Page 124 of Beautiful Beast

“When Aria went missing, I had men watching her school in case she returned. And she did. But you know what the most interesting part of it was? She was returned by you. By my enemy. My men followed you here and called me. So, here I am. You got sloppy, Erik. I’m surprised. I would’ve expected better of you.”

Shit. Sergei stealing Aria was what had distracted me. I was so focused on getting the girl away from Sergei before he coulddo something he couldn’t take back—like kill her—that I didn’t even consider Dante would have men watching her school.

The old me would have.

This new me has gotten sloppy. It’s because I’m not being as practical as I once was. The old me never would’ve let Aria go. But Anya has changed me. She’s made me think with my emotions more. She’s made me want to be a man she can look at with pride instead of revulsion.

“It doesn’t matter,” Dante continues. “I have you now, and I’m going to have fun with you.”

“Why not just kill me? You wanted to before.”

“I am going to kill you. I just want you to first see how much your hard work has paid off.” He nods at his men. “Bring her out to my car.”

Nadia fights against the men, but they’re too strong. I came here to protect Nadia. To bring her to Anya. To do the right thing for the first fucking time in my life.

I can’t let her get taken away.

“I want you to see that you’ve lost,” Dante says. “I want you to see me take your wife’s sister and know that you failed.”

“Don’t underestimate me, Dante.” With those words, I swipe my leg out, hitting his legs and knocking him to the ground. I pull my gun out and fire at him, but he’s already scrambling away. My shot misses.

The men holding Nadia let her go to grab their weapons.

“Nadia, run!” I shot. Fortunately, she doesn’t hesitate to run out the front door. She’s not stubborn like Anya, and I’m grateful for that right now.

“Catch her!” Dante shouts. One of his men goes running after Nadia, but the other one remains behind.

I manage to stand up and fire at the guard as I duck behind the wall. My shot hits, and the bullet lands in his leg, making him fall to the ground.

“You men are fucking useless,” Dante growls.

“I have a gun,” I call out. “You know this. If you try to rush me, I’ll just shoot. So, I would think hard before moving, Dante. What are you going to do?”

“You can’t hide behind that wall all day. Not when I leave this place with Nadia.”

“Why do you even want her?”

“Because I want to fucking hurt you. I want you to know you failed to protect her. That you failed to make your wife happy. I want your wife to look at you with disgust when you tell her you lost her sister. That’s why I want her. To humiliate you, Erik.”

“And here I thought it was because you’re a fucking pervert.”

“I have no desire to touch the girl. Well, maybe when she’s older. I guess I’ll just have to keep her until she ages up, won’t I?”

“I’ll just shoot you the moment your back is turned.”

“Not if you can’t catch me first.”

When I peek around the corner, I watch as Dante shoves his hurt man toward me, then backs out the door.

I quickly fire at the man, and my bullet lands in his head. Sergei won’t be happy about the bloodstains on his nice marble floors, but he can fucking deal with it.

Using all my speed, I race out of the house. The sight of Nadia getting dragged into Dante’s car settles like cement in my stomach. I can’t let her be kidnapped. Anya would never forgive me.

And it’s not just about how Anya will feel. It’s also because Nadia doesn’t deserve to be treated like shit. She’s so innocent, and that’s a rarity in this world.

I fire at the guard holding her. The bullet hits him in the arm, sending him stumbling back. Nadia takes that opportunity to run away.

I shoot at Dante, but Dante dives behind his car. He fires back, and I have no choice but to hide in the doorway to avoidgetting shot. If I die now, I can’t save Nadia, which means Anya will be heartbroken. And Sergei is still out there, pissed off at me. He could very well take Anya back and hurt her for the rest of her life.

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