Page 90 of Beautiful Beast

“Sergei, let’s go discuss business and leave the girls to it.”

“Uh, Erik, I’m not sure that’s wise. I don’t trust Anya. She might try to kidnap Nadia again.”

“I won’t. Nadia is safe here.”

He scoffs. “Like I believe you.”

Erik clamps his hand on my father’s shoulder. “Everything will be all right. Anya, I know you won’t run off with Nadia.”

“I promise.”

“Ok, then. Come on, Sergei.”

“You believe her just like that?”

“I do.” Erik’s steady voice fills me with a calmness I’ve never felt before. He smiles at me before he walks over to Ivan with my father in tow.

“Come on.” I take Nadia over to the couch where I left Elena … except Elena’s not there anymore.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“Where’s who?”

“Elena, Ivan’s daughter. She was right here.”

“Maybe she wandered into the kitchen. It’s pretty crowded in here with so many men.”

Nadia isn’t wrong. Erik has invited a lot of his men over again, along with the men of my father and Ivan. A few other women are around, wives of the men, but it’s mostly a meat market in here.

“I just want to make sure she’s safe.” Something tells me a young girl shouldn’t be alone in a place surrounded by men. Ivan is here, but he’s busy talking with Erik. The fact that no one else notices Elena missing goes to show just how invisible a lot of us Bratva women are.

Nadia and I head into the kitchen, but Elena isn’t there. Edith, Erik’s housekeeper is preparing food, and I ask her if she’s seen Elena, but she says she hasn’t.

“The bathroom?” Nadia suggests.

But when we check all the bathrooms on the first floor, we find them empty.

“Upstairs,” I say.

After checking more rooms, we finally find Elena in one of the guest bedrooms, lying on the bed, curled into a ball.

“Are you hurt?” I ask her.

She sits up with a frown. “No. Why?”

“Why did you leave?”

“I prefer being alone. It was too much downstairs.”

I relax slightly. Nadia places her hand on my arm, reminding me everything is ok. It’s not a situation like we’ve been through with our father.

“You know, we could just stay up here,” Nadia says.

Elena perks up. “Really?”

Before I can answer, I hear footsteps behind us and turn around to see a man coming into the room. Alek Lipovsky. I met him at the last party Erik hosted.

“It looks like a party in here,” he says, shutting the door behind him.

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