Page 97 of Beautiful Beast

“My man who disposes of bodies.”

“You can’t just get rid of his body!” Ivan looks wildly between Erik and me. “He needs to be put to rest. And justice needs to take place. Your wife murdered one of my men. That cannot stand, Erik. I was having doubts about you before, but now … Now, this changes everything. I can’t be partners with you if I can’t trust you.”

“I’m the one who did this. Not Erik. Blame me, not him. And I only stabbed Alek to save your daughter! He was going to hurt her.”

“How do you know? All you said was that he hurt you and your sister. My Elena seemed like she was fine.”

“She wasn’t fine,” I hiss. “She was cowering on the bed as Alek tried to get to us. You weren’t there. If you don’t believe me, ask her yourself. You trust your daughter. You know she won’t lie, and neither will Nadia.”

“I know how close you and your sister are. Who’s to say she won’t lie for you?”

“Alek hit her in the face. She’ll have the bruise to prove it.” I nod toward my bedroom door. “They’re in there. Scared. Because of what Alek tried to do to us.”

“I think they’re scared because of what you did, daughter.” My father’s eyes narrow as he looks at me. “You killed a man before their innocent eyes. You should be ashamed of yourself. Are you trying to ruin everything we’ve built? You should be thrown in a cell and never let out. You cause too many problems.” He lunges forward and grabs my hair, shoving me to the floor.

Erik calmly puts his hand on my father’s shoulder. “Let her go now, Sergei, or we’re going to have some issues of our own.”

“We made a deal, Erik. You and I. You wouldn’t risk upsetting me.”

“I made a deal to work with you, yes. In exchange you gave me your daughter. She’s my wife now, and that puts her above you, Sergei. I don’t want to end things with you, but you need to let my wife go. Now.”

My father huffs and tosses me to the side. Erik helps me stand and doesn’t let me go. I’m actually grateful for that. I’m not sure I could stand on my own two feet anyway.

“It was an accident,” I say. “I didn’t mean to kill him. I just didn’t want him to hurt Nadia or Elena. It seems I’m the only one who cares about their safety.”

“Careful,” Ivan growls.

“Am I wrong? Because you just defended the man who didn’t look disgusted at all when I told him Elena was only fourteen. In fact, he seemed delighted by that fact. So, don’t judge me. Not when I literally saved your daughter. You should be on your knees thanking me.”

“Anya, that’s enough,” Erik says.

“You know I’m right.”

“It’s not about being right. It’s about the fact that Ivan just lost one of his men, and it’s a problem we need to solve. Now, Elena and Nadia need to come out. We need to hear it from them before we go any further. Do you agree?” he asks Ivan and my father.

Ivan nods subtly, but my father only glares harder.

Erik knocks on the door. “Nadia? Elena? You’re not in trouble. Anya is out here with us. We just want to talk.”

“It’s ok,” I add. “I’m fine.”

The door cracks open, and Nadia peeks her head out. “Anya?”

“They just need to know what happened. They need to know I’m telling the truth.”

Nadia steps out of the room and shuts the door behind her.

“Where’s Elena?” Ivan demands.

“She’s a little scared. What did Anya tell you?”

“That she killed Alek in self-defense,” Erik says.

“Then she’s right. She was protecting us. She doesn’t deserve to be punished for this.”

“Nadia, let me see your face,” Erik murmurs, gently putting his fingers under her chin. He angles her face up and in the light,the bruise forming on her cheek is clear as day. “There it is. How did you get this?”

“That man hit me.”

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