Page 114 of Beautiful Sinners

I can barely say it out loud, the visceral pain so intense, I almost double over from the severity of it.

“Yes.”

“There was another man. He had a scar on his face.”

I hear my mother’s screams echoing around the alley, and my vision obscures with the crimson tincture of vengeance.

Aleksander’s brows knit with a confusticated downturn. “Another man?”

Without warning, I rush Aleksander and slam him against the wall of the building. By the time it takes him to recover, I have my knife out, the point of the blade cutting into the tender flesh of his neck.

“Donotlie to me.”

He barely reacts when I press deeper, just a breath’s-width away from where his pulse thrums rapidly. The gray of his irises blot black when his pupils dilate, but it’s not fear I see. It’s something else entirely.

“Don’t,” I warn, a tremor lacing my voice when he raises his hand to my face. His calloused fingertips are insistent, like a burning brand on my cheek, and yet there’s a reverence in his touch.

“Let me help you,” he implores. “Let me give you your revenge.”

My gaze bores into him, the knife in my hand steady. One more inch, and I’ll sever a major artery.

“I don’t want your fucking help. Everything you’ve done has been to benefit yourself.”

Aleksander has been playing me from the beginning. I’m little more than a mouse to his cat.

“Everything I’ve done,” he retorts, his voice carrying an ache of unspoken regret, “has been for you.”

Disgusted that he would lay the blame for what he’s done on me, I hiss, “Don’t you dare use me as the excuse to justify the bloodshed and destruction you’ve caused. We barely know each other. I am nothing to you!”

His mouth twists in pain as he whispers hoarsely, “You are not nothing, Aoife. You’re my wife.”

Revenge, redemption, and rebirth. It’s time for the phoenix to rise. Are you ready for the end? Their story concludes inBeautiful Chaos(Beautiful Sin Series Book 3).

Keep reading for an exclusive sneak peek atBeautiful Chaos.

Exclusive Sneak Peek at Beautiful Chaos

CHAPTER 1

SYN

“I can control my destiny, but not my fate.”- Paulo Coelho

A slow, steady rain starts to fall and pelts the window, creating tiny rivulets that drip down the glass like teardrops. My fingertip follows the haphazard patterns they create as they trickle down the outside pane. Chaos theory helps explain why their paths look random and chaotic, when in fact, they’re not. Like everything in life, there are inherent repetitions, patterns, and feedback loops. Everything is interconnected in some way.

Wrapping my arms around myself, I try to chase away the sudden chill, but the cold that has embedded its icy fingers in me goes bone deep. As deep as the betrayal I’m drowning in.

The men I trusted lied to me. Alana lied to me. And my mother… God, I hate her for what she did. I was her daughter. She was supposed to love and protect me. Instead, I was nothing more than a business transaction. She sold me off just like Francesco sold Alana.

I glance down at the floor where the signed contract with my mother’s elegantly distinctive signature rests at my feet in a crumpled ball, then lift my gaze to find Aleksander in the reflection of the glass, warily watching me from across the room.

“I may have been promised to you, but I’m not your wife.”

I never consented. I never said, “I do.” I was nine fucking years old when the contract was signed between my mother and Nikolai Stepanoff.

In the eyes of the Society, it won’t matter. The legalities of things mean little to an organization that thrives on doing whatever the hell it wants with no repercussions.

Was this the betrayal my father spoke about that night?

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