Page 18 of Beautiful Revenge

“Stay there like a good girl.”

“I hate you,” I spit out.

“See you later, Aria. I have some work to attend to.”

I know that cannot be a good thing.

Finn

If I want to take down Dante and Erik (and my brother by extension), I need to get Viktor back on my side. He tried to kill me but I’ll forgive it. I’ve tried to kill him before many times.

I know Viktor has made an uneasy alliance with Dante and Erik. I know he’s still angry with them for making him look likea fool when not one but two of his fiancées were taken by other men, Dante included.

My brother was the other one when he fell in love with his now wife.

I push Aiden and Elena from my thoughts. They will not bother me. I will not get distracted from my mission.

I know Viktor will easily turn if given the right ammunition. I can’t go to him and ask him to become partners again. He’ll say no right away. Hell, he’ll probably try to kill me.

No, Iknowhe’ll try to kill me.

So, I have another idea to get Viktor back on my side and cause another war between Viktor and Dante and Erik.

I need to make Dante and Elio believe that I kidnapped Aria on the behest of Viktor. Now, I can’t just tell them that myself. They would never believe me.

So, I need to start a rumor.

Matteo, Dante’s second in command and old friend of mine, will listen to me. At least, he won’t immediately try to kill me. I know that for a fact. Matteo was always too soft-hearted for a man in the Mafia in my opinion but he’ll do just nicely now. Dante trusts him. Dante will believe him.

Matteo was in hiding for the past few years after he killed Nadia’s father, Sergei, but now he’s back and I know exactly where he lives.

It’s a nice apartment in the city. He even has a security guard in the front lobby. I bypass him without causing a scene (which is unusual for me) and head up to Matteo’s apartment. I make it a point to dig into the people in Dante’s life. Nothing can escape my notice.

Matteo opens his door. His eyes widening are the only indication that he’s surprised to see me. “Finn?”

“Can I come in?”

“I’m not sure I should invite you in.”

“Come on, Matteo. We used to be friends.”

“We were never really friends, Finn. We just worked together. In fact, I never really trusted you.” His grim face does his features no favor. Matteo is a classic looking Italian man – if that Italian man starred in movies. He’s a handsome fucker, I’ll give him that.

“Just let me come in. I have some information you’ll want to hear.”

With a sigh, he motions me inside. “You know I’ll have to tell Dante about this.”

“Of course. I’m sure you’ve heard that I kidnapped Aria already.”

He nods. “Dante called me just an hour ago with the news.”

“Well, you should know that I kidnapped Aria on the behest of Viktor.”

“Viktor? Viktor Smirnov?”

“Yes.”

“But he just agreed to alliance with Dante and Erik again. Why would he go against that?”

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