Page 77 of Beautiful Sinner

I get a call from my guard out front that Connor is here to see me. He managed to survive the attack by sheer luck. I invite him into my office.

“You’re looking good,” I tell him, nodding at his arm, which is in a sling. He got clipped in the shoulder but the was the worst of it. It all could have been worse. I could have died. Inessa could have died.

Julia…

“I am. I’m feeling better now that I had a good night’s sleep. Now, we need to go after that fucker Matteo and kill him for stealing Julia away.”

“I agree. I want him dead. What do you have planned? Do you know where he’s hiding?”

“I don’t but Dante will know.”

I snort. “He’s not going to tell us, no matter how sweetly I ask.” I frown, staring at Conor with curiosity. “I know you never liked Matteo but did it have to do with Julia?”

“Why do you ask?”

“My wife told me that Julia cares for Matteo. Did you know anything about this?”

Connor hesitates and that tells me everything I need to fucking know. “I knew she met with Matteo at one of Dante’s clubs.”

“What?! When the fuck was this?”

“A little over a month ago. I’ll admit, I happened to meet Julia when she was there but she left the club with Matteo. That was before we were working together.”

“So is everybody lying to me?” I grumble. “Why can’t I get the respect I deserve?”

“I never told you because…”

“Because?”

He clears his throat. “Because I wanted to make a deal with you and marry Julia. I knew that if I admitted to how we first met, you wouldn’t let me marry her. But I just want to keep her safe, Viktor. You have to believe that. And I don’t trust Matteo. I think he was just trying to seduce Julia for information. Turn her against you. She’s innocent in this, I believe. A victim. It’s Matteo you should be mad at. I’ll gladly kill him for you.”

So… Julia is a victim. Inessa made it sound like Julia and Matteo fell in love consensually but now Connor is making clear that Matteo was just using my sister for information. I’m not sure which one to believe. I need to talk to Julia but that’s impossible since that fucker Matteo took her.

Is my sister an innocent victim whom I need to protect?

Or is she a woman who fell in love with the enemy and helped him plan my demise?

Or is it something in between? A woman who fell for the wrong man and never meant to hurt me in the process?

I love and trust my sister but right now, I don’t know what the fuck to think. I don’t know who to trust. I’m not even sure I trust Connor. Even Inessa kept the truth from me about Julia. The only person I can truly trust is myself.

But that’s a lonely, dangerous island to be on and yet, it seems I’m stuck here.

Chapter Thirteen

Viktor

Idon’t take Connor with me as I go to confront Dante. He just might make things worse with his reckless behavior and I need to see if I can get Julia back. I doubt Dante will tell me where Matteo is, if he even knows, but I have to try. I have to see if he’ll let anything slip.

“You can’t go to him,” Inessa says before I leave the house. “He’s going to kill you. He almost killed you at the wedding.”

I cup her face and she leans into my touch. Even though Inessa kept another secret from me about Julia, I still love her and I know she still loves me. We’ve been through so much to get to this point in our lives. Nothing will break it down.

“Dante will not kill me,” I say.

“How can you be so sure? He tried to kill you at the wedding. He would have succeeded if it weren’t for Julia. I can’t stand back and watch this happen. Take me with you. Please. If I’m there, he won’t hurt you.”

“I can’t hide behind my wife forever.”