Page 131 of Beautiful Beast

How did Dante find us? He doesn’t know where Erik lives. It doesn’t really matter. What matters is he’s here now, and we need to find a way out of this.

We run into the kitchen, and I grab the first knife I can find. “Grab one.”

Nadia does as I say. We huddle together, staring at the kitchen door.

“What now?” she whispers.

“Now, we run outside. Through the back door.” I grab her hand and haul her toward the back door. I slam into it, pushing it open. For a second, I can taste safety.

And then a man appears in the doorway and shoves us both back, closing the door behind him. It’s Finn. The other hitman.

“You really didn’t think Dante would leave the backdoor unattended, did you?”

I pull Nadia close to me. “Stay back.”

“Or what?”

Erik storms into the kitchen and immediately starts firing at Finn. He lands a hit to Finn’s shoulder that sends him stumbling back. Without hesitating, Finn runs out the back door before Erik can get another hit in.

“Are you hurt?” he asks, rushing over to my side.

“No. But, Erik, what are we going to do?”

A grim expression covers his face. “I have a failsafe plan in place something like this were to happen. But I need to get Dante inside for it to work.”

“What’s the plan?”

“I’m going to blow up the house.”

It takes me a second to even process his words. “You’re going to …”

“Blow up the house. Yes. I have a system installed in the basement that I can set off in case of an emergency. But I needto get Dante inside. He needs to be in here when this place explodes.”

“And us?” Nadia whispers.

“We need to get out.”

“This sounds like a stupid idea,” I tell him.

“It’s for a worst-case scenario situation. With Dante here, I think we’re in it. Come on. I have to get to the basement and activate it. We’ll have just ten minutes before this whole house explodes when I turn it on. Which means I need you out of the house.”

“But Finn is out there.”

“I know. We need to draw him, Dante, and Aiden inside.” He goes quiet for a moment before nodding. “Go hide in the bathroom on this floor. I’ll text you when to run outside. Got it?”

“What if this plan doesn’t work?”

Erik grabs my face and kisses me deeply. “It will work. Now, do as I say. You have to trust me.”

This is the ultimate test. I have to trust Erik completely in this moment to save Nadia and me.

I grab his hand. “I trust you.”

“Then, go.”

Nadia and I run into the nearest bathroom and hunker down in the bathtub. I keep my body angled in front of her with my knife out. It won’t stop a gun, but it will hurt any man if I cut him.

Nadia and I keep quiet, but our shared look says everything.

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