Page 47 of Beautiful Deception

“You didn’t love either of those women.”

“Doesn’t matter whether I loved them or not. They were promised to me and then they were ripped away from me. They were ripped away by men who couldn’t keep their fucking hands to themselves. I want them to suffer for it. And you’re going to suffer for it too, Erik. When you side with them, you face the consequences with them.”

“Viktor, think about this. We could be allies again. End this war. Everyone is safe. Your sister will be safe. My wife will be safe.”

“I have no intention of going after Anya, trust me. I don’t hurt innocent women.”

“But Finn does.”

His words chill me to my core. Finn is a madman to be sure and he’s fucking reckless and who knows what else he’ll do? But so far, he’s been loyal to me this past year. That’s more than I can say about anyone else.

“Finn tried to kill Elena just because he could,” Erik reminds me. “What’s the stop him from going after Anya? Or Nadia?”

“Nothing.”

“Exactly. So, I propose a new deal. You kill Finn. You become an ally with me again. And we put this all behind us.”

“You work with Aiden now. How is he going to feel when he finds out you made a deal with me over his brother’s life?”

“Aiden wouldn’t need to know. Finn could have died in a multitude of ways.”

“So, more lies.” I scoff and throw back my drink. “That’s why I can’t trust you, Erik. You’re willing to lie to achieve your goals. But I’m done with deception. Done with it. So, no deal. I’m going to make you suffer for siding with Dante Moretti.”

“When will you be satisfied? Your pride will always be hurt if you let it.”

I slam my hands on the table and lean over it to get right in his face. “Don’t fucking lecture me about pride. Not when you’re one of the most prideful men I’ve ever met.”

Erik eyes me over cooly. “Fine. I can see that coming here was a waste of my time. But you should know, Viktor. This war only ends in one way: your death.”

“Or it ends with yours.”

He pushes his drink to the side and stands up. “I’ll need my gun back.”

“You have enough guns. Go. Before I kill you right here, right now.”

“I feel sorry for you, Viktor. You’re all alone.”

I don’t give him the satisfaction of a reply, even though his words shake me more than I’d like to admit.

“Why did you bring me here?” Natasha asks as we stand outside the botanical garden.

“Because I thought it would make for a nice date idea.”

“Oh, Viktor. I never told you. I find staring at plants to be boring.”

“Right. I didn’t know.” I try to push aside the sting of annoyance I feel for Natasha. If she doesn’t like flowers, then she doesn’t like them. I’m not going to fault her for that.

But the issue is she never really likes any of the date ideas I come up with.

If she weren’t rich, I would have moved on from her by now. But she would make for a good wife given her connections and I cannot forget that. I never planned on marrying for love.

Love makes everything more complicated.

But with Natasha, I find myself wondering if I even like her as a person. I don’t need love but I would like companionship. I would like to at least like the person I’ll be married to.

“Let’s just go to a nice restaurant,” she says, guiding me away from the gardens. “Somewhere expensive. Nothing but the best for us.”

“Of course.”

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