Chapter 4

I was staring at my reflection in the mirror. I was looking pale. My usually tanned skin was definitely missing the nice warm sun. My dark brown eyes looked too big in my face. I had pulled my long black hair into a messy bun. Even though I had been eating well, the entire deal of being kidnapped was taking a toll on me.

For the past three days, I had been crying every single night. Although I tried, I hadn’t been able to hide it from Blaine. I worried him a lot.

We had been locked in for a whole week and I really missed home.

After the day I dined with Vitaly, I had seen him twice, for short periods of time. Yurik was the one who visited me a few times every day.

Yurik told Blaine that the meeting between Alexander Hale and Demitri Aminev was taking place that day.

I came out of the bathroom to find Blaine pacing the room.

When he noticed me, a smile took over his lips.

“You clean up nicely,” Blaine told me.

I had finally worn one of the dresses Vitaly had sent to me. I was hoping we were getting released, and that it was the reason Blaine had been advised to suit up.

“So do you,” I replied, returning his smile.

He did. Blaine looked absolutely breathtaking. The bruises he’d had were no longer noticeable. After that first day, no one had really touched him. Everyone was aware of who Blaine was. They knew Vitaly planned to let him go once it was all over.

“I talked to my brother,” he quietly told me.

“How did it go?” I already knew Blaine would be talking with his brother.

I heard Yurik tell him right before I locked myself in the bathroom. Although I was happy that Blaine got to talk with his brother, for some reason, it created mixed feelings within me.

I had stopped telling Vitaly and Yurik that Blaine and I never dated. They didn’t believe me, but most importantly, Blaine and I were starting to get along. Although his unique arrogance was still there, he had softened up and I really liked that.

“It was a short talk. I reassured Alex that I’m okay.”

“That’s good,” I said, taking a seat on the couch, where most of my stuff was resting.

Blaine walked over to me looking thoughtful.

“They will release us this afternoon,” he quietly told me.

I looked up to find him frowning. I didn’t understand why, since he should’ve been happy about it.

“It’ll be like this never happened,” I told him.

I smiled when Blaine chuckled at my words.

“I doubt I’ll forget this happened,” Blaine said, his eyes roaming over the room.

I had to admit, at least to myself, that I was surprised with how smooth everything was going. Even though Blaine had mentioned how Vitaly was going to pay for locking us up, everyone was behaving calmly. Even our release seemed to be taken as a business transaction, which Alexander and Vitaly were negotiating.

Blaine didn’t say anything to me for a long while, but his features hardened. I hadn’t even realized that Blaine was holding onto my hand. When I looked down at our interlaced hands, I finally felt that we were both holding onto each other tightly.

“A penny for your thoughts,” I told him, wanting to know if he was thinking the same thing I was.

“I’m thinking of what I will do once we’re set free.”

“Be relieved?” I suggested.

“I’m not worried.”

“You took most of the kidnapping in stride.”

“I am a very wealthy man,” Blaine commented.

I scrunched up my nose at his words.

“Yes, we all know.”

A reminder of Blaine’s wealth was the last thing I wanted. Leaving the room where Vitaly had us in was going to be reminder enough that Blaine and I came from different worlds.

“I need to plan my next move. These days I wasted in this hole won’t go unpunished.”

“Is that why you’re so calm?”

“I’m far from being calm,” Blaine replied, smoothly.

“Really?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow at his words.

Blaine answered by giving me a questioning look, seeming confused with my comment.

“You don’t look bothered,” I told him.

Blaine’s grayish blue eyes stared deeply into mine for a long time, but he didn’t say a word. I was starting to get worried. I felt bad for the comment I made. He was kidnapped— of course he had to be worried.

I expected Blaine to lash out at me, or pull away. He did that a lot. When he didn’t like something I did or said, I noticed he would get away and stop talking to me. Instead, however, Blaine closed the distance between us and pressed his lips against mine.

The tingly sensation I felt whenever we touched was nothing compared to kissing Blaine. He wasn’t holding me, other than the tight grip he had on my hand.

His lips were moving so slow against mine, I wouldn’t know he was kissing me if it weren’t for the fact that I was freaking out about it. Blaine didn’t pull away from me though. He waited until I responded to the kiss. When he felt my lips slowly moving against his and kissing him back, he gently placed his hand behind my neck to bring me closer to him.

I didn’t know exactly what was happening between us, but I did know that I liked it. I liked his lips moving sensually against mine and the way he tasted, minty. I liked that he didn’t let go of my hand, but he somehow brought me over to his lap.

I couldn’t get out of the daze he had me in. My eyes were closed, and I focused my mind on how soft his lips felt and how much I liked his hand sliding down my back.

The loud slamming of the door made me jump, and bump my head against Blaine’s.

I could feel my face burning when I turned to face the door. Yurik was glaring at Blaine and probably at me as well. I noticed that Blaine didn’t even turn to look at Yurik. Blaine kept his steady gaze on me.

“Uh, hey,” I awkwardly mumbled, trying to get my hand back from Blaine.

Blaine didn’t let me go.

“Let’s go,” Yurik told me, his voice harsher than he’d ever spoken to me.

“Where are you taking her?” Blaine asked him.

Yurik shouted something in Russian, and three men stepped into the room.

“Make sure he behaves,” Yurik said in English, still glaring at Blaine.

Yurik grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the couch. Just as Blaine tried to get me back to his side, the three guys blocked him.

I nervously looked from them to Blaine, before turning back to Yurik.

“They won’t hurt him, will they?”

“Not if Hale stays put,” Yurik replied.

“Where are we going?”

“Vitaly wants to see you.”

I nodded, and swallowed loudly. I was wondering if Vitaly was going to talk about my release.

“I thought you were mad at Hale,” Yurik said, in a questioning tone.

I didn’t miss how harsh his voice sounded.

“He’s been nice,” I shrugged, but I didn’t feel confident doing so.

I had gotten too comfortable with Yurik. I had forgotten that he was part of the group that had kidnapped me. But Yurik had been nice to me. It was the first time he had spoken to me so rudely.

“Vitaly won’t like this,” Yurik grunted.

“Why does Vitaly care if I’m mad at Blaine or not?”

Yurik just shook his head at me, and looked ahead. The rest of the walk to wherever he was taking me was spent in silence.

Vitaly was seated behind his desk, his gaze focused on the laptop in front of him. The door to his study had been open. Yurik knocked on the door in order to get Vitaly’s attention.

“Madeline,” Vitaly said, when he caught sight of me.

His eyes slowly roamed over my body, which was only covered in the white summer dress. It was a few inches above my knee, and not too revealing, but I wasn’t used to wearing dresses.

I felt uncomfortable to be standing at the threshold of the door, with Vitaly openly staring at me.

“You can go,” Vitaly said, dismissively.

I assumed he was talking to Yurik. I finished entering the room, and Yurik closed the door after him, leaving me alone with Vitaly.

“Did you eat?” Vitaly asked, as he rounded the desk and came over to stand in front of me.

I nodded my head at him, and kept myself still, in place.

“Come on,” he said, taking my hand and dragging me over to the couch.

I could feel my hand sweating. I knew he must’ve noticed it as well. He should’ve felt it even though he was holding onto my hand loosely.

We sat in the couch for a few minutes and neither of us said anything. He was still looking at me. His hand was interlaced with mine, and I felt his thumb running circles over my skin.

“I’m letting Blaine go in a few hours.”

“Blaine told me.”

“Alexander Hale arrived last night. He is waiting for him,” Vitaly said.

I looked up at him, my eyes surely revealing my surprise. I knew those were more or less the plans, but I was relieved that he was confirming it.

“So the meeting went smoothly,” I commented.

Instead of replying, Vitaly nodded his head. I was surprised when he cupped my cheek and ran his thumb over my skin.

“I am getting his transport ready. After what I did, I am sure you know I must be discreet.”

I nodded at him, even though I didn’t understand why he was explaining those things to me. If he was letting us go, he should’ve been telling the details about it to Blaine as well.

“I don’t want you to leave,” he continued, his voice steady but careful.

His words brought my jumbled up thoughts to a stop. He didn’t want to let me go. That was why he kept saying that everything was ready for Blaine to leave, not me.

I pulled my hand away from his grip, like if suddenly his touch burned me.

I didn’t know what to say. On the one hand, I wanted to yell out so many things to him. On the other, I had to keep in mind that I couldn’t make him angry.

“You can stay here.”

“Why would I do that?” My voice was a breathless whisper.

It shamed me to admit that I was starting to get scared.

“By now you must know that I want you.”

His blunt words more than shocked me. Vitaly wanted me? I thought for a second I had imagined him saying that. He wanted me. I couldn’t wrap my head around that.

“I can offer you the same things Blaine does, as far as riches go.”

I had been about to repeat that Blaine and I were not together, until he made the ‘riches’ comment.

“Blaine and I are not together because of his money!” I snapped.

In reality, Blaine and I had never been together. But even if we had, I wouldn’t have been with him because of his money.

I wanted to ask Vitaly if he thought I had the word gold-digger carved in my forehead but I figured that was probably taking it too far. I still needed to watch myself around him.

He was dangerous, he was my kidnapper, and now he didn’t want to let me go.

“I know that. I am simply letting you know that I could offer you the same things,” he said, like if his clarification made his words any better.

I swallowed audibly when his hand settled on my knee. My heart was pounding fast in my chest, and I could feel my stomach knotting. I was nervous and I was scared.

“I could offer you much more,” he said, his hand sliding up my thigh, before he leaned in to kiss me.

I pulled away from him before our lips touched. I got up from the couch, dropping his hand in the process.

“I can’t do this,” I told him.

Vitaly frowned at me and stood up from the couch.

“I want you,” he repeated.

I still didn’t get that. Why would Vitaly be interested in me? I wondered if it was because he thought I was with Blaine. That thought briefly made me depressed.

“I want to go back home,” I said, not wanting to offend him with the whole— you kidnapped me so there is no way I could consider a proposition from you kind of thing.

Still, I never thought it was an actual possibility. Kidnapper or not, Vitaly was a really handsome guy. I didn’t see why he was interested in me.

“You can go back home. I will come with you. You can see your mother and then we can return to Russia,” he suggested.

The absurdity of his words left me stunned. It sounded like if he had actually given those words a thought.

“Do you hear what you’re saying?”

“I always get what I want, Madeline. I want you, and I will do just about anything to get you,” he said, his voice serious, dangerous.

He took a step and closed the distance between us. One of his arms wrapped around my waist, while the other cupped my cheek.

Saying I was nervous was putting it mildly.

“Blaine-”

“I won’t let him go until you agree to stay with me.”

My eyes widened at his threat.

“You already spoke with his brother. The deal is done.”

“I call the shots. If I say Blaine stays, then he isn’t going anywhere.”

“You lied, of course you did. What can anybody expect from a guy like you?” I sarcastically remarked.

Those were not the right words to say. I could feel Vitaly shaking in anger. His hand on my waist tightened to the point where I felt my skin bruising.

It only lasted a few seconds. Vitaly completely pulled away from me and created some distance between us.

“Never speak to me like that again. This is the first and only warning I will give you,” Vitaly said in a low voice.

He didn’t get closer to me. He called out Yurik’s name, and it only took him a few moments to step into the room.

“Take her away,” Vitaly harshly said.

He didn’t look at me again. Even from where he was, I could tell that he was furious.

“What will you do with Blaine?” I asked.

“Don’t ask me about him!” Vitaly growled out, before he cursed out in Russian.

Yurik seemed to get the message, because he hastily dragged me away from Vitaly’s office and shut the door behind him.

“You pissed him off,” Yurik said, not sounding amused.

He was hurriedly walking me back to the room. He seemed more annoyed than he was before dropping me off in Vitaly’s office. After Vitaly’s proposition, I finally understood why Yurik was upset when he found Blaine and me kissing. Yurik had been right, Vitaly was interested in me.

“I didn’t think he would get mad,” I muttered, distractedly.

Vitaly, just like Yurik, had been nice to me throughout the entire thing. I knew it was Vitaly keeping me hostage, but at least he hadn’t been completely evil. The way he held me roughly and how he kicked me out of his office were the worst he’d ever been with me.

“He loses his patience. It is the first time I see it happen with you,” Yurik said, his voice softening.

“He got mad.”

“It was obvious,” Yurik said.

“He wants me to stay.”

I wasn’t sure why those words slipped out. Yurik didn’t seem surprised.

“I hope you said yes.”

I looked up at him. He was walking beside me, but Yurik was even taller than Blaine and Vitaly, and they were both over six feet tall.

“We’re in Russia! Are you kidding me? I can’t just drop my life to stay here.”

“Yes you can,” Yurik calmly replied, not looking moved by my words.

“I didn’t even think Vitaly… I mean, did he seriously expect me to… He kidnapped me!” I managed to get out.

As soon as I entered the room, Blaine was on me.

He crushed me in his arms. I was surprised by the attention, but relieved to be pressed so close to him. He was warm and he smelled good. I inhaled his scent, and snuggled my head against his chest.

“What did Vitaly want?” Blaine asked.

“Just to chit chat,” I lied.

His strong arms tightened around me, and I felt him nestling his head in my hair.

“I don’t like the interest he’s showing in you,” Blaine said, seriously.

I didn’t know what to tell him. If he’d made the same comment the day before, I would have told him that Vitaly wasn’t so bad and he wasn’t interested in me at all. Now I knew that I had been wrong all along.

“We’ll get out of here,” he said, reassuringly.

I nodded, although I knew I had probably ruined the odds for us.

I went to take a seat on the couch in the room— the one I’d been sleeping in. Blaine took a seat beside me. There was the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“About… earlier,” Blaine said, hesitantly.

I was scared he was going to start a speech about what a big mistake it was. To my surprise, Blaine smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist.

“We should talk, after we get out of here,” Blaine said.

Although the usual serious tone remained in his voice, I realized he was putting an effort to soften it up. I smiled up at him, but I couldn’t feel as happy as I wanted to. Vitaly’s words were bothering me.

“Are you okay?” Blaine asked, his hand cupping the side of my face so that I looked up at him.

“Just nervous,” I replied, shakily.

“It will all be fine,” Blaine assured me. “Good thing to, our kidnapping didn’t make the news.”

“People don’t know?”

I was surprised by that. I knew that anything involving the Hale family these days was public news that everyone wanted to know about.

“Vitaly warned Alexander not to tell anyone, or I would pay the consequences. It was a neat transaction,” Blaine dryly replied.

“That’s good, right?”

“My father, he has been asking for me. Alex told him I was in Paris, which was where I should have been these past few days.”

“Is your dad okay?”

Blaine took my hand, and gave it a squeeze.

“He was in the hospital. That’s why he was asking for me. Now that Vitaly is letting us go, Alex won’t have to tell him where I am.”

I hadn’t been expecting Blaine to say that. After rejecting Vitaly, I was almost certain he wasn’t going to let us go.

I didn’t even know why Vitaly wanted me. I was sure he could get other girls, girls that were willing. He was good looking and rich, there were probably so many girls dying to get a chance with him.

Then I looked at Blaine. Despite how much I had blamed him before, it wasn’t really his fault that I had gotten kidnapped. I had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Vitaly was the one who assumed Blaine and I were together.

The last few days, Blaine had been nice to me. I didn’t know what to make of the kiss we shared, but I tried not to think too much about it. Not when I had to worry about Vitaly.

Blaine didn’t deserve to stay locked up because of me. I also had to think of his dad, who wasn’t exactly healthy at the moment. Vitaly had already decided to let Blaine go. If those plans changed, it was going to be my fault, because I didn’t accept to stay with him.

I couldn’t do that to Blaine.

“Maybe when this is all over, you can come meet my dad. He’d like you,” Blaine said, as he caressed my cheek.

I looked up at him. I didn’t realize I was crying, until Blaine grabbed my shoulders and crashed me against his chest.

“Everything will be fine, Madeline. They’re going to let us go soon,” Blaine said.

Blaine ended up falling asleep. He’d carried me over to the bed and laid me down next to him. Being in his strong arms was nice, although my thoughts were still tormenting me.

My stomach was tied in knots. I already knew what I was going to do but that didn’t make my decision any easier.

I lightly kissed his cheek and quietly got up from the bed, being careful not to wake up Blaine.

I blushed when I remembered the kiss we had shared. I couldn’t even believe it had really happened. Blaine had kissed me, and I had liked it, a lot.

I softly knocked on the locked door, hoping Blaine wouldn’t wake up.

One of the guys that had been watching over Blaine and me opened the door. He looked at me with a bored expression. He was one of the few that spoke English.

“I need to talk to Yurik,” I told him.

The guy shook his head and was about to close the door, but I put up my hand to stop him.

“Call Yurik, because if you don’t and he finds out I wanted to talk to him, it’ll be your head,” I threatened.

I tried making my voice firm, so that he knew I wasn’t kidding. The guy glared at me, pushed me back, and locked the door.

I cursed in my mind, and sighed. Yurik was my only chance to see Vitaly. I knew that if I asked him to take me to Vitaly, he would do it.

I was surprised when Yurik walked in five minutes later. I grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room. I didn’t want Blaine to wake up and hear what I had to say. If he was going to leave, I didn’t want him to feel guilty because I had to stay. It wasn’t his fault.

“What are you doing?” Yurik asked, narrowing his eyes at me, but he still let me drag him along.

“Take me to Vitaly.”

Yurik shook his head and his frown deepened.

“He’s been in a mood since you left his office. You don’t want to see him right now, trust me,” Yurik told me.

I noticed that his accent was thicker when he was worked up.

“Take me to see him. I’ll fix this,” I pleaded.

Yurik closed his eyes and he pinched the bridge of his nose, before chuckling.

“Do you have any idea who you are dealing with? Vitaly doesn’t stand for things like this. He is mad that you didn’t accept, but he will get over it. He doesn’t give second chances.”

Yurik sounded really sure of himself.

“Just take me to him.”

Yurik looked at me with narrowed eyes. It seemed like he wanted to say no, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“Fine,” he snapped, and began dragging me down the hall.

“You’ll regret this,” Yurik told me, nodding at the closed door.

Vitaly didn’t answer when Yurik knocked a second time.

“Just let me go in,” I whispered, trying to keep quiet.

Yurik didn’t look sure of that either, but he still opened the door for me to walk in.

As soon as I stepped into the room, I felt Vitaly’s cold glare on me.

“You are not supposed to be here,” he said, his deadly stare shifting over to Yurik.

“I changed,” I started to say, and cleared my throat. “I changed my mind.”

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