Page 45 of Beautiful Beast

“The brunette,” Erik explains. “This is my wife, Anya.” He takes me other hand. Unlike Nadia’s hold, Erik’s is firm yet soft. He doesn’t feel the need to hold me roughly. It’s because we both know he owns me.

“Nice to meet you,” he responds before setting his sights onto Nadia. “She’s very young.”

“She’s seventeen,” I blurt out.

Viktor’s eyes barely move, but there’s a subtle twitch to them. “I have no desire to marry a minor. You’re wasting your time.”

“You can marry her after she turns eighteen,” Father calls out as Viktor turns away. “You can be betrothed.”

“And if you want,” Erik adds, “you can always wait until she’s older, too. You can marry her when she’s nineteen or twenty. Your choice. But if you agree to do this, Viktor, then we would like to work with you now. Call the betrothal a promise.”

I hate how Viktor turns back to the table and considers it for a moment before sitting down. I hate all these men.

“I’m listening,” Viktor says, putting his fingers together.

“You don’t want to marry my sister,” I say as Erik opens his mouth.

“And why is that?”

“My daughter doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Father glares at me. “Do you, Anya?”

“No. I know exactly what I’m talking about. You don’t want to marry Nadia. Trust me.”

“Why?” Viktor asks again.

There’s no way I can make up lies about my sister to make her unappealing. I would never do anything to hurt her reputation.

So, I’m going to have to take one for the team like I always do.

“Because then you’d have me as your sister-in-law, and trust me, you wouldn’t want that. I’m messy. I’m chaotic. It’s not a good look.”

“But Erik married you.”

“Yes but he didn’t know what he was getting himself into.”

Erik actually chuckles. “That is true.”

I stare at my husband in shock for a second. We actually agreed on something for once.

“If you were to marry Nadia, I’d be coming over to your house every day and bothering you. You wouldn’t want that, trust me.”

“I do like my privacy,” Viktor muses.

Father shoots me another annoyed look. “Anya is lying to spare her sister. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you if you were to marry Nadia.”

“But you don’t have a say in Anya’s life anymore. She’s married to Erik now.”

“Erik?” my father asks pointedly.

Erik clears his throat. “Oh, well, yes. I can keep Anya from coming over to your house and bothering you if you married Nadia. But I happen to like that my wife is a spitfire. I might not always be able to control her.”

“I’m not lying,” I say. “I can show you how annoying I can be.” And in a smooth motion, I grab my water cup and pour it down Viktor’s shirt. He jumps to his feet.

My father looks mortified. Erik looks amused and slightly angry. Nadia’s eyes become even more wide.

“What are you trying to prove?” Viktor asks.

“I don’t want you marrying my sister, and I will make your life hell if you do.”

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