Page 120 of Beautiful Ruins
“A good thing indeed,” I murmured.
The Russians had been stupid enough to believe they could regroup.To think the breach of my home would go unanswered.They crossed that invisible line.The one that exists only once.
There was no coming back from it.Now they were gone.All that remained was Izzy’s ghost in this man’s past.
I studied Nathan in silence.
On one hand, I wanted to annihilate him quickly.End it.Remove him from existence and be done.
On the other hand…I wanted him to feel my wrath.Every second of it.
“I can think of all sorts of wicked little things to do to him,” Archie marvelled lightly.“But where’s the fun in the little things?”
He crouched beside me and grabbed Nathan’s chin, forcing his face up.“You know what your biggest mistake was?”
Nathan shook his head frantically.
“It wasn’t coming here tonight.It wasn’t the Russians.”Archie smiled thinly.“It was thinking you were still relevant enough for us to let you live.”
I stood.
My chest felt tight.Not from anger alone — but from something darker.More possessive.
I knew Nathan was no longer a threat.He was weak.He always had been.But the thought that this man had once touched Izzy.Had known the feel of her skin beneath his hands.Had thought he owned her.It made something ancient and violent unfurl inside me.
He didn’t get to breathe the same air as her.Not anymore.
“Stand him up,” I instructed.
Archie hauled him upright by his collar.Nathan swayed.
“Raze, please,” he choked.“I made mistakes.I acknowledge that.But I never hurt her.I never?—”
I stepped forward and drove my fist into his stomach.
He folded instantly, gasping.
“Never hurt her?”I repeated softly.
Archie gave a low whistle.“Now you’ve done it.”
I grabbed Nathan by the collar and hauled him upright.He stumbled, legs weak, knees buckling under his own weight.Archie caught him on the other side, not out of kindness, but because he didn’t want the man dying before we were finished with him.
“Basement,” I indicated.
Nathan’s breathing hitched at the word.
The stairwell door had been hidden behind a false wall in the VIP lounge — the kind of architectural deceit men like Chernov loved.Plush indulgence existed above.The real chaos lived beneath.We dragged Nathan through the wreckage, past overturned tables and shattered glass, his shoes leaving streaks across blood-slick marble.
He started pleading before we even reached the door.
“I can pay you,” he choked.“A lot of money…”
Archie laughed softly.“Oh, sweetheart.If this were about money, you’d already be dead.”
I shoved the stairwell door open with my shoulder.The air that rushed up from below was colder.Damp.It carried a different scent —decay.
We forced him down the stairs.He slipped twice.I didn’t slow.His shoulder cracked against the concrete wall on the way down, a wet grunt escaping him as pain finally overtook panic.
