Page 7 of Beautiful Sinner

I shouldn’t be thinking about her at all.

She offers me a little wave before I turn and leave. Viktor’s guards encircle me the second I reach the foyer and they escort me out of the house. I leave without having gained anything.

Except… that might not be true at all.

I met Julia Smirnov for the first time. There had been rumors of her beauty but since Viktor keeps her locked away for her own safety, not many people have ever met her before.

Now I have and I can confirm that all the rumors are true. She is beautiful. Distractingly so.

Dangerously so.

I expected her to run screaming from me the second she heard my name. There was a fear in her eyes, that was true. So why did I not want her to see me that way? Why did I stop to talk to her?

If anyone is off-limits, it’s Julia Smirnov. Viktor will never offer her up in marriage to anybody. She is someone I cannot find beautiful.

But I enjoyed talking to her. I enjoyed hearing her laugh. I enjoyed seeing her blush.

I want to see her again. Shit. No woman has ever made me this fascinated in such a short amount of time. This isn’t good.

I force myself to drive away from Viktor’s house, pushing Julia from my thoughts.

Chapter Two

Julia

What just happened?

I talked to Matteo Conti, the enemy, like it was nothing. I think I might have flirted a little bit. How do I even know how to flirt? My brother has never let me date so my interaction with men is fairly limited.

I spent some time in France with my cousins a couple of years ago when Viktor sent me away to protect me from the first war he was in with Dante and Erik. I saw how the French flirted. Guess I picked up some things from there without even realizing it.

My eyes keep looking in the direction Matteo just left in. I never expected any of that to happen. When he told mehis name, I was frightened initially but then he told me he wouldn’t hurt me and I believed him completely. There was just something so… comforting about him.

The enemy. How is that possible?

He’s also incredibly handsome. Tall, dark hair, stubble, piercing eyes. It’s like he walked right out of a romance novel. I should know: I’ve read my fair share of them.

When I’ve been kept away from a lot of people, stuck in a house with my brother for company, I had to find entertainment in many different ways. Books were one way I could explore more of the world.

“Julia?” Viktor’s voice startles me, making me jump.

“Viktor,” I gasp, clutching my hand to my chest. Did he see me talking to Matteo? No. Because if he had, he would have shouted at Matteo to leave. He might have even shot Matteo right then and there for even looking in my direction.

Normally when Viktor has meetings, he tells me in advance so I can’t come down. It’s for my own safety, he claims. It’s better that his men can’t see me and get ideas about me. Bad ideas.

But I didn’t know he was having a meeting with Matteo. And I’m glad because I never would have come down and met him if I had known.

“Are you ok?” he asks, his eyes scanning my face. “You seem… scared.”

“I’m not scared. Why would you think I was scared?”

His eyes narrow as he looks at me then looks down the hallway and then back at me. “Did something happen?”

“No.” I won’t tell him I met Matteo. It would just make him more angry and this war he’s in right now is already putting him on edge.

“Then why do you look like you want to run away from this conversation?”

“I just wasn’t expecting you to say my name. I didn’t hear you, is all. You’re being paranoid, Viktor. This war is too much. Why don’t you consider making peace?” If he did, then maybe I’d get the chance to see Matteo again.

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