Page 71 of Beautiful Sinner

Dante looks at me. “And you wanted that to happen? For us to go into that wedding and kill Connor?”

“Well… no. I only told Matteo in confidence, not to tell you about it. But I did want him to kill Connor. I won’t deny that.”

“So what you two have is real? Is that what you’re telling me?”

“Yes,” Matteo says, his voice clear and unwavering. “What Julia and I have is real.”

“Julia?”

I know in my heart that what Matteo and I have is true love. “Yes. It’s all real.”

Dante lets out a long breath. “Shit. Well… I never expected any of this to happen. You’re both playing a dangerous game. You’re both being naïve and stupid.”

“Thanks,” Matteo responds dryly. “I took Julia to protect her. So help me protect her.”

“It’s not her who Viktor is going to hurt if he finds you. It’s you, Matteo. You should have let her escape with her brother.”

“I know. But she’s with me now and I’m not letting her go.”

“So… what? I’m supposed to go deal with Viktor and clean up your mess? He’s going to want his sister back.”

I step forward, even though Matteo tries to keep me behind him. “Let me talk to Viktor. Let me explain.”

“Who’s going to take you to him? He’ll shoot either one of us on sight and I can’t risk that.” Dante sighs and turns to Matteo. “She stays here for now. Then I’ll figure out what to do.”

“All you have to do is drop me off at my house. He won’t see either of you. I can talk to Viktor and explain.”

Matteo gently touches my arm. “But what if Connor is there? What if you return home and Viktor forces you to marry him again? I can’t risk that happening. It’s better you stay here for now.”

I know Matteo has a good point. If I go to see Viktor, he’ll lock me right back up for my own safety and then I’ll never get to see Matteo again. This might be my one and only chance to be with him.

But…

I turn to Dante. “You can’t kill my brother.”

“You are in no position to be making demands.”

“Leave Viktor alone.”

“What if he attacks me and my men? He’s going to after we just attacked him and stole you right away from him.”

“Dante, I know I have no right to ask this of you but please make peace with my brother. Please try. Matteo and I have fallen for each other despite being on opposite sides. Can’t you understand that? There’s a chance for peace here. Please try and talk to my brother.”

“Listen to her,” Matteo adds. “I’ve wanted peace for the past year now.”

“And we could have had it if you hadn’t stolen Julia,” Dante grumbles, running his hand over his hair. “I’ll see what I can do but no promises. I’ll try to convince Erik to make peace but it all comes down to Viktor. If he doesn’t change his mind then peace will never happen. You two need to stay here and out of the way. Just for now.” He leaves the house before either of us can say anything more.

I place my hands on Matteo’s chest, feeling his heart beat under my hands. “What do we do now?”

“Now we hope that things don’t get worse.”

But we both know that what happened at my wedding just made everything a whole lot worse.

Viktor

Once Inessa is safely back home, I go into my office and shove the desk over. I just need to get some of my fucking anger out of me.

After a moment, Inessa comes into my office. “Viktor. Viktor!”