Page 86 of Beautiful Sinners

Meaning that he plans to, which makes my split decision to get her out of the country the right one.

Aleksander removes his cufflinks and rolls the sleeves up to his elbows, showing off thick forearms covered in intricate designs. “Would you care for something to drink?”

I find it somewhat comical that a man who is so brutal can be so polite.

“Water would be nice.”

As soon as the plane landed, I called up an Uber and came straight here. Since I don’t have the keys to my apartment and I can’t get into the guys’ house, I’ll need to find a place to stay for the night. Andie gave me enough cash to last a while, but without ID, getting a hotel room isn’t an option. Maybe Evan will let me crash at his place.

Aleksander is gone and back in less than thirty seconds, holding a glass filled with ice and a bottle of water. He doesn’t offer them to me, merely places them on the coffee table.

Dropping to the couch, he undoes the top buttons of the shirt, exposing a wide vee of his tattooed chest and neck, and reclines back into the cushions, making himself comfortable. He looks exhausted. There’s noticeable fatigue and weariness carved into his face.

“Aleksei’s wish was to be cremated, and his ashes spread over a field of sunflowers. He never told me why he wanted it that way.” He roughly scrubs his palms over his eyes and looks at me. “I did what he asked. I said goodbye to my brother this morning.”

I shouldn’t feel bad that Aleksei is dead, but for some reason I can’t explain, I feel bad for Aleksander. No matter what he has done, he lost his twin brother. His parents are dead. Aleksander has no one now. In a way, we’re kind of the same.

My right hand automatically goes to the Sig Sauer Andie gave me that sits snuggly against my back.

“If you lured me here to kill me for what happened to your brother—”

“I meant what I said last night. You have nothing to fear from me.”

“You said a lot of stuff I find hard to believe.” I increase my grip on the gun, my posture rigid. “I’m sorry about Aleksei but I’m not sorry about what happened. He was going to kill Constantine. He was going to kill me. I had no choice.”

Aleksander suddenly sits up, and I whip the gun around, training it on him.

“I told him not to touch you.”

My thoughts travel back to the garden. With Aleksei looming over him, I can see Constantine on the ground, blood dripping from his mouth, his eyes full of love and regret as he accepted his fate, hoping by sacrificing himself, it would save me.

“Well, he clearly didn’t listen.” I tap the side of my face where Aleksei punched me with the butt of his gun.

And why tell his brother to spare me? I was nothing to him. Just some random girl who he thought was sleeping with his enemy.

“I’m so sorry,pevchaya ptitsa. I didn’t know—fuck.”

I don’t get him. If there ever was an enigma wrapped inside a riddle, it would be Aleksander Stepanoff.

“I killed your twin brother, and you’re apologizingto me?” I ask with a hefty dose of skepticism.

His head tips back on the sofa cushion, and he closes his eyes. I’m at a loss. This exchange is nothing like I expected. Lowering my weapon, I chance a step forward.

“What doespevchaya ptitsamean?” I butcher the pronunciation.

“Songbird.”

That’s actually very lovely and increases my confusion over this man even more. I take another tentative step closer. There are so many things I want to ask him. So many questions I want answered.

“I lied before. I do remember you. The gala when we were children. You asked me to dance.”

Aleksander smiles, popping twin dimples that completely transform his face. As if lost in the same memory, he says, “You look completely different now, but your eyes are the same.”

“Well, you look… bigger,” I stupidly reply.

His smile widens.

With a shit-ton of trepidation, I take a seat in the armchair across from the couch, but in no way lower my guard. Not taking my eyes off him, I reach for the bottle of water and twist the cap off one-handed since I’m still clutching the gun.

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