Page 53 of Beautiful Enemy

I touch Aria’s hand, startling her. “Thank you.”

Her eyes soften. It’s a good look on her instead of the constant anger on her face. “Don’t mention it. This is the right thing. I don’t want more girls to feel what I had to feel. It’s not right.” She walks past me without another word.

I tiptoe to the end of the hallway and watch as Aria talks to the guard on duty. I notice that she flirts with him and he flirts back. She’s only sixteen. That guard is disgusting but Aria seems to understand that seduction works best when it comes to distracting men.

The moment Aria convinces her guard to step into the living room and away from the front door, is my moment to make a run for it. I stay light on my feet so my heels don’t clack on the hardwood.

I make it to the door, open it slowly, holding my breath, then slip through the tiny crack and make it out onto the street.

Oh my god. I’m free.

I take off running, even in my heels. The fastest way to get back to Anya’s house is to take the subway. I don’t have any money for a ticket though. I don’t have anything except my temporary freedom and that’s all it is: temporary.

“Please,” I say to a woman who walks past me. “I need money for a ticket. I’m running from… an abusive ex. I need help. Please.”

The woman eyes me over with pity before sighing and digging through her purse. She hands me a twenty dollar bill. “There you go. Hope this helps.”

I clutch it in my hands. “Thank you so much.” I’m able to buy a ticket and have money to spare.

I’ve never used the subway before so it takes me a few minutes to figure out which train to take that will get me closest to Anya’s house. Every second I’m figuring this out is a second longer that Dante could find me.

Finally, I figure out where to go and hop onto a train and let it take me back to my sister.

The subway drops me off about five minutes from Anya’s. I use all the strength and speed left in me to make a run for it back to her house.

And then there it is. Safety. My home.

I pound on the front door and one of Erik’s guards opens, his eyes widening. “I need to see my sister.”

The door is wrenched open more and there is Anya. The sight of her fills me with so much relief, I instantly begin to cry.

And without a word, Anya pulls me into her arms and I know I’m truly safe.

“She’s not staying,” a male voice comes from behind me. The guard raises his gun. I look over my shoulder.

Finn is standing in the driveway and the look in his eyes chills me to the bone.

Chapter Ten

Dante

It takes me a moment too long to realize that Nadia is taking her sweet time in the bathroom.

“Where’s your daughter?” I ask Elio.

“I think she wanted to talk with Nadia. About what, I’m not sure. You know she’s been going through a lot lately.”

“Mmm. Excuse me.” If Aria has done something to Nadia, I’m not going to be happy. That girl has a lot of hate in her heart. I brought Nadia here because I wanted her to see the consequences of her father’s actions but it was pointless. Nadia knows her father is a bad man. Bringing her here was naïve of me. Aria didn’t need the reminder that she was kidnapped.

I used to do everything in my power to keep Aria safe when she was just a kid and now I’m flaunting my prisoner in front of her. I’ve changed a lot in the past four years, all because of Nadia’s family.

Anger courses through me. I can’t let myself get distracted by Nadia’s beauty and innocence. I have to keep my head in the fucking game.

I find the bathroom and knock on the door but no one answers. It’s unlocked. Peering inside, I don’t see anyone. Not Nadia. Not Aria.

When I make it to the living room, I see Aria chatting with her guard. “Where’s Nadia?”

The question makes her jump. “What? Who?”

---