Page 155 of Beautiful Cruelty

"I saw that necklace on Lacey, by the way. Mom's necklace." Megan's voice softens, her earlier aggression melting away slightly. "It felt like having a small piece of Mom back with us. Especially after Freddy fucking pawned it."

The pain in her voice mirrors what I've heard in Lacey's when she first told me about the necklace.

"Mom used to wear it every day." Megan wrings her hands. "Even during chemo. When everything else felt wrong, that necklace was the one constant. The one piece of normal we had left." She swallows hard. "Why did you get it back for her?"

"Because it was important to her." I flex my injured hand, remembering the way Lacey's tears fell when she first mentioned the necklace.

"Just that?" Megan asks. "No other reason?"

"No other reason." I meet her gaze steadily.

"You know?" Megan's posture relaxes slightly and she stares at her hand as she talks. "It actually makes me feel a bit better knowing you did that for her."

When she brings her eyes back towards me, whatever softness at the thought of her mother's necklace evaporates.

"But tell me this," she starts. "Did you kill Nathan?"

The question hangs between us. I think about telling her she doesn't need to know this, but I can't. Hiding the truth about Nathan is what led to this mess in the first place.

But confessing to murder to someone outside of the bratva so openly poses other dangers.

I'm still pondering whether I should speak when Megan holds up her hand. "Don't bother. Your silence told me everything."

She leans forward, her voice barely above a whisper. "Final question."

"Go ahead."

"Do you love my sister?"

"Yes." The word slips out instinctively.

It's the fucking truth.

I love the way she stands up to me, refusing to be cowed even if she is aware of the power difference between us. I love how she fights for others, putting their needs before her own. I love the way she loses herself in everything she does.

The truth of it settles in my chest with the weight of certainty: I love Lacey McKinney. And nothing, not even my own demons, can change that.

"Then listen carefully, Mr. Stravinsky." Her voice hardens. "If you love my sister, then don't youeverhurt her. She's been hurt enough by this world. I don't care if you're a billionaire mob boss with an army of killers at your beck and call. If I find out you hurt my sister, there's nothing that will stop me from makingyoupay."

Megan's words cut deeper than Lacey's teeth ever could. The wound in my hand throbs, a stark reminder of how I've already failed that.

I think about Lacey's screams echoing through Pankration yesterday. About the way she begged me to hurt her. About how I gave in to that request, and became everything I swore I would never be.

Silence stretches between us. What can I possibly say? That I've already failed to live up to her request? That while the marks I left on her body might fade, but the emotional scars will never heal?

Megan, however, interprets my silence as acceptance.

"Now that's settled." She straightens in her chair. "Tell me how the Seattle Voice can help expose Kirsan."

"I can feed you every bit of information about Kirsan's operations," I explain. "Names, locations, financial records. A drip at first, but more and more as you build engagement on social media. We'll keep everything in the news cycle until it becomes impossible for people to look away."

"And my family's safety?" Megan asks.

"Give me some time to figure something out. Until then, you'll need to stay here." I gesture at our surroundings. "The safe house is well-stocked with everything you might need."

She smirks. "I'm sure your big blond boy toy will be thrilled to play babysitter."

Despite everything weighing on my mind, I can't help but smile at her words. "I'm sure he will be."

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