Page 40 of Beautiful Enemy

“And then you have no leverage,” Erik says. “You have nothing to use against us once Nadia dies, which means you need to keep her alive as long as possible. For… what? Until you’ve decided to come for Anya next? Then me?”

My grin is savage. “Exactly. My goal is to drive you insane until you come begging to me to end your life. I’m sure Nadia’s death will drive your pretty little wife into madness.”

“Just take me, Dante. You want me dead. You want revenge on me for trying to kill you. So just kill me and let Nadia go.”

“But where’s the fun in that? You don’t seem to understand, Erik. I’m playing the long game here. I do want you dead. One day. But that day is not today. So unless you’re here to give me your wife, I’m not interested in any exchange. Let’s go.”

“So why did you come then?” Erik calls out as I start to walk away. I stop and look over my shoulder at him. “If you weren’t planning on making an exchange and you’re not planning on killing me, why come?”

“Because I wanted to look into your eyes. I wanted to see for myself how much I’ve hurt you. And from what I can tell, you’re starting to lose it which is exactly what I want. That’s why I came. To have fun. Now, I should get going. Nadia needs my attention.” My eyes settle on Viktor. “I’ll be the first person to ever touch her, you know. I was her first kiss after all.”

Viktor surges forward and it’s only Erik that holds him back. “You take your disgusting words out of your mouth. Show Nadia some respect.”

“Why should I? She didn’t show me any respect when her sister stabbed me in the back. Or when Erik tried to blow me up. She hates me just as much as I hate her.”

“Not enough to not fuck her, apparently,” Ivan murmurs.

“Fucking and love are two separate things,” I explain. “I can fuck Nadia and still hate her. In fact, fucking someone I hate makes it all the sweeter. Now, I’m done here.”

“You’re not leaving,” Viktor growls, right before he pulls out a hidden gun from his pocket and starts firing at me.

Aiden grabs my arm and pulls me behind a car. Finn starts firing back, laughing like a maniacal supervillain.

“I thought we said no guns,” I mutter.

“You still kept a gun. We all did.” Aiden pulls out his own gun from a holster around his ankle.

“I know. I like breaking the rules. I just don’t like it when other people do it.” With a smile, I dive out from behind the car and start firing at Erik and his men.

It soon becomes an all-out gunfight. Neither side stops. But neither side wins either. There’s too many cars in this junkyard. Too many places to hide.

We’re never going to win.

“Let’s go,” I mutter to Aiden. “I’m getting tired of this.”

I stay crouched down as I hurry out of the junkyard. Aiden has to grab Finn and force him away from the fight. We make it to our car and drive to a different car we have parked a few miles away. After switching, we drive back to the ranch house.

“Did you get what you were looking for?” Aiden asks.

“I did.” I learned that Erik is more desperate than I thought he’d be. I also learned that Sergei doesn’t love his daughter. If he did, he would have been there.

Aiden and Finn drive away from the ranch house so nothing can be tracked back here.

I don’t even look at Matteo as I head into Nadia’s bedroom. She’s still asleep and her fever is raging on.

Looking down at her small body, all I can think about is how sad her life must have been. Her own father didn’t even show to try to save her. Maybe she’s not as much the enemy as I thought.

I sit in a chair in the corner of the room and watch her sleep. And Ithink. And I hate that I think. And Ifeel. I have to admit that I have feelings for this pathetically sad woman.

I know that I’m starting to care for Nadia and that was never part of the plan at all.

Nadia

When I wake up, my mind feels instantly clearer.

I can tell right away that I’m somewhere different. I’m in a bed, for one thing. Sitting up, I gasp when I see Dante, seated in a chair across from me, just… watching me.

“Good. You’re finally awake. And it seems your fever has broken.”

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