Page 63 of Beautiful Sinners

I flinch when he caresses a finger across my cheek, over my shoulder, and down my scarred arm. It’s surprisingly gentle, and it bewilders and infuriates me in equal measure. He has no right to touch me like that.

Acting on instinct, I grasp under his arm, targeting the pressure points of his ulnar and median nerves. But Aleksander responds swiftly, using his imposing body to trap me against the wall next to the sink. His muscles, hard beneath his tailored blue dress shirt, mash against my soft flesh. I try to knee him in the groin, but he forces his thigh between my legs, making our position appear more intimate than it really is. The pressure on my torso from neck to stomach increases as he pushes himself flush to me, trying to hold me in place.

At Alana’s startled cry, I cease my struggles. I won’t let my impulsiveness be the reason she gets hurt.

“Come back to Darlington.”

My head cracks against the wall when I look up at him. “What?”

With his head bowed, his blond stubble chafes my cheek as he speaks. “I’d like for you to come back.”

Is he for real?

“You really are crazy.”

I press my fingers deeper into the muscle, as hard as I can, but still no reaction from him. His entire arm must be completely numb by now with how hard I’m bearing down on the nerves.

“Consider it a truce.”

“What about Tristan, Constantine, and Hendrix? You tried to kill them.”

If I can somehow get the man’s gun, I’m going to put a bullet straight through Aleksander’s head.

He inhales through his nose in frustration. “I promise not to touch them… unless they touch me first.” He smiles, all dimples and boyish charm, and it completely changes his appearance.

This entire interaction with him has me reeling.

“Why would I believe you?”

The pressure on my chest dissipates when he slowly edges away. Aleksander’s size is substantial, tall and wide-shouldered. It makes me feel small in comparison.

“Because I will never lie to you,pevchaya ptitsa.”

He called me that before when I went to see him at the bell tower, and I still don’t know what it means.

“Everyone lies to me,” I mutter. It slips out before I can stop it.

With a touch so tender it feels like the fragile bloom of a flower unfurling, he pries my fingers from his arm.

“Iwon’t,” he vows with a vicious sincerity that makes my heart rate quicken. “But you’ll figure that out soon enough. And when you do—” He grazes his fingertips over my burns, but I don’t feel it. “You’ll come to me, and I’ll give you what you want most.”

I meet his storm-cloud stare with a cold one of my own. “And what do you think I want?”

“Revenge.”

His declaration seduces my ear like a whispered promise.

Keeping his eyes tethered to my face, Aleksander increases the distance between us. “See you soon, Aoife.”

The other man rushes to the door and checks the hallway. At his nod, Aleksander slips outside of the restroom, leaving me standing there with a million chaotic thoughts, none of them good.

One forever second goes by. Then two, then three.

“Wait!”

“Synthia, no!” Alana calls out as I run after him.

I catch up to Aleksander just as he gets to the back exit door. Hearing me over the booming, pulsating music coming from the bar, he stops and looks over his shoulder.

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