Page 88 of Beautiful Beast

“I’m a married man now, Sergei. Don’t you want me to keep your daughter safe?”

His only reply is to purse his lips harder.

Ivan leans forward in his seat, drawing my attention back to him. “I know we need to be a united front right now. I don’t want my Elena to be hurt. But I’m not a fighter like you are, Erik. You’re in the trenches. I’m not. I’m not sure how much more I can help other than give you more money. But if I don’t see results soon, I’m not going to have any money left to give you. You have machine guns now. Use them to take Dante down.”

“Is that your advice?”

“Yes! Find out where he lives and kill him.”

“That’s a problem, seeing as I don’t know where Dante lives. Same as me, he’s kept his home location hidden, and he doesn’t go anywhere without guards.”

“So?” Sergei says. “If you can find him, have a gun on you and take the chance.”

“Even in public? Where anyone could see? Where anyone could get hurt?”

Sergei leans on my desk, glaring at me. “I never knew you to be afraid of hurting anyone. That’s why I wanted to work with you. You’re the boogeyman. So, act like it.”

“I may not be afraid to torture people, Sergei, but I’m not stupid. If I find Dante in a public location and start shooting at him, people will call the police, and even I couldn’t stop myself from being sent to prison. I own a lot of police, but I don’t own everyone. If I’m caught killing someone other than Dante—an innocent person on the street—then I’m fucked. I’ve grown my reputation by sticking to the shadows, and that’s where I’ll remain. I’ll find Dante and kill him, but we have to be smart about this. We have to get him in an isolated location that can’t be tracked back to us. Don’t be naïve, Sergei.”

“I’m not naïve. But I made a deal with you to become the most powerful men in this city, and Dante could ruin that plan for us. I just lost a drug shipment that was supposed to come in, and I’m pretty sure I know who stole it from me. That is unacceptable. Dante thinks he can do what he wants, and we need to show him he can’t.”

I look between the two men, one full of anger and the other distrustful. “You know what’s interesting? Before I met you Sergei, my life was going smoothly.”

“You think it’s my fault that Dante is your problem? He’s been your problem before we even met each other.”

“Yes, but because we made a deal, he’s doubled his efforts to come after us.”

“What are you saying?” Ivan asks.

“I’m saying, don’t threaten me. Don’t pressure me. We will get Dante. And in the meantime, we need to be a united front. We cannot let him win. If we’re not strong together, he will win.”

“So, what do you suggest?”

“I suggest you come back over here for a party. Bring your daughters. Ivan you can bring your wife, too. I’ll invite James and some of my other men. You invite your closest men. We show that we’re united. That we’re here for each other. A sense of loyalty is needed among all of us.”

“And you think a party will do that?” Sergei asks, sneering.

“I think we need to celebrate any time we can. We need to remember why and who”—I pointedly look at Ivan— “we’re doing this for. That’s why you should bring your daughters. It’s because of them you want to take down Dante.”

Ivan slowly nods. “True.”

I turn to Sergei and raise an eyebrow. “Isn’t it true, Sergei? You want to keep Nadia safe, now, don’t you?”

It’s clear he wants to object by how his eyes narrow, but he nods instead. “Fine. I’ll bring her.”

“Good. Let’s have a party.”

The truth is, this is the best way I can convince Sergei to bring Nadia with him so Anya can see her sister. Call it a truce between my wife and me.

This is my way of throwing her an olive branch. This is my way of opening my heart a little bit more.

ANYA

When Erik tells me he’s hosting a few men over for a party, I expect a room full of men again.

Instead, several women are among the guests.

Ivan Romanov arrives with his wife, Viktoriya, and daughter, Elena. The sight of the woman and young girl instantly puts me at ease.

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