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Is Vlad about to kiss me?
Chapter Eleven
My heart drums a battle hymn in my chest, and my skin feels like it’s burning all over. All I can see are his lips, so beautifully shaped, so soft-looking. All I can think is leaning forward and closing that small remaining distance so that—
The car rips forward, jerking us both out of the moment.
“Buckle up,” Vlad says, his voice hoarse as he scoots a few inches away.
Moving like a zombie, I buckle up while he barks something at Ivan in Russian.
The car slows down.
Vlad raises the partition and turns to face me. “So, you wanted to talk.”
I take in a deep breath and gather my courage. “As I said earlier, I’m doing the testing, and you can’t stop me.”
The amusement that touched his eyes the last time I made this ultimatum is there again. “Didn’t you have someone else lined up for this testing originally? Sandra mentioned something along those lines.”
I shake my head. “She flaked.” There’s no way I’m going into the whole succubus-turned-nun debacle with him.
He sighs. “Fine then. Test it yourself if it means so much to you.”
I peer at him to make sure he’s not kidding. “That’s it? You’re just okay with it?”
He folds his arms across his broad chest. “You’ll have to convince me you can do it safely, of course.”
My cheeks burn. “I can be safe. That squirrel thing was an honest mistake. Going forward, I’ll do more due diligence and learn about the… err… hardware before using it. My plan is to break it all up into male and female batches, and obviously, I’ll make sure to test only the female toys from now on.”
He cocks his head. “Who will be testing the male batch? Or did he flake too?”
“It was the female’s boyfriend, so yeah, I lost him when I lost her. My new plan is to either create an ad on Craigslist or a Tinder—”
“Absolutely not.” The thunderous expression on his face must be what gave someone the idea of calling this man the Impaler.
My heart skips a beat, but at the same time, I feel my hackles rising. “No?”
The car halts.
“We’re here,” Vlad says through his teeth. “Do you want to wait for me in the car, or would you like to see the offices of a video game company?”
“The latter,” I say, mostly to show I wasn’t cowed.
In sullen silence, he holds the limo door for me, then leads me into a high-rise building, past security (where I learn he’s a consultant for the video game company we’re about to visit), and into the elevator.
“Look.” His tone turns conciliatory as the elevator starts moving. “Getting a random guy off the street is extremely dangerous. I don’t want you washing up in the New York Harbor because of this job.”
He might have a point.
Before I can reply, the doors slide open and he gestures for me to come out.
“To be continued,” I say and exit.
He gets us in with his ID, and I stare at the décor around us with unabashed curiosity.
The plaque on the wall is in a fun font reminiscent of comic books. It proudly states: 1000 Devils.
That sounds vaguely familiar. I think I’ve played a game they made, maybe even two.
