Page 8 of Beautiful Enemy

“I think I do.” I aim my gun at him and fire. The bullet lands in his shoulder, knocking him to the side. The interesting thing I notice is that Nadia doesn’t even scream. She’s frozen as I descend closer and closer.

And then I’m right before her. “You’re even more beautiful up close. Too bad you’re my enemy.”

Then I grab Nadia and throw her over my shoulder and run back down the aisle.

She doesn’t even put up a fight.

Nadia

My world turns upside down, both literally and figuratively.

All I can see is the chaos in the room. The sight of Dante’s men firing their guns into the air. They gun down a few people, which makes the rest of the room complacent. My eyes find Anya, underneath Erik as he protects her. Her eyes scream at me to fight but Ican’t seem to move. I’m frozen. It’s been my one weakness. I always struggled to stand up to my father because of fear. I always went along with him because it was easier to do that than to fight.

And it’s the same now.

If I fight against Dante, who knows what could happen? Anya could get shot. Killed. I can’t have her blood on my hands.

And my fear won’t let me fight. It knows that if I play along, I might be ok.

But the further Dante takes me away from my sister and closer to the chapel doors, the more I know in my gut that I won’t be ok. I’m being kidnapped by Dante Moretti. The look in his eyes showed how much he hates me. I’m his enemy. He’ll want to hurt me.

I am the furthest thing from ok.

“Stop him!” I hear Anya cry. She has been my protector all my life. She’s been the one to fight for me when I couldn’t fight for myself. And right now, she can’t fight for me. Not when Dante’s men have machine guns.

I don’t take my eyes off Anya. Despite her screaming at Erik to help me, he doesn’t get off her. He won’t risk her death.

Not even to save me. Not even if it’s what Anya wants. He loves my sister and he will not let her die on his watch.

Viktor is hurt, lying on the ground by the altar. I see Julia kneeling over him, bawling her eyes out.

Then I see my father. He’s not running after me. He’s not shouting at Dante to stop. He’s curled into a ball, trembling with fear. At least now he knows what true fear feels like. For all the pain and fear he made me and Anya feel, it’s just desserts.

Yet, I also want him to save me. I want him to be the dad I’ve always wanted.

Daddy, I mouth as I catch his eye. He only shakes his head and trembles harder.

Then I’m out the door and it closes behind me. Dante’s grip is strong on my lower back as he holds me in place. His shoulder is digging into my stomach. His steps jostle my body.

After running over to a large van, he sets me into the back of it and jumps inside. “Let’s go!” He slams the back door shut as the man behind the wheel drives away from the chapel.

I press my back into the wall of the van, curling my arms around my knees. Maybe if I make myself look as small as possible, Dante won’t see me. He’ll somehow forget about me.

He’s distracted, looking out the window as he barks at his man to drive faster.

“I’m going above the speed limit,” the driver says. “I don’t want to get pulled over by the police. That’s the last thing we need right now.”

“Matteo, stop being so fucking practical. We need to move. We need to reach the other car.”

“Where are Aiden and Finn? Did they make it out?”

“They were still in the chapel when I left. But they know the plan. They know how to take care of themselves. They’re fucking hitmen for Christ’s sake. Is anyone following us?”

Matteo looks in the rearview mirror and shakes his head. “Not yet. The road is empty.”

“Just get us to the other car.”

Dante falls silent then and that’s when he finally looks at me. The power of his whole gaze on me makes me shiver. My throat seizes up. I’ve never known this much fear in my life before.

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