Page 81 of Beautiful Agony

Only infinite anger and hate.

I've never seen this side of her before. The gentle woman who tends to her father has been replaced by someone harder, someone carved from ice and steel.

Someone like me.

We reach the heavy steel door at the bottom. I pause, my hand on the handle. "Are you sure about this?"

"Open it." Her voice could freeze hell itself.

Inside, Sayanaa sits bound to a chair bolted to the floor, her wrists and ankles secured with thick zip ties. Despite her position, her lips curve into that familiar twisted smile when she sees us.

"Well, if it isn't the happy couple," she purrs, her eyes glittering with malice. "Come to check on your new toy, Vadyusha? Or did the little thief want to thank me personally for giving her brother such a lovely parting gift?"

"You evil bitch." Lacey steps forward.

Sayanaa laughs as Lacey approaches, the sound echoing off the stone walls. "Didn't I tell you that last time we saw each other, little thief? I told you that we're going to have so much fun together."

The crack of Lacey's hand against Sayanaa's face echoes through the dungeon. The diamond on the ring catches her cheek, leaving a deep gash that immediately starts bleeding.

Dark droplets splatter onto the concrete floor.

Sayanaa slowly turns her head back, tongue darting out to taste the blood at the corner of her mouth. There's surprise in her eyes, but not fear.

Never fear.

"Did that make you feel better, little thief?" She grins, blood staining her teeth. "Your need to protect everyone around you... that's your greatest weakness. It's so predictable."

"Shut up!" Lacey's hand whips out again, snapping Sayanaa's head to the side. More blood joins the spatter on the floor.

But Sayanaa just laughs, the sound wet and gurgling. "Dr. Chen was such an easy mark to follow. But I never would have figured it all out if you hadn't brought your dear sister from that safehouse in Monroe straight to Pankration."

My blood runs cold as Sayanaa's grin widens.

"A few trips to city hall, some adoption records, and suddenly I finally learned the full story ofyou,Lacey McKinney. The unwanted baby, given up by her birth parents, taken in by the Huangs out of pity, butneveraccepted as one of them."

The crack of another slap rings through the dungeon. Sayanaa's head snaps back, but her laughter only grows louder, more unhinged.

"Is that all you've got, little thief?" Blood and spittle spray from her lips. "Come on, show me what youreallywant to do."

"Don't you want to hurt me? Don't you want me to suffer?" Sayanaa's voice drips with mock sympathy. "Don't you want me to pay the price for what I did to Irina?"

Lacey's whole body trembles. I step forward but Sayanaa continues.

"Did you know?" She clicks her tongue. "I was the one who gave Olga Romanovna the idea to have that doctor cut out the whelp in your belly. I wanted to kill that doctor's brat to strengthen her resolve. Butsherefused me that option. And where is Olga Romanovna now? Dead! Just like your mother!"

Lacey spins away from Sayanaa, and shrugs off my hand in one quick motion.

Before I can stop her, she reaches inside my jacket, pulls out my gun, the metal gleaming dully in the dim light, and presses it against Sayanaa's forehead.

"Don't youdaretalk about my Mom."

A savage smile plays across Sayanaa's blood-stained lips. "Do it, little thief. Pull the trigger. Show me that you're worthy of being a pakhan's wife."

Lacey's hand trembles, the gun wavering against Sayanaa's forehead. My heart pounds as I watch the scene unfold. I know exactly what Sayanaa is doing—she wants to break Lacey by forcing her to become a killer.

To taint the pure heart that drew me to her in the first place.

Tears stream down Lacey's cheeks, dropping to join the blood spatters on the concrete floor. The gun keeps shaking. Her finger rests on the trigger but won't squeeze.

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