Page 15 of Beautiful Forever
“I wouldn’t if I were you.” Aleksei emerges from the shadows, the barrel of his Sig Sauer digging into the back of Tristan’s neck.
My shocked expression says,You brought a gun to the gala?Aleksei’s nonchalant smirk replies,You should be grateful, seeing as I just saved you from getting shanked in the back.
Aleksei’s smile is menacing when he says, “Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Now, get the fuck away from my brother.”
Hendrix glares him down. “You hurt him, and I’ll kill you.”
“I’d love to see you try, Knight.”
Not wanting things to escalate more than they already have, I let Constantine get to his feet. His coal-black irises bore into me as he brushes himself off. Using sign language, his hands move in a jerky rhythm. I’ve picked up some rudimentary ASL from watchingA Quiet Place, so I get the gist of what he’s saying.
“What?” Hendrix snaps, clearly not understanding.
“He said to back off.”
Hendrix flips the knife around and clutches it between his fingers, using the blade to flip me off.
Ignoring him, I turn back to Tristan. “Can you at least tell me if she’s okay?”
“Why do you care?”
Aleksei isn’t gentle when he smacks the side of Tristan’s head with the gun. “Don’t be a dick. It was a simple question.”
“When did she leave?”
Tristan narrows his eyes, breathes in deeply. He’s not going to tell me. But Hendrix does.
“Months ago. The night of Con’s initiation. We haven’t heard from her since. You got your answer. You and your fucktwin can fuck off now.”
“Fucktwin? Really?” Aleksei replies, not amused.
Letting my hatred and my worry get the better of me, I blurt, “Ifyourfather,” I make sure to emphasize, “hurt her because she was promised to me, there will be no place on this earth either of you can hide where I won’t find you.”
Tristan’s face contorts with bafflement. “What are you talking about?”
It takes three steps to close the distance between us. I’m taller by two inches, and I take great pride in towering over him. “Caroline didn’t want Aoife to be with you. She wanted her to be with me. Aoife is going to be my wife, not yours.Where. Is. She?”
“The fuck she is!” Hendrix shouts, inching closer.
Aleksei kicks the back of Tristan’s knee, and his leg buckles, dropping him to the ground in a kneeling position.
“You know I’ll blow his brains out if you do anything stupid. Aleks, come on.”
My feet refuse to move. I’m not leaving until they tell me everything. Unfortunately, my twin has other ideas. Keeping his gun trained on Tristan, he grabs the sleeve of my jacket and yanks me behind him, pushing me toward the door as he slowly backs away.
“Have a good night, fuckers,” he says, shuts the door, and shoots the access panel. The gunshot booms like cannon fire in the small confines of the stairwell, momentarily deafening me.
“What is wrong with you?”
“Hopefully, that’ll give us a few minutes head start.” He urges me down the stairs with a not so gentle poke in the shoulder.
“How did you know where I was?” I ask a little too loudly because my ears are still ringing.
“Twin thing.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m being serious.” When we exit the storage closet, he tucks his gun into the back of his waistband and loops his arm over my shoulders as we walk down the hallway toward the elevator. “Just be glad I showed up. A thank you would be nice.”
