Page 136 of Beautiful Beast

“At least I stabbed him.” I say. “So, he’ll probably be out of commission for a while. And as for the house … think of it as a fresh start. We can buy a house together of our choosing. A place where we can start our new lives together.” I turns to my sister. “Can I speak to Erik alone?”

“Of course.” She quickly leaves the room without protest, being the good sister she always is.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asks, sitting down next to me and taking my hand.

“You saved my life again. So, thank you for that.”

“I’ll always save your life, Anya. You want to know why?”

“Why?”

“I realized something while you were in surgery. Well, Nadia helped me realize it. You saved me from Dante by putting yourself in danger. She said you only do that for the people you love. And it made me realize there are no more barriers between us, Anya. Because I love you. I know it. I know I’m capable of it. And I fucking love you.”

My eyes widen right before a few tears spill out. “You love me?”

“I really do. I’m not afraid of it. I used to think caring for people was a weakness, but you’ve shown me otherwise. I would die for you, Anya, and if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

Gently, I touch Erik’s face and looks at him with so much awe. “Oh, Erik. I’m not just falling in love. I know I’m in love with you, too. I want us to have a new start.”

“Then we can have that. We can start with you getting out of this hospital and healing. We can find a new home, as you said. We can have the marriage you wanted from the start. One where I don’t always have to be the boogeyman and you don’t have to be afraid.”

“I want that. And Nadia can still live with us?”

“Of course. Especially since I just made an enemy of your father, I think it’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you for picking me over him. Thank you for opening your heart up to me.”

“I don’t regret it one bit. You’re my future, Anya. Nothing else matters. I’ve realized that. My business is just my business. It’s important, yes, but it’s not more important than you.”

“You really have changed.” I gives him a small, simple kiss. “Stay with me?”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

The new house Erik and I buy is even farther from the city and more beautiful than Erik’s previous house because this house is one we chose together.

It takes me a few months to fully heal from my bullet wound, and Erik is with me for all of it. And when he has to go to work, Nadia helps me through the pain.

I’ll always have a scar on my stomach to remind me of what happened. Someday, that scar will grow bigger when my stomach grows bigger with children. I’m not pregnant yet, but someday, I know Erik and I will have kids, and I’m not afraid of that idea.

I love knowing we’ll have a little human that ties us even closer together.

Nadia settles into her new life with us, growing braver and stronger now that she’s not under our father’s shadow.

There’s been so sign of Dante, even though it’s been months. As for my father, he keeps making threats to take Nadia back, but so far, hasn’t done anything about it.

In just another couple of months, Nadia will be eighteen, and that means if Viktor wanted to, he could marry her. I still haven’t found a way to get Nadia out of that situation, but she keeps telling me she can handle it. That she’ll do her duty if it means Erik has allies he can trust.

But it will also mean I’ll have to let her go one day, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that anytime soon. I’ve been a surrogate mother to her for so long, I’m not sure how I’m going to live mylife without her when she eventually marries and moves out. But I’ll have Erik, and hopefully, I’ll have my own children to care for.

Now, Erik and I lie in bed together, naked. He traces his fingers over the scar on my stomach.

“You don’t think it’s ugly, do you?” I whisper.

“You could never be ugly in my eyes.”

“What if we had children? Do you think you’ll make a good father?”

He curls me into his chest and kissed my head. “Because I love you and because I would do anything to protect you, I think I’ll be a good father one day. I’m already trying to be a better husband.”

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