Page 52 of Beautiful Beast

“Hi, Dad.” I giggle at the sound of my own voice. It’s so much higher pitched than I thought it was.

“Don’t ‘Hi, Dad,’ me,” he seethes, grabbing my arm and dragging me to a corner of the living room. “You’re making a fool of yourself. Again. Stop this nonsense. This party is to celebrate the partnership between your husband, Viktor, and me. Do not make a fool out of me.”

“Why not? It’s not like anyone cares. Erik doesn’t care.”

“You care what Erik thinks now, do you?”

“He’s my husband, isn’t he?” I rip my arm away from him but my father only grabs my jaw in return.

“You will stop drinking this once.”

“I am an adult. I can do whatever I want.” I stumble back on my feet and laugh. Everything is much more pleasant when you’re drunk, I realize. Maybe I need to be drunk more often.

“You will stop this.” He gives me face a little slap. Nothing too hard to warrant anyone else’s attention.

“No.”

“Yes, you will.” Another slap.

So, I decide to slap him in return. My hand connects with his face. The sound is like a firecracker in the room, drawing everyone’s attention to us.

Including Erik’s.

Calmly, he comes over to us. “What’s going on here?”

“Your wife is making a fool out of you. She’s drunk. And she hit me.”

“Because he hit me first.”

Erik’s body slowly turns tense as he faces my father. “Didn’t I tell you to never lay a hand on my wife again?”

“It was just a tiny slap, Erik. She won’t bruise, trust me. She just needs discipline.”

“Did I or did I not tell you to not put your hands on my wife again?”

My father’s lips pinch even tighter together. We have the attention of everyone in the room now. “You did.”

“So, why did you slap my wife?”

“Because she’s drunk.”

I stumble in my heels and clutch Erik’s arm, laughing to myself. He does have strong arms, I’ll give him that.

He quirks his eyebrow as he gazes down at me. “I can see that. But that still doesn’t give you the right to put your hands on her. Go calm down, Sergei. Leave Anya to me.”

My father shoots me another glare before walking off, muttering to himself.

“Thank you,” I say to Erik.

“Don’t,” he growls, making me freeze. “Why are you drunk, Anya?”

“I just had a couple of glasses of champagne. It’s nothing.”

“It’s not nothing. Do you know what a group of men will do to a woman if she’s inebriated? Any one of these men could’ve taken advantage of you.”

“You didn’t seem concerned that I was on my own in a room full of men. If you’d been concerned, you would’ve stayed by my side the whole night.”

Erik nods once. “You’re right. I didn’t think I’d have to be concerned, but you’re showing me I need to be. You’re going to stay by my side the whole night so I can keep an eye on you. Make sure no one hurts you.”

---