Page 30 of Beautiful Sinner

“My brother won’t allow me to be alone with you for any extended time. Not unless we’re married. So a date is off the table.”

“If anyone could convince him, it would be you. Let me take you on a date. Give me a chance.”

I study Connor’s face more closely. His hair is nice and thick. His eyes and nose are proportionate to his face. He’s not ugly. I’ll admit – he’s even handsome if I get past how much he bothers me.

Matteo is not my future, I know it. I have to push my crush aside. But Connor could be my future. He’d probably be a lot better for a husband than Grigori. At least Connor is somewhat nice to look at.

But he’s not Matteo and all I want is to see Matteo again. It’s dangerous but I need to talk with him about all of this.

“I’ll talk to my brother,” I finally say. “I’ll try to give you a chance.”

“Great. Then I guess that’s my cue to leave.” He winks, then swaggers out of the house.

I immediately run to my room and dial Matteo’s number.

“Julia?” The sound of his deep, soft voice makes me instantly feel safer.

“I need to see you.”

“But we talked about this. We can’t.”

“Please. Viktor wants to marry me off to Connor. I need to see you.”

Matteo is silent on the other end. Is he upset? Is he happy? I don’t know him well enough to know.

“Ok,” he finally says. “We can meet.”

The spot we choose is a more secluded area of Central Park. Not many people walk past this area and we can get lost behind the trees.

The moment I see Matteo approach me, I want to throw myself into his arms but I resist the urge. He is not mine.

“Matteo.” I can’t stop the eagerness in my voice from coming through.

“So, is it true? You’re marrying Connor Barry?”

“No. Not at the moment. Viktor is just considering it.” I wring my hands together. Never have I felt more nervous around Matteo than in this moment. “You didn’t show at the club. You or Dante.”

“I listened to what you said and you were right. It was better to avoid a fight. I waited around though, outside, and saw your brother leave the club. He looked upset.”

“He was. His plan failed.”

“Good. But that can’t last forever. I managed to convince Dante to not go to the club that night but I won’t always be able to.”

“I know. And I won’t always be able to warn you. Not if it leads to my brother’s death. But… you chose not to kill him when you had the chance. Why?”

“It would have caused more problems.”

“Would it have?” I ask. “Because it seems to me that killing my brother would have ended all of your problems.”

Slowly, he approaches me until we’re so close, I can feel the heat coming off of him. We’re hidden behind a tree so no one can see us. “It would have but it would have made everything worse with… you.”

A sharp inhale courses through me. “With me?”

“I know it would have devastated you if I killed Viktor.”

“You didn’t kill my brother, your enemy, for me?”

“I just… couldn’t. I’ve never agreed with this war in the first place. I don’t believe in more bloodshed. I only kill in self-defense.”