Page 136 of Beautiful Deception

“Hypocrite,” Dante mutters.

“What did you say?”

“Oh, just hypocrite. You judged me for taking Nadia away from you and now you’re doing the same to Aria. You promised to marry her and now you’re backing out.”

“I met Aria once. I wasn’t about to marry her like I was with Nadia when you kidnapped her. Aria doesn’t even want to marry me anyway. I’m going to remain married to my wife. And if you still want peace with me, we can figure out another way.”

Dante scoffs and walks away.

“I was forgiven for my past mistake,” Matteo says. I glare at him. “We can do the same with you.”

“You speak for Dante now? I thought you were just his little worker bee.”

“Erik has agreed to let me come back so he and Dante can continue to work together.”

“What Matteo is saying,” Erik says, “is that I can forgive your mistakes, Viktor. You don’t have to marry Aria. I wouldn’t make you divorce your wife, who you clearly love. But you’ll have to show some other act of sacrifice to show that you’re willing to make peace.”

“Forgive me?” I scoff. “What’s there to forgive? I only went to war with you because you fucked me over. Twice. If anyone needs forgiving, Erik, it’s you.”

He crosses his arms. “So what are you going to do? Work with Finn again?”

“No.”

“Then you’re on your own, Viktor. Unless you agree to work with us right now. Agree to peace. For your sister. For your wife. We won’t hurt them if you agree to peace. We put this war behind us.”

Erik has a point: I have to think about Inessa and Julia. I have to keep them safe. After I failed to protect Inessa, I will do anything to make sure she’s never hurt again.

Even if that means making peace with the men I hate.

“Fine,” I spit out. “You have your fucking peace. But I’m not happy about him.” I nod at Matteo. “He killed a Bratva man and should be punished for it.”

“You worked with Finn,” Dante snaps. “And he killed a Bratva man too.”

“But I’m not working with Finn any longer, am I? Besides, I never truly liked him. He was just a means to an end. He didn’t walk in here like he owned the place like Matteo has.”

“I am sorry for Sergei’s death,” Matteo says. “It was pure self-defense. But Erik has forgiven me.”

“If we’re going to work together,” Erik says, “then you need to forgive Matteo. You need to learn to put aside your anger.”

“Like you men have? You’re full of anger too. We’re Bratva and Mafia men. We’ll always be angry. Now, I agreed to peace. I’m not happy about it but I’ve done it. Leave. My wife needs me.”

I watch the three men go. This is not going to be easy. There’s too much balancing on the edge. This peace treaty could easily fall over and lead back into another war.

But I don’t want to worry about Erik and Viktor and Aiden and Finn and Matteo and everyone else who has ever pissed me off. I have my wife to worry about.

Will she truly forgive me? Only she knows.

Inessa

Viktor brings me back to his house.

“Our home,” he reminds me. I want to believe him but he betrayed my trust just as much as I did to him. I almost died because of that betrayal.

Mrs. Green rushes to my side the second I walk through the door. “Oh my god, Inessa. Mr. Smirnov called me and told me you were in the hospital. Come on. I’ll get a bath ready for you. You need it.”

“Thank you.” I look at Viktor, hovering in the foyer. I’m desperate to ask him to stay with me while also knowing I need some space.

I follow Mrs. Green into the bathroom and she gets the bathtub ready for me. I struggle to take my clothes off from the pain of it all.

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