Chapter 30
ISABELLA
Slade’s room looks just like his room in the apartment but it’s a little bit bigger.
He has a large bookshelf, a closet, his own bathroom, a small shelf for all of his expensive cologne, and a full length mirror on the wall across from his bed.
After talking with his mom for a good hour yesterday and her making me some food, Slade said it was time I get rest because of the long day I had.
He showed me his room and told me to go to sleep and that I’d see him tomorrow. I was about to ask him where he was going and if he was coming to bed but I stopped myself.
I shouldn’t care.
He kidnapped me.
I turn to the side he would have slept on, but it doesn’t look messed up or like Slade came to bed.
I don’t know why that bums me out.
Even though you shouldn’t be because he literally kidnapped you and is a serial killer.
After talking to Angela and learning what she had to say about Slade, I’m starting to see him differently. She makes it seem like he is innocent and an angel and her baby.
She talks about him as if he is just a regular person who doesn’t kill or torture people.
I get out of Slade’s bed and go to the drawers. Slade said that all of my clothes are already put away and if I need anything else, to look in the bathroom.
While I was in jail getting questioned for his messes, he was probably packing up all my shit for this trip.
As I start to think about everything he’s done in the last three days, anger consumes me again.
My skin feels hot and all I want to do is cry and trash his room.
Anger at him and anger at the fact that he isn’t who I thought he was.
He seems like such a different person outside the apartment.
Like the guy I met who would help me with my books and sleep with me to chase the nightmares away is gone.
I change into a pair of leggings and an off the shoulder sweater. After brushing my teeth and hair I leave the room and find my way downstairs.
When I saw Slade’s cars in the driveway, I was thinking about all of the possible reasons why he might be so loaded.
The cars, the guards, the house, the apartment, the expensive cologne and watches, everything.
How does he have so much money?
He said he would explain everything to me but he has barely talked to me.
All we’ve been doing is arguing because I can’t let go of the fact that he lied and kept things from me.
After making the wrong turns and getting lost in the wing, I finally find the stairs.
I walk down the long stairway, still shocked about how large and grand this house is.
Multiple art pieces are hung on the walls, probably expensive ones.
When I get inside the kitchen I see a young girl and boy making out against the counter. The girl has long black hair that the boy is wrapping around his hand as he pushes her into the counter.
I feel like I should say something but I don’t want to intrude on their moment.
I’m about to turn around and leave when the boy’s eyes open and he lets go of the girl. The girl tilts her head before turning around to stare at me.
She glares at me. “YA mogu vam pomoch'?”
“I don’t speak Russian.” I give her a small smile, hoping that it will stop her from glaring daggers at me.
“I asked, can I help you? Who even are you?” she asks, looking at me up and down like I’m some sort of trash.
I lick my lips and try to not let her get to me.
She looks like a teenager.
And teenagers are fucking mean and ruthless.
“She’s my guest, Angel. Be nice,” I hear a familiar voice say before a hand slides onto my waist and pulls me into a hard chest.
The girl's face lights up. “Slade?! When did you get here?” She beams and runs towards Slade, going to hug him, making him let go of me.
I’m gonna assume she is a sister or some sort of family because of how he is hugging her.
He smiles down at her with a softness like he did with his mother. “I got in last night. I didn’t tell you because I wanted to surprise you.”
“You should have told me.” She punches his shoulder lightly. “I’m glad you’re back.”
He nods and glances at the boy in the kitchen. “Who’s this little shit?”
“My boyfriend. His name is Dimitri and we met at school,” Angel says while staring at Dimitri who is still standing in the kitchen, with hearts in her eyes. Slade is glaring at him while Dimitri is giving him a blank stare, like he couldn’t care. “Don’t glare at him. He’s nice and treats me well.”
Slade looks down at her. “He better or else I’ll cut his dick off and shove it down his throat.”
Dimitri shows no signs of distress or worry.
And Angel just laughs as if he’s joking but after what I’ve seen from him, I don’t think he is.
Every time he gets mad I’m scared he'll just pull out his gun and start shooting people.
“Oh stop it. You’re the one who came here with a girl that we know nothing about.” Angel glares at me, her nice and playful expression gone. “Chto eta suka zdes' delayet?” she says in Russian but I know for a fact it was nothing nice.
Slade’s expression darkens and he lowers his eyes to Angel, giving her a deadly look.
“YA ne pozvolyu tebe tak razgovarivat' s moyey budushchey zhenoy.
Yeshcho raz proyavish' k ney neuvazheniye, i ya pozovu sobak, chtoby oni rasterzali tebe litso.
Nakonets-to ty smozhesh' poprosit' moyu mamu o plasticheskoy operatsii.” he says in a low and threatening voice.
Angel’s mouth parts, as if she can’t believe he just said that to her. “That’s not nice, Slade.”
“Then keep your mouth shut, Angel,” Slade says before grabbing me by the waist and pulling me to his side. “I’m not joking around about this.”
Angel rolls her eyes. “Whatever. I’m taking Dimitri to my room. Your little podruga ruined our makeout sesh.”
It’s nine in the morning.
Why is a teenager having a make out session with her boyfriend in the kitchen?
Shouldn’t she be in school or something?
Angel gives me a sassy smile before going over to her boyfriend, grabbing his hand and walking them out of the kitchen.
I turn to look at Slade. “Who was she?”
“My sister Angel. Don’t take anything she says or does to heart. She’s always been a bitch.” He slides his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. “How’d you sleep, avtor?” he asks, his other hand reaching up to put a strand of hair behind my ear.
“Fine. Where were you?”
“I had to talk to my brother. We had to catch up.”
“All night?” I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Why? Did you miss me?” He smirks down at me.
I roll my eyes. “No. I was just trying to see if I was able to escape or not.”
“Escape and you won’t get your wedding gift,” he whispers, glancing down to my lips.
I glare at him. “I’m not marrying you, Slade.”
He sighs as if what I’m saying is an inconvenience for him.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” Slade steps into my space and his lips hover over my ear as he whispers, “You’re going to marry me.
You’re going to have my kids. You’re stuck with me, Isabella.
The sooner you accept that, the better.”
“I don’t want to. I’m not ready. You still haven’t told me anything about yourself. Like how you have all this money, why you kill all these people, hell we haven’t even had a first date.”
“You want a date, avtor?” He smirks.
I narrow my eyes on him. “I’m not happy with you.”
“Well sucks to suck. Our wedding is this Friday. You’re going to be trying on dresses I found for you tomorrow.”
My eyes widen and my jaw drops. “What? You’re insane. No,” I say, getting out of his hold and running away. But before I can get far, Slade grabs me and swings me over his shoulder. I scream, upside down, his ass right in front of my face. “Slade, put me down! Put me down, right now!”
Slade sends a slap to my ass, making me yelp. “Stop being a brat. My brother and mom are sleeping and you’re going to wake them up.”
“You can’t just slap me on the ass.”
“I can do whatever the fuck I want to you.” He grunts as he takes us up the stairs.
I hold his waist, starting to feel a little lightheaded.
He walks into his room, closes the door behind him and finally rests me on the bed.
I feel like I’m going to faint when my head hits the pillow. “You’re impossible.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“When are you going to let me go, Slade?” I ask him, with the same pleading tone again. “I promise I won’t tell anyone.”
He gives me those same dark eyes, glaring at me. “Stop,” he says quietly but there is a lot of authority in that one word. “When will you stop and just accept the fact that I’m not letting you go?”
I sit up in the bed and furrow my eyebrows. “When will you stop keeping things from me and just tell me who you really are?”
His jaw ticks and he licks his lips. “If I told you who I am and the stuff I’ve done, you wouldn’t want me.
You’d be scared of me and that’s the last thing I want, Isabella.
I don’t want to hurt you or scare you. But I just don’t know how to get to you.
” He rests his hands on his hips while staring at me.
I didn’t get the time to check him out in the kitchen.
But now I notice how good he looks, especially standing and staring at me like that.
He’s wearing black jeans and a plain black t-shirt with an expensive belt and watch.
His dark tattoos showcase his long, muscular arms.
“Maybe start telling me things, Slade. Instead of letting me be scared of you after finding out you’re a killer. You don’t tell me anything. How am I supposed to trust you if I don’t know why you did the things you’ve done?”
I’m still scared of Slade but I know he won’t hurt me.
He cares about me, I know that.
But I just need some sort of glimpse into his mind to know who he is.
It’s obvious I’m not leaving anytime soon, no matter what I do. If I leave, he’ll send his guards after me or he’ll come for me himself.
His eyes stay on mine as if he is thinking .
Trying to think of what to do and how to help me.
“And if I do, will you run? Will you be scared?”
I lick my lips instead of answering.
Because I don’t know.
I don’t want to hurt Slade.
I wish things could go back to how they were before, hanging out at the apartment, reading and writing together while making food.
We could cook dinners together and just hangout.
But he ruined it by forcing me to come to Russia and marry him.
Slade nods and then slowly walks out of the bedroom.