Read Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War for Free Online Page B

full ten minutes he sat silently in his seat, staring at an also silent Vladek Steele. Suddenly, Nathan broke out of his trance and quietly stood to his feet before leaving the room. He barely heard Kyle and Freddy behind him, asking what he was doing. He kept his mind blank and didn’t answer their questions. It didn’t matter anyway. They’d find out what he was doing soon enough.
    When Nathan returned to Vladek Steele, his hands were no longer empty. There was only one other Steele that they’d taken from that estate, and Nathan was confident that she’d be of use to him. When they’d first arrived to the more deserted location in Germany, Nathan had informed Vladek that many lives were lost back on his estate. Nathan, being as perceptive as he was, noticed a familiar sadness in Vladek’s eyes. That look in his eyes confirmed a suspicion Nathan had had back at the Steele estate. Vladek had a wife, a family. When Nathan had captured Vladek, he’d been shooting off words in German to his men. Unfortunately for him, Nathan heard and asked Freddy—who spoke German quite well— to repeated what Vladek had said in English, and found out what the man had hidden. When Freddy informed him, Nathan had sent out group of men to search the estate. After about ten minutes they found Gwendolyn Steele ... Vladek’s pregnant wife.
    Nathan held Gwendolyn’s small hand as he led her into the room where Vladek sat. As soon as they entered, young Gwendolyn removed her hand from Nathan’s and ran frantically to the wounded Vladek’s side, sobbing and talking rapidly in German. Nathan didn’t need a translator; he knew what the woman was saying. Although they’d treated her well since finding her, she looked at Nathan like he was a beast. However, as she gazed upon Vladek, all Nathan saw in her eyes was love and fear. It was apparent the woman was an innocent. She was pulled into Vladek’s world because of the love they shared, but was obviously kept ignorant to who the Steeles really were.
    “P–please don’t kill him,” Gwendolyn sobbed repeatedly in English. “Please! I b–beg you to l–let him go.”
    Nodding, Nathan locked eyes with Vladek, whose expression was now a combination of rage and devastation. This went against everything Nathan stood for. He didn’t like being seen as a monster in the eyes of the innocent—he hated subjecting innocent eyes to brutality … to murder—but Nathan had no choice now. Vladek had been right to call Nathan desperate, because in all truth, he was. Nathan was past the point of mercy. What little he had left was only afforded to a select few. Until his wife was returned to him, this was who he would be. A monster.
    Nathan returned to his seat in front of Vladek, never taking his eyes from the man. Vladek maintained eye contact with Nathan even as he began to try and calm his terrified wife. Once her crying quieted, Nathan began to speak.
    “I think you and I understand each other a lot more than you let on, Vladek.”
    “Fuck you!” he spat angrily.
    Nathan nodded in Gwendolyn’s direction. “Does she know where the Steele family gets their money?”
    Vladek released a deadly growl. “You watch your fucking mouth in front of my wife. I’m warning you, boy.”
    Unfazed, Nathan continued. “It’s quite obvious that she doesn’t know. She wears her innocence on her face. It’s quite beautiful, really.”
    “I swear to God if you—”
    Nathan waved off the threat before Vladek made it. “Take the woman out of here,” he commanded. Three of his men came forward and did as he’d asked. When he heard Freddy close the door on the now screaming woman, Nathan continued. “Listen, Vladek. Now that we have determined that you are just as pathetic as I am, I feel we should move forward. I have a deal for you. The girl and your unborn child will live if you give me what I need. If you don’t, then I will have to go against everything I believe in and kill an innocent woman.