Page 113 of Beautiful Enemy

“I do mean that.” I can’t whisper my words. Shyness won’t help me here. I have to be brave and bold and confident. I have to be the woman Dante helped me become.

I look at Erik. “I do not want him to die. He did not rape me. I gave myself to him willingly. I want to be with him and Erik, this is your chance to end this war without bloodshed. You can make a deal with Viktor some other way. Offer someone else to him in marriage. It doesn’t have to be me. He thinks I was raped but I’ll tell him the truth. I’ll tell him that I chose to be with Dante. I doubt he’ll want to marry me then. The truth is that I love Dante and I am going to do whatever it takes to keep him alive. So Erik, this is your chance to end this war peacefully.”

“Nadia…”

“No. What are you going to do?” I ask him in a clear steady voice. “Kill Dante and I will resent you forever or spare his life and find peace?”

Erik opens his mouth when his phone pings with a text. “Viktor texted me back. He says they have Dante and that they’re going to kill him soon. He’s telling me to join him.”

“What are you going to do?”

He sighs and looks right into my eyes. “I’m going to kill him.”

Chapter Nineteen

Dante

“So, Sergei, where are you taking me?” I ask from the backseat. My shoulder is throbbing from the bullet hole and I know I’m losing blood. “If you want to torture me before you kill me, you might want to fix up my wound. Stop the bleeding. Otherwise, I might die out before you get the chance to kill me yourself.”

“Shut up,” Sergei hisses. “You don’t get to speak to me. You defiled my daughter. You are the devil himself.”

I bark a laugh. “That’s too funny since you’re the one who beats on your daughters. I would think that makes you the devil but what the hell do I know?”

Sergei pulls up to an old rundown house. We’re somewhere in Brooklyn. That’s all I know.

“I’m going to make this fun for me,” he says, pulling me out of the car and pressing his gun to my head. “You’re going to get tortured nice and slow. Now walk.”

I need time to find a way to escape so I do as Sergei commands. I could try fighting him off but with my hurt shoulder and no weapon I’m at a disadvantage.

The inside of the house smells like cat piss and looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in years.

“Nice place you got here.”

“Shut up.” He whips me over the head with the pistol and I stumble to the floor. Fuck, that shit hurts. “Keep walking. Down to the basement.”

I guess it’s ironic karma that I kept Nadia in a basement and know I’m going to be killed in one.

The basement looks more like an old torture dungeon. Hanging from the ceiling are handcuffs and chains.

“I will shoot you if you try to run,” he warns as he locks each of my hands into the cuffs. My arms hang above my head, which makes my shoulder wound hurt like a motherfucker.

Sergei pulls up a chair and settles into it. “Now we wait for Viktor to come back. He’s not happy that you stole his wife away.”

“Not his wife.”

“She was his wife in all but name.”

“No… she wasn’t. He never touched her. Never had a taste of her. But I’ve had all those things. My cock has been deep inside her body.”

Sergei’s face twists into fury. “You are filth.”

“Not any more than you are. We’re all bad men here. The difference between you and me is that Nadia actually likes me.”

“You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

“But I do. Nadia cares for me. And she hates you. Take that what you will.” I don’t mention that I also care for Nadia. I don’t want Sergei somehow using her against me. I wouldn’t put it past him to use his own daughter in that way.

Footsteps are loud on the upper floor. I can’t help it: a flicker of fear shoots through me. It was one thing to handle Sergei but to handle multiple men puts my chances of survival down in the fucking dirt.

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