Page 19 of Beautiful Enemy

“What do you mean?”

He pulls out his phone and points it right at me. “I need you to smile.”

“I’m too sad to smile.”

“Fuck,” he mutters. “I think that’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard someone say. The truth is, I don’t care if you’re too sad. I’m going to send a photo to your sister.” He doesn’t ask me to smile again as he takes the photo. “There.” He shows it to me.

In the photo, I look utterly miserable as I’m seated on the mattress, my wedding dress wrinkled, and my eyes puffy from crying.

“It’s a start,” he says. “And send. This should make your sister scared. God, I wish I could see the look on her face. In due time, we’ll up the ante.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can’t stay in that wedding dress forever,” he says, putting his phone away. “I’d love to send a photo of you naked to your father. That will really piss him off.”

“You can’t,” I gasp, clutching my hands to my chest as if that will somehow protect me from Dante.

“But I really can.” He leans over me. “I’m in charge here, Nadia. You are going to pay for the crimes of your family members.”

“Why do you hate me so much?” I whisper. “I never hurt you.”

“Because you’re so innocent. So pure. I want to take that from you. I want to throw you into the mud. Dirty you up a little. No one from the Bratva deserves to be pure, especially someone who’s part of Erik Koslov’s family.” He grabs the shoulder seam of my dress and rips it down my arm.

I scramble away on my hands and knees, breathing heavy.

Dante only laughs. Fortunately, he doesn’t come any closer. “You are at my mercy.” He flings the scrap of fabric at me, then leaves the basement, locking me back in.

I pick up the fabric and clench my hand around it. I dig my nails into my palm until it hurts and I have no choice but to open my palm and let the piece of fabric fall to my lap.

When I look at it more closely, I see a twinge of blood on it.

Anya

The photo of Nadia on a mattress, looking upset, rocks me right to my core.

I take it to Erik. “Can you trace it?”

He goes eerily silent as he glares down at the image. “I am going to kill him.”

“You have to find him before he can hurt Nadia more. I’m not sure what he’s done to her, if anything, yet. But it’s only been a few hours since she was taken. How far will he go?”

“I can try to trace it but knowing Dante, he’s not using his actual phone. He probably has software on his phone to keep me from tracking the image.”

“But you can at least try?”

Erik gazes down at me with soft eyes. “I will try. I swore to you, Anya. I will find Nadia.” He holds up my phone. “Let me get my men on this.” He heads towards his office, leaving me alone.

But being alone is the last thing I want right now. All I want is my sister safe.

Already, I can feel my mind cracking with worry. If this goes on much longer, I think I’ll become a shell of the person I am.

And I fear that’s exactly what Dante wants.

Dante

The sight of Nadia crying made me feel… weird. Like a punch right to my gut.

I’ve been so focused on getting my revenge on Erik that I never really thought of Nadia as a real person.

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