Page 68 of Beautiful Enemy

“Just start walking back,” I tell Dante.

He looks down at me sharply.

“Just do it, Dante. If you want to save yourself, it’s your only play.”

His hand doesn’t waver at my throat. I know I mean nothing to him. I’m just an innocent woman he wants to corrupt. But Dante means something to me. He means an escape from my father.

Even though Dante is still my captor.

Slowly, Dante starts walking backwards.

“Don’t do this,” Erik warns.

“He has to,” I tell him. “If he wants to survive. And I have to go with him.”

“Nadia, no,” Anya whimpers.

“I’m so sorry, Anya. I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want you to worry for me. But I have to help Dante get out. It’s the only way to ensure I make it out of this alive.”

Anya gasps and her eyes widen. She knows I’m right.

Dante keeps backing up but Erik and my father try to advance,

“Stop!” Anya screams, drawing more peoples’ attention our way. “Don’t follow. I don’t want Nadia to get killed.”

“We can’t just let her go with him,” my father growls. “She belongs to me.”

“No, she doesn’t,” Anya snaps. “Nadia deserves freedom.”

“And going with the man who kidnapped her is freedom?”

“Of course not. But if it means Nadia survives, then I’ll do anything to make that happen.”

“Even if he tortures her?” Erik asks in a softer voice. “He’s going to hurt her and you know it.”

“He’s not,” I call out. “Just let us go. Dante, keep walking.”

He tries to but Erik and my father just follow.

This isn’t working. Dante is not going to make it out of here and there’s a good chance he’s going to bring me right down with him.

I know in this moment that I want to fight for my life. For my freedom. And to do that, I need Dante alive.

So, I do the only thing I can think of.

I use my voice for once.

A blood curdling scream rips out of me, drawing the attention of more people in the room. One woman sees the blood dripping out of Dante’s side and screams when she sees the bloody knife in Ivan’s hand.

More people start crowding around. More pointing and staring and whispering. People start running for the exit.

It becomes pandemonium.

“Shit,” Ivan says, dropping his knife to the ground.

“Don’t let go of it, you fucking imbecile,” my father snarls at him.

“Now’s your chance,” I whisper to Dante.

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