moved away. I was still shaken up and I assumed I’d been feeling lonely as well. Talking to Blaine was distracting me.

“So Vitaly is inheriting his father’s company if it survives you and your brother?” I asked, wanting to keep the conversation going.

Blaine shook his head at me, and looked ahead.

“Why not?” I asked, frowning when his features hardened.

“Vitaly isn’t into the family business. He does something more—­ lucrative for a living.”

“He looks like part of the mob,” I commented, remembering how he and all his guys had behaved.

“The Russian Mafia— at least those are the rumors.”

I whistled at that and shook my head.

“That explains it.”

I was wondering how Vitaly had managed to get so big with the mafia. He looked like he was in his mid-twenties. To me, that seemed so young to already be somebody that important.

“He won’t hurt you. I don’t even think Demitri knows what Vitaly is up to. We just need to play his game and he’ll let us go.”

“And then you’ll get even?” I asked, remembering what he had said days ago.

Blaine didn’t reply anything to my words. The thoughtful expression returned to his face, and I allowed myself to drift off as well.

I knew what that look meant. Our conversation was over and Blaine was closing up on me. I hated that. It made me remember that Blaine and I were different. He only spoke to me when it was necessary. Other than that, I was just the girl who’d barged into his office and had managed to get kidnapped with him.

I spent the rest of the day writing. I had been carrying a notebook in my messenger bag. The previous day, Yurik had walked into the room while I was scribbling down what had happened to me so far. It hardly accumulated to anything and I ended up writing thoughts. I found that I needed to keep busy or time would go by much slower.

When Yurik saw me struggling to get my pen working, he’d made fun of me. We had talked until Blaine interrupted us. An hour after Yurik left, he sent over a backpack full with school supplies. Although Blaine was upset about it, I was glad that I wouldn’t be running out of paper. At least if we remained locked up, I had something to do.

Blaine, Mr. Fancy pants, had a Rolex. It was how we’d been keeping up with the time for the last few days. 

It was almost eight at night when Marko, the same guy who usually brought our meals, walked in carrying a tray of food.

“Is the second tray coming any time soon?” I asked.

I was frowning at Marko. He usually brought in both trays at the same time. He never spoke to us, but he did smile at me every time he handed me my tray.

The tray he brought only had enough food for one person.

“This tray is for him,” Marko said, in broken English.

Blaine smirked when the tray was placed in front of him. I could tell he was going to make a smartass comment, so I spoke up before he made fun of me.

“What about me?”

I knew Blaine was the rich guy, but I deserved to be fed to. It wasn’t like I was hanging out there willingly.

“Vitaly wants to see you,” Yurik answered.

He strolled into the room, dressed up more than he usually was. He hadn’t been around all day, which was unusual. I had gotten used to seeing him a few times each day.

“He does?” I asked, frowning at his words.

“Where are you taking her?” Blaine asked.

The smug look from before was wiped from his face and he stood up. I was surprised when he took a protective stance in front of me. I didn’t even think Blaine cared for what happened to me.

“Stay out of this, Hale,” Yurik replied harshly.

“Madeline?” Yurik called, holding out his hand for me to take.

“Will I get fed?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

“You will,” he replied, giving me a small grin.

I shrugged and followed after him. I was about to cross the threshold of the door when Blaine roughly yanked my arm and pulled me back into the room.

“You can’t take my girlfriend!” He snapped.

It was annoying me that he kept repeating that. I didn’t understand why everyone even thought that I was Blaine’s girlfriend. Every time I asked Blaine about it, he would just shut me out and ignore me.

“If Vitaly wants to see her, he’s going to see her!” Yurik snapped.

His voice made me cower back. He definitely had a strong personality. In that moment, Yurik seemed ready to get rid of Blaine if he tried to do anything.

Three guys stepped into the room then, and they stood in front of Blaine, making him back off.

“Let’s go,” Yurik ordered, grabbing onto my elbow and dragging me out of the room.

It was my first time leaving the room since we first arrived. It was a long way before we finally reached the dining room. The place we were in, which I assumed was Vitaly’s house, was huge.

Vitaly was seated at the end of a long table, which was big enough to sit more than twenty people. The room itself was big and fancy. It seemed like the type of place where important dinners were held.

Servants were setting the food on the table just as Yurik guided me to my seat.

Once he pulled out my chair and I took a seat, he went to stand behind Vitaly.

“So you’re stinkin’ rich as well,” I commented.

“Is that why you’re with him?” Vitaly asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“With who?”

“Is that why you’re with Blaine, because he has a lot of money?”

I rolled my eyes and picked up my fork. There was no point in telling him that Blaine and I were not together. No one believed me and it seemed like Blaine wanted everybody to think that I was his girlfriend.

“Yurik told me you are still mad at Blaine,” Vitaly said.

It sounded like he was probing for more, but I couldn’t understand why. I didn’t know why he seemed so interested in my relationship with Blaine. That was until I remembered that he wanted to hurt Blaine, so he probably thought if we were fighting, it affected Blaine. He couldn’t have been more wrong, since Blaine more or less hated me.

“Should I be worried?” I asked him instead.

“Worried?” Vitaly repeated, a frown taking over his face.

“I am being singled out. Should I be worried that you’re going to try to off me or something?”

Vitaly laughed at my question. I didn’t think it was funny at all. I was being serious. When I turned towards Yurik, I found him chuckling as well.

“I’m not going to hurt you, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

I was holding the fork in my hand, which was resting right next to my plate. I was surprised when Vitaly softly ran the tips of his fingers over my hand. His eyes were fixed on me, but he had a serious expression on his face.

I was about to pull away from him. I didn’t know why he was touching me, but he was making me slightly breathless. Vitaly moved his hand away before my mind registered that I should’ve said something about him touching me.   

He was smiling at me. I didn’t know what to do, so I looked down at my plate.

The plate of food was fixed up nicely. It was some sort of chicken with pasta. For some reason, I had expected Russian food. I didn’t necessarily know what Russian food consisted of, but seeing a normal plate of food was surprising. It tasted good and I was starving, so I decided not to dwell too much on the details.

I looked up when I noticed Vitaly was pouring red wine for us.

I still remembered the drink he had given me in the plane. It had burned my throat and caused a coughing fit. I had never had red wine before and I was not interested in having my first glass just then. I figured it was better to stay sharp around the kidnappers.

“Can I have a coke?”

“A… coke?” He repeated, like if he couldn’t believe I’d just asked that.

“Dr. Pepper would be better, but I’d take a coke just as well,” I shrugged, nervously.

Vitaly looked from me to Yurik, before turning back to me.

“Of course,” he said, unsurely.

One of the servants brought a glass with ice. She even opened and poured the soda for me.  I didn’t know if they had Dr. Pepper in Russia, so I assumed it was a coke after all.

“I feel really underdressed,” I commented as I tugged on my shirt.

I was clean, but I was wearing unflattering shorts and t-shirt. It wasn’t that I wanted to impress Vitaly, because I knew for a fact I wouldn’t be able to. But while I was looking messy, Vitaly looked amazing.  

It looked like he had showered just before dinner. He was dressed in a pair of black slacks, with a black dressy shirt. I noticed the color suited him. It made him look even more handsome, mysterious even.

“Where are the clothes I had delivered for you?” Vitaly asked.

“I don’t like dresses,” I said, uncomfortably.

Vitaly raised an eyebrow at that, before a smile appeared on his lips.

“You should try wearing one.”

“It’s alright. I manage with this,” I told him, pulling on the t-shirt I’d stolen from Blaine.

“Those clothes weren’t meant for you,” Vitaly said, frowning down at the shirt.

“Did you bring me here to piss off Blaine? You know, I get special treatment while he eats in his room, like a bad little boy?” I asked, changing the subject.

I somehow managed a grin, and that made Vitaly smile.

He ran his hand through his hair, which was drying up nicely. After a shower, my hair usually got puffy when it dried off. Vitaly’s hair looked neat. I was tempted to run my hands through it. The fact that I had that thought made me feel weird.

“How long have you two been together?” Vitaly asked.

I sighed dramatically and shook my head. I knew he was talking about Blaine and me.

“How long will you keep us here?”

“As soon as Alexander Hale signs off the pardon on my father’s debt, Blaine will be released.”

“What about me?” I asked, because he had excluded me from the deal.

“We’ll see,” he said.

The rest of the dinner was mainly spent with me talking and Vitaly listening. He had asked everything about me. It hadn’t seemed strange at the moment. It wasn’t until my eyes landed on Yurik, who seemed shocked with both Vitaly and me, that I realized something must’ve been off.

Almost an hour later, one of Vitaly’s men rushed into the room holding out a phone.

He spoke to Vitaly in Russian, so I had no idea what they were saying. Vitaly smiled at whatever was being said to him. He took the phone in his hand and started talking to whoever was calling him.

“Should I go…?” I asked, not knowing what to do.

I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I didn’t want to intrude in his conversation.

Yurik came to my side when I spoke up.

“I’ll walk you back,” he said.

When Yurik’s hand landed on my elbow, Vitaly glared at him and shoved him away roughly. I was surprised by his use of force, but decided staying quiet was best.

“Leave her. I’ll call you when I need you,” Vitaly snapped at Yurik.

Vitaly took a hold of my hand and began walking us out of the room. He was happily talking on the phone and even laughing at whatever the other person was saying. At certain times, his hold on my hand would tighten. I noticed his change of mood. All throughout his conversation, I remained quiet.

We ended up in what I assumed was his office. There were books decorating all the walls. His large wooden desk was neat and organized. A few papers were neatly stacked and his laptop was closed.

At first, I made my way towards the chair in front of his desk. I was surprised when he dragged me over to a black leather couch, and sat me down right next to him.

I squirmed around for a while, feeling bored of just sitting there. I had listened in on his conversation. It was cool to hear him speaking Russian, but I hated not knowing what he was saying.

Vitaly was on the phone for a full hour.

“That was my father. It seems like Alexander Hale has given him another meeting to resolve this issue,” Vitaly told me once he disconnected the call.

“If you have a lot of money, why don’t you just give it to your dad so that he can pay his debt?”

Vitaly shrugged and squeezed my hand, which he was still holding. I found the small contact between us strange, but I didn’t want to bring it up. I knew I was walking on egg shells with him. I had to be careful with what I did and what I said.

“He knows what I do for a living. My father is an honest man. He will not accept my money,” Vitaly said, but there was a certain tone in his voice.

He actually sounded sad, but slightly bitter when he said those words.

“Does he know about…?” I asked, not wanting to finish the question.

“He has no idea and I have spoken with Alexander. I don’t want my father to know about Blaine.”

Blaine had thought the same thing. He assumed Vitaly was behind the kidnapping and that Demitri had no idea it was even happening.

“Tell me more about your writing,” Vitaly said, completely changing the subject.

I smiled brightly at that, and started again telling him all about the stories I’d been writing for almost a year. I thought he would get bored of hearing me talk, but it didn’t seem like it. He would smile when he had to and he had laughed at some of the stories I shared.

For a major mafia guy, Vitaly wasn’t really so bad.

It was almost midnight when Yurik walked me back to the room.

“Vitaly showed interest in you,” he commented on the way.

His English was as good as Vitaly’s. I assumed it was because they spoke it more often. Some of the other guys didn’t even speak a word of English.

“He did?”

“I’m just as surprised,” Yurik said.

“Are you calling me ugly?”

“What? No, I’m not.”

“It sounded like it,” I teased. I was just saying that to bother him, and it did the job.

“I didn’t say you were ugly. You must already know that you’re not. And I hope that you don’t tell Vitaly I said that. I’m only surprised that Vitaly is singling you out considering the situation.”

“Why? Because he’s got me kidnapped?”

“No, he kidnapped your boyfriend. You’re just part of the package.”

“Blaine isn’t my boyfriend.”

“He won’t be your boyfriend for long. Vitaly always gets what he wants,” Yurik said, seriously.

I didn’t get a chance to tell him anything. His words left me speechless. I didn’t think that Vitaly was interested in me.

I did think that he was giving me attention to piss Blaine off because he thought Blaine and I were together.

“Did they do anything to you? You’ve been gone for hours,” Blaine demanded.

He grabbed my arms and began inspecting me. His hands ran over my arms, down to my waist, and even roamed my legs.

I drew a line when he pulled the band from hair and made the messy bun I had come tumbling down.

My long black hair came down to my waist.

Blaine seemed distracted for a moment, and I felt self-conscious with how he was openly staring at me.

“Blaine!” I snapped, trying to get his attention.

“You look different,” he commented, his eyes still glued to me.

He slowly tucked some hair that had fallen over my face, behind my ear. I didn’t know how to respond to his gesture, so I stayed still until he pulled away.

“Did Vitaly hurt you?” He asked, softly.

I shook my head and took a few steps back. I needed to put some space between us. Being too close to Blaine did things to me, especially when he was touching me.

“What were you two doing?”

“I think he’s trying to get you mad. He still thinks I’m your girlfriend. It didn’t matter how many times I told him we weren’t together,” I said, letting out a sigh.

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“Do what?”

“Madeline, the only reason Vitaly hasn’t gotten rid of you is because he thinks you’re my girlfriend. If he finds out we’re not together, he might kill you,” Blaine said, frowning down at me.

“What?”

“Why do you think I went along with the lie?”

I hadn’t considered that. I had allowed myself to think that maybe Blaine didn’t want to feel so alone and that’s why he kept repeating that I was his girlfriend.

I was starting to feel sick just at the thought of having them kill me if they found out I was nobody.

“What were you and Vitaly doing all this time?” Blaine asked again.

His voice turned from worried to suspicious.

“We ate and we talked. I was in his office doing nothing for almost an hour.”

I noticed my voice was shaky when I spoke.

“Is that all you did? I noticed all the extra attention he gave you.”

“There’s no extra attention. He thinks I’m your girlfriend— that is it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Why do you keep asking? It’s not like I’m really your girlfriend!” I said, more defensively than I should have.

It was worrying me that Vitaly would finally believe me that I wasn’t Blaine’s girlfriend and he would just kill me.

I didn’t know how mafia guys worked. Bottom line was— I wasn’t really valuable to him. I wasn’t rich, I wasn’t important to Blaine, and I had been more of a bother. I had given Vitaly enough reasons to simply get rid of me. My stomach turned when that thought came to mind.

“For the time being, yes, you are!” Blaine snapped.

“Yeah, but we both know that’s not really true,” I retorted.

Blaine narrowed his eyes at me.

“You’d be lucky to be my girlfriend,” Blaine said.

My mouth dropped open at his words. I couldn’t even get a word out with how angry his words left me.

“Not everyone wants to be with you, Blaine. That awful reputation that you carry around, it isn’t helping you. Haven’t you notice the only type of girls that go after you? We all know why they are even with you to begin with, and trust me— it ain’t just your looks!”

I had ranted to him more than I’d wanted to, but it was too late to take my words back. I felt guilty that I let him get to me.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’re a womanizer,” I flatly stated.

I had to find a way to make Vitaly see that I wasn’t just a useless waste of space. I promised myself that next time I saw him I would keep my mouth and be less annoying. I knew I must’ve annoyed him with all of my talking. I did talk a lot, but sometimes I just couldn’t help it. I liked to voice out my thoughts.

But if it meant survival, I was willing to make the sacrifice of keeping my mouth shut.

“I’m not a womanizer,” Blaine said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

“Yes you are.”

“So now you know me more than I know myself?”

I was starting to understand why Blaine and I hardly talked since we’d been locked inside that room. Blaine and I— we just didn’t connect, not even enough to get along.  

“I’m just stating the facts,” I replied.

“You’re stating that I’m a womanizer. I could give you a few points to help you out with that one. One, you don’t know me. Two, you’re assuming things, just like everybody else does,” Blaine defensively said.

“So you’re saying all the newspapers, internet sites, and everywhere that your pretty face is plastered in, are wrong?”

“You think I have a pretty face?” Blaine asked.

“That wasn’t my point!”

“You’re right. I would prefer being called hot or sexy, but I’ll settle for pretty,” he said, breaking out into a full blown grin.

“Are you mocking me?”

“You look smart. If your claims are right and you deserved the scholarship that I turned down, then I am guessing you have to be smart. So you should do yourself a favor and stop reading so much trash news and magazines. Those things are toxic.”

“And according to you they're all liars too, huh?”

“That wasn’t what I meant,” Blaine said, shaking his head at me. “Just because I have some money backing up my name, all these people find the need to invent me girlfriends, mistresses, or prostitutes. I’m not sure what magazines are saying about me these days.”

“Some money? Did you just say you have some money?” I repeated, through gritted teeth.

“Alright, a little bit more than just some money,” Blaine rephrased, not that it made his words any better.

“Yeah, try billions of dollars backing you up,” I snapped.

For some reason, I hated that he was downplaying how filthy rich he was.

“You know how much I’m worth?” Blaine asked, cocking an eyebrow at me.

“Are you kidding me? I wrote an essay about Hale Industries and the empire behind your name. I don’t know how much you are worth, but I know it’s more than just some money.”

“Some money— a lot of money, is there a differences? There’s no need for me to go into detail if you already know everything about me.”

“I don’t know anything about you! I was generalizing. I know about Hale Industries,” I said, hoping he wouldn’t think I’d been stalking him or something.

In the world we lived in, it was just impossible not to know anything about Blaine and Alexander Hale.

“You sound bitter,” Blaine commented.

I narrowed my eyes at him and decided not to make a comment. I was starting to get worked up. All of a sudden, memories of the day Blaine had kicked me out of his building came rushing back.

“I’ve had bad experiences with rich stuck up people. Could you blame me? After my scholarship was turned down by you, and you refused to see me, I think I have a right to be bitter,” I said, shrugging.

I lied down in the couch, and closed my eyes. Talking to him was already giving me a head ache. Blaine was impossible.

“I didn’t know you then.” 

“You don’t know me now.”

“I know you more than I did before,” Blaine said, and I heard him speaking right beside my ear.

I opened my eyes to find him sitting on the floor, right next to the couch. He gave me a smile, very unlike him. I appreciated that he at least tried. I knew Blaine wasn’t used to people arguing with him. According to him, it apparently came with being rich.

“I can fix the set back with your scholarship. It would have to wait after Vitaly lets us go, but I’ll get it sorted.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore,” I told him, uncomfortably.

“Why not?”

“You’re only going to give me my scholarship back because you have talked to me. We’re not best friends, but at least now you know my name.”

“That sounds like a good enough reason,” Blaine said.

He tried to hold my hand, but I pulled it away from him. Blaine being Blaine, he grabbed it again and tightened his hold. I felt the strange connection between us when he did that, and I know he felt it too.

“I worked really hard to get that scholarship, with my own merits. It wasn’t because some hot rich billionaire guy thinks he can do me some favors.

“You think I’m hot?” Blaine asked, a smirk taking over his lips.

I groaned at the cocky look in his face and turned away from him. He was impossible. I closed my eyes again, and shook my head.

“Is that all you took from what I just said?”

“No, I was trying to make a joke. But it is good to know I have some effect on you,” Blaine said.

I expected him to say something else. He didn’t. He lied down on the floor, right next to the couch. I was surprised that he didn’t go back to the bed. Just like I’d taken refuge on the couch, Blaine had done the same thing with the bed. It seemed to be our comfort zone.

A few minutes later, I heard Blaine’s steady breathing. He had fallen asleep on the floor.

For some strange reason, that made me smile.

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