Page 106 of Beautiful Cruelty

“After Pyotr found me, he took me from her and brought me to Pankration. Raised me himself, grooming me to be exactly like him." My lip curls in disgust. "Every lesson, every punishment, everytestwas designed to shape me into his image. When I failed to live up to his image, he concluded that it was because I was being corrupted by someone soft. Someone that needed to be removed."

Lacey steps closer, her hand reaching for mine. "Is that why he sold Irina?"

I nod as the memories of that night rise to the surface of my mind. Pyotr demanded my presence in his office. When I arrived, he told me with a smile on his face that Irina had been sold so that I would no longer be held back by the weakness she inspired in me.

The whole time he talked, that self-satisfied smirk on Pyotr's face grew wider and wider.

As if he did something clever, and not something monstrous.

Lacey's fingers intertwine with mine, but she remains silent, choosing to give me the space to keep talking.

"That was the moment everything changed," I admit. "I couldn't stand by anymore. I couldn't become the monster Pyotr wanted me to be. I couldn't ever agree to fulfill the one purpose for which he created me."

"To marry Sayanaa," she says. "To be the heir that Pyotr needed you to be."

"Yes." I squeeze her hand back. "But I refuse to. Not when I knew the kind of person Sayanaa is."

"And what is that?” she asks softly.

“The worst monster of them all.” I force myself to meet her questioning gaze. "Sayanaa doesn't just actively participate in her father's trafficking operations. Sheenjoysit. Everything from stalking the victims, to kidnapping them, to the inevitable breaking to prepare them for sale. She takes pleasure in their pain and their tears. The more they beg her for mercy, the crueler she is to them."

Lacey's fingers tighten around mine, her face paling. "That's horrible."

"And each year, her obsession with me grows stronger. She sees it as her divine right—her obligation to her father to produce the heir that would unite two bratvas under a single bloodline."

“And she’s coming to our wedding, isn't she?" Lacey's voice quivers slightly.

"She wouldn't miss it." I keep my tone even, controlled. "In fact, I'm counting on her being there."

“What?” Lacey's eyes widen with disbelief. "Why?"

“Because if she’s there, it’ll draw the attention of everyone else in that cathedral onto her." My thumb traces circles on the back of Lacey's hand. “And if everyone, you included, focused on her, then I could take the bible without anyone else noticing. That’s why I didn’t want you to know. I needed you to be just as surprised as everyone else.”

“You should’ve told me.” Lacey’s voice is soft. "I deserved to know what I was really getting myself into. Whatyouwere really getting me into.”

She’s right.

Those final words hit me harder than any of Olga's slaps. I should’ve told her everything from the start, let her know just how dangerous thingscouldget.

“I know.” I take her hand in mine. “I was wrong to keep that from you.”

She nods slowly, her fingers still intertwined with mine.

“No point in getting mad at you now. Wedding is in a couple of hours.” Lacey sighs. “But don’t you dare think you’re off the hook yet.”

I let a wan smile curve up on my lips. “I know I’m not.”

“If she's as unhinged as you say." Lacey's free hand drifts to her necklace again. "What's stopping her from shedding blood in the cathedral?"

"Because Kirsan won't let her." I shake my head. "The cathedral is the heart of Kirsan's cash flow. The last thing he wants is for Parisian police to start an investigation and poking around it. No matter how unhinged Sayanaa might be, Kirsan keeps her on a tight leash."

"But—"

“The safest place you’ll be is in that cathedral,” I tell her solemnly. “Next to me.”

She looks at me, mind turning as she processes everything I just said. Slowly, the uncertainty fades from her eyes until it’s replaced by that spark of determination I've come to admire.

“Okay.” She takes a deep breath. “Okay. We can do this. I can do this. This is fucking insane, but we can do it.”

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