Page 136 of Dirty Grovel

I don’t ask because I need to hear it.

I ask because I want to make suresheunderstands just what’s at stake.

I need to know that she knows what it means.

And what it will cost.

Her shoulders square. She takes me through her plan—step by step—with no hesitation. She doesn’t falter; she doesn’t shy away from the gorier details. Her voice stays steady, devastatingly calm. Her eyes are focused, pierced with flecks of light.

“And after you’ve got him,” she finishes. “I want you to finish him. I want him dead, Oleg. That’s the only way this ends.”

This strange, new version of Sutton is both mesmerizing and terrifying. It’s in equal measures arousing and exciting.

It feels as though she was born to this world.

“And you’re not going to regret it after?” I ask, trying to find a crack in her armor. Trying to see past this lioness who’s taken shape in front of me. “Guilt is a hard beast to live with. I’m speaking from experience.”

For the first time, her eyes soften. With a sigh, she puts her hand on my arm.

I’m glad to know that she’s still inside there somewhere beneath the ice queen mask she’s donned.

“It must have been hell,” she murmurs. “The things you endured…”

“It still is sometimes,” I say. “But this isn’t about me.”

She straightens up to her full height. “Thank you for wanting to protect me from myself. But I know what I want, Oleg. And Iknow the consequences, too. I’m not acting on a whim here. I’m not motivated by anger or intense emotion. I won’t regret this decision—because I’ve given Drew a hundred different chances and he’s always spat in my face afterwards.” She takes a step towards me, her hand settling against my chest, right across my heart. “This is personal. Drew wants to steal my peace, my happiness, my dream of a happily ever after. He threatened my sister, he lied to me, he’s actively trying to destroy everything I’ve built and I know now, he’ll never stop.”

She pauses and draws in a slow, shuttering breath.

“He’s never going to stop unless Imakehim stop. I have to protect what’s mine, Oleg. You understand that, don’t you?”

Her words, precise and devastating in their truth, pierce right through me. It’s like looking at a reflection of myself.

In this instance, it feels like she can see into my very soul.

And for the first time in my entire life, I don’t mind.

It doesn’t feel like an intrusion.

It feels likehope.

I nod slowly, my doubts fading away as I take her hand. “Okay. Then the decision has been made. We’ll do this together.”

“You’ll support my plan?”

“I will support you always, in everything and anything you choose to do in life. You are a force to be reckoned with, Sutton Palmer. It’s about time Anton knew that, too.”

She smiles, her eyes brightening with fire. “Thank you.”

“We’ll meet him with everything we’ve got. I’ll use every resource, every man and every trick in the book if that’s what it takes. I don’t want you wasting another sleepless night on this asshole.”

We clasp each other’s hands tightly.

She doesn’t have to tell me she’s ready. I can see it in her eyes. The fierce resolve. The determination. It’s amazing to behold.

And it gives me the boost I need to get the job done.

Time to remind Drew Anton why they call me the Beast.

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