Page 121 of Beautiful Enemy

Anya eyes me over suspiciously as Viktor drives us to the hospital. Nadia lays on the backseat, unconscious. Anya doesn’t let me touch her as she tries to get Nadia to wake up and to staunch the bleeding from her arm. I’m regulated to the front seat, next to Viktor, which is fucking awkward to say the least.

I’m barely hanging on myself. All the cuts Sergei gave me are making me lightheaded and I still have that fucking gunshot wound in my shoulder.

“Drive faster,” Anya says. “I can’t stop the bleeding.”

Viktor grips the steering wheel and picks up speed. Despite the fact that Nadia effectively broke up with him, he’s still willing to make sure she gets to the hospital. He’s a good man.

Nothing like me.

I keep quiet. Talking right now probably isn’t going to help matters.

We make it to the hospital. Viktor runs out of the car and carries Nadia inside with Anya following. Slowly, I make my way after them.

I see a team of nurses get Nadia onto a gurney and wheel her away, leaving Viktor and Anya behind. After Nadia just saved my life, I know that she’s the one for me. She didn’t have to risk herself but she did. I don’t even fucking deserve it.

But I’m a selfish bastard and I want her as my own. And now, I might actually have a chance to make that happen.

If I just don’t die first.

Now that I know Nadia will be in good hands with the hospital staff, all the energy leaves me and I slump to the ground. It doesn’t take long for darkness to take me.

When I wake up, it’s Anya and Erik looking down at me. The sight of it shocks me so much, I think for a moment that I must be dead.

But looking around the hospital room and taking in the disinfectant smell and sound of the beeping heart rate machine next to me tell me that this is real life.

“Are you both here to make sure I woke up? How sweet.”

“Cut the crap,” Anya snaps. “We’re only here for Nadia’s sake.”

My heart rake spikes. “Nadia?”

Anya’s eyes soften as she shares a look with her husband. “She’s awake. She’s fine. Or she will be once her wound heals. It could have been a lot worse so we got lucky. She immediately asked for you and I told her that you were with the doctors. She demanded to see you but she needs to rest right now, so I decided to come here instead.”

I look at Erik. “And I take it you’re here to make sure I don’t hurt your wife.”

“Pretty much.”

“I don’t know what I can do from a hospital bed. Besides, I don’t have any desire to hurt either of you. Not anymore.”

“What changed?” Erik asks in a clipped voice.

“Nadia. I know I don’t want to hurt her and hurting you two hurts her. I can’t believe I’m saying this but… I’m done. I’m fucking done. I’m tired of fighting. I’m tired of the hate inside of me. I want to be done.”

“I don’t trust you,” Anya says. There’s so much anger in her eyes it’s impressive.

“I figured.”

“But… my sister trusts you and that has to mean something. She tends to be a good judge of character. And I want my sister to be happy and for some strange reason, you make her happy.”

“So, what do we do?” I ask, looking between them.

Erik places his hand on Anya’s shoulder. “I want peace. I want to know that Anya and Nadia are safe. If I killed you, then your man, Matteo, would probably try to kill me. Or those horrible hitmen you work with. Or any other Mafia member. But if we make a deal, it will combine the forces of the Mafia and the Bratva together. That is something I’m interested in, despite the thought of working with you makes my skin fucking crawl.”

“Same. You tried to kill me, remember? I don’t love the idea of working with my enemy.”

“And you tried to kill me before so I think that makes us even.”

My lips quirk. “I guess it does.”

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