# Terrible Beauty

By Anna Zaires

Canonical: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty

Terrible Beauty by Anna Zaires is a 2022 romance. Tropes: age-gap-romance, Arranged Marriage, arranged-betrothal, captor-captive-romance, Dark Romance, dark-mafia-romance, Enemies to Lovers, forbidden-attraction, Forced Proximity, Mafia, morally-gray-antihero, obsessive-possessive-hero, rival-crime-families, sacrifice-for-family, secret-heir. Heat 5/5. Book 1 of Molotov Betrothal.

## What happened

A family contract. A dark bargain. No escape.

Eleven years ago, I met him. A year later, I was betrothed to him. Now he’s come to claim me, slaughtering anyone standing in his way.

My husband-to-be is a monster from a family as ruthless and powerful as mine, a man who deals in violence and destruction… a man terrifyingly like my father. For over a decade, he’s stalked me, shadowing my life.

I fear him. I hate him. Worst of all, I want him.

My name is Alina Molotova, and Alexei Leonov is a fate I can’t escape.

## Chapters

### Chapter 2

Drugged and disoriented, twenty-five-year-old Alina wakes in the lap of Alexei Leonov, the man she has dreaded for a decade and who is now her betrothed. Though her body feels paralyzed and her mind clouded by an injection, she recognizes his voice and the roar of a plane engine—they are airborne and in his custody. As he warns her not to fight, his touch both soothes and terrifies her, blurring the line between captor and husband. With her memories fragmented and her strength sapped, she faces the terrifying realization that the moment she has feared for ten years has finally arrived, leaving her at the mercy of a man who has already killed dozens that day.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-2

### Chapter 3

Eleven years before the present, thirteen-year-old Alina Molotova dreads her father's high-society dinner in their Moscow penthouse, where her mother forces her into a revealing red gown to display the family's wealth. When her heel buckles in the hallway, a mysterious young man catches her—only to turn cold, accusing her of being 'prettily packaged bait' and revealing himself as Alexei Leonov, son of her father's sworn enemy. Despite his cruelty and the generational blood feud between their mafia families, Alina feels an inexplicable pull toward the dark, dangerous heir, even as she is formally introduced to the terrifying Leonov patriarch. The chapter closes on Alina's unsettled retreat to her room, haunted by the encounter and the unspoken threat of her father's 'plan.'

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-3

### Chapter 4

The narrator awakens alone in a sunlit Scandinavian stateroom rocking on open ocean, her evening gown replaced by a peignoir—evidence that Alexei Leonov has bathed and dressed her while she was drugged. Though she forces a mask of Zen calm, her body betrays her with trembling hands and a galloping heart as she confronts the horror of being in the middle of the sea with the man who has terrorized her for a decade. She catalogs the yacht's luxury amenities—her own favorite toiletries, robes, even her boar-bristle brush—recognizing Alexei's intimate knowledge of her tastes as a violation more sinister than the kidnapping itself. When she finally completes her beauty routine and exits the bathroom, Alexei Leonov stands waiting with a cruel smile, closing the chapter on her desperate hope of rescue.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-4

### Chapter 5

Ten years before the present, teenage Alina Molotova endures a suffocating winter break in her Moscow penthouse, where her parents' violent arguments and her own lack of agency weigh heavily. During a mandatory English lesson, her American tutor Dan Sutter's unwanted advances trigger her discomfort, but when the menacing Alexei Leonov bursts into the library and freezes Dan with a lethal glare, Alina seizes the moment—weaponizing her family's terrifying reputation to intimidate Dan into submission. She discovers an intoxicating new sense of power, only to wake the next morning to find Dan vanished without a trace. As her father's extensive resources fail to locate the tutor, Alina's triumph curdles into dread that Alexei—or her own family—has silenced Dan permanently. The chapter closes on a chilling delivery: Dan's Yale fraternity ring returned in a velvet box with a cryptic signature, '-AL', leaving Alina to wonder if she has unleashed a violence she cannot control.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-5

### Chapter 6

Alina finds herself trapped in her own cabin aboard Alexei Leonov’s yacht, the towel she clutches the only barrier between them. A decade of postponement ends tonight as he asserts ownership over both the space and her future, his presence igniting a volatile mix of terror and desire. When she begs for more time, his gentle unraveling of her defenses—both literal and emotional—signals that the bargain they struck years ago is finally coming due. The chapter closes on the precipice of surrender, with Alina stripped of every excuse and left trembling before the man who has waited ten years to claim what he believes is his.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-6

### Chapter 7

Fifteen-year-old Alina returns to Moscow from a summer abroad to find her parents' marriage crumbling—her father drinks daily and her mother weeps. Haunted by nightmares about her dead tutor Dan, whom Alexei Leonov killed, she is summoned to a family meeting where her parents and the Leonovs announce a signed betrothal contract binding her to Alexei to unite the rival Molotov and Leonov dynasties. When her father grabs her wrist in anger, leaving a bruise, Alexei tends to the injury, and his touch ignites an unfamiliar, electric arousal in Alina. Despite her fury and the five-year age gap, Alexei insists the pact is irreversible but claims no immediate interest in marriage, leaving Alina trapped between familial duty and her own desires.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-7

### Chapter 8

Trapped aboard a yacht in the open ocean, the narrator confronts Alexei after years of playing a deadly high-stakes game. He has finally cornered her, declaring it is time she held up her end of their bargain. Naked and vulnerable while he remains clothed and intimidating, she recognizes that their fates were sealed the day they were born five years apart. Though she once fought as a brave fifteen-year-old, she now feels weary of running, resigning herself to the destruction he seems destined to inflict. Yet when he loosens his grip and murmurs for her to stop fighting, a spark of resistance flares. She twists free and faces him across the spacious cabin, claiming hunger to buy time while her brothers search in vain for their moving speck on the vast sea. With him looming over her, she meets his dark gaze and waits to see whether his care for her will triumph over his desire, leaving her fate hanging in the balance.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-8

### Chapter 9

Seventeen-year-old Alina sneaks into her high school senior prom in New Hampshire to escape the suffocating weight of a medieval betrothal contract that binds her to Alexei Leonov, a man she has not seen in two years. While under the influence of cannabis and dancing with the prom king, Josh, she is abruptly confronted by Alexei himself, who appears at the dance and drags her to a secluded corner. Enraged that she has allowed another man to touch her, he asserts his ownership in a terrifying display of possessive fury, questioning whether she intended to go further with Josh. Despite the intensity of their near-kiss and the electric charge between them, Alexei coldly reminds her that she belongs to him contractually and warns that he does not share. The encounter leaves Alina shaken, realizing Alexei has not forgotten her, while Josh mysteriously vanishes from her life entirely, leaving the threat of the contract looming larger than ever as she approaches the age of eighteen.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-9

### Chapter 10

On a luxury yacht in the open ocean, Alina Molotova wakes to find herself captive to Alexei after being taken from Nikolai's compound in Idaho. Dressing in an emerald green silk cocktail dress to assert control, she shares a tense lunch on deck with her captor. Alexei confronts her about the betrothal contract, accusing her of lying when she claims she never consented. With possessive intensity, he declares she is his property and has nowhere to hide, insisting she has always desired him. The chapter closes on the suffocating pressure of his claim, leaving Alina trapped between her resistance and his unyielding conviction.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-10

### Chapter 11

Alina dreads her eighteenth birthday gala in Moscow, where her parents intend to announce her engagement to Alexei Leonov, the heir to their rival crime family. Her eldest brother Konstantin intervenes, persuading their father to let Alina and Alexei decide the announcement's timing. At the party, Alexei corners her, slipping a diamond engagement ring onto her finger in public before dragging her to a secluded room. When Alina refuses the betrothal, he challenges her to prove she doesn't want him with a kiss—triggering a passionate encounter that ends with her climaxing against his hand. After she vomits from the stress, Alexei offers a cruel bargain: six months of freedom to attend Columbia University in New York, provided she sees a doctor for her debilitating headaches, abandons all drugs, and accepts his ownership. The chapter closes with Alina trapped between fragile hope and crushing dread as Alexei threatens any man who touches her.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-11

### Chapter 12

Alina confronts Alexei aboard a sunlit boat, their hands pinned in a charged stalemate as she finally admits she once desired him despite the looming forced marriage. The conversation unearths a devastating truth: Alexei’s pity granted her six extra months of freedom, a reprieve she now resents because it kept her at her parents’ penthouse on the night her world shattered. In a raw, illogical burst, she accuses him of failing to claim her then, wishing he had stopped her from going home that winter evening. Alexei’s onyx eyes finally mirror her pain, his voice heavy with regret as he concedes he should have taken her regardless. The chapter closes on the crushing weight of what might have been, leaving their unresolved grief hanging between them.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-12

### Chapter 13

Alina returns to a Moscow penthouse fracturing under marital betrayal, only to learn her mother has surrendered the heart-shaped diamond pendant that once symbolized happier days. When her fiancé Alexei appears unexpectedly on a freezing street, he demands she accept their betrothal immediately, granting only one final night of freedom before he claims her. Retreating home, Alina instead discovers a nightmare unfolding: her father, unhinged and violent, launches a brutal attack on her mother. She intervenes with a knife but is overpowered until her brother Nikolai arrives, killing their father in a desperate struggle. The chapter ends with both parents dead and Alina collapsing into shock, while Alexei's threat still looms. Heat level minimal; emotional devastation absolute.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-13

### Chapter 14

Alone on the deck of a boat cutting through open water, the narrator is ambushed by traumatic memories: her father murdered her mother, and her brother killed their father in turn. The official story—a heart attack and a fatal car crash—was a lie buried by her family’s wealth and influence. Alexei closes in from behind, his hands working out the knots in her shoulders, but his comfort curdles when he admits he learned the truth by spying on her therapist. His excuse—that he feared she would harm herself if he intervened sooner—lands with bitter irony. The chapter crackles with restrained intimacy and moral unease as Alexei cages her against the rail, his body pressed to hers, while the unresolved tension of his surveillance hangs between them like salt spray.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-14

### Chapter 15

Six years and nine months before the present, Alina Molotova drifts through a haze of painkillers in a Moscow penthouse, nursing injuries from a "car accident" that was actually a violent confrontation with her father. With her mother dead and her father killed by her brother Nikolai, the betrothal contract tying her to Alexei Leonov has been voided—but Alexei refuses to accept it. After weeks of being kept away, he ambushes her motorcade in broad daylight, forcing her into his van for a volatile confrontation where old wounds and new accusations collide. When Alina finally summons the strength to reject him outright, Alexei leaves in silence, leaving her alone with her grief, her addiction, and the chilling knowledge that he does not consider their engagement over.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-15

### Chapter 16

Trapped aboard a boat beneath a bruised and storm-wracked sky, she confronts Alexei about the night he invaded her privacy, forcing him to admit he broke into her therapist’s office to read her confidential notes. When she reveals her brothers exposed his involvement, the conversation shifts from cold accusation to a dangerous dance of power—he insists he saved her from herself that day in the van, while she demands to be left alone. Cornering her against the railing as the wind whips her hair, he claims she had no existence without him and vows to prove the “truth of us.” Her body betrays her resistance even as she denies wanting him, leaving the chapter poised on a precipice of obsession and unresolved desire as the storm bears down.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-16

### Chapter 17

Alina Molotov navigates a tense brunch with her actress friend Risha before a film premiere in New York City, her calm shattered by the sight of a stalker across the street. Haunted by debilitating migraines and the memory of two dates who died in suspicious accidents after showing interest in her, Alina has sworn off romance to protect others from the wrath of her former betrothed, Alexei Leonov. When she retreats to the restroom to ease her anxiety, she finds temporary relief, but the evening's unresolved tension culminates in a shocking moment at the theater: Alexei himself takes the empty seat beside her, his impassive stare signaling that his possessive pursuit of her has only just begun.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-17

### Chapter 18

Trapped aboard a luxury yacht with her captor Alexei, Rosa endures a tense meal as a violent storm brews on the horizon. When the crew warns them to retreat below deck, the atmosphere between captor and captive crackles with unresolved history—she refuses to share champagne, declaring she has nothing to celebrate, while Alexei’s quiet restraint hints at a deeper, controlling bond that predates her physical imprisonment. As waves intensify and seasickness fades, Rosa confronts the memory of years spent under Alexei’s psychological influence, realizing his hold on her was never limited to the yacht. The chapter closes on the ominous promise of rough seas, both literal and emotional, as the pair braces for the storm’s arrival.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-18

### Chapter 19

Three years after their brutal separation, Alina attends a film premiere in New York only to find Alexei Leonov seated beside her—he funded the movie through Lion Holdings as part of his ongoing revenge. Trapped in the darkened theater by social obligation and his intimidating presence, she endures his predatory touch in public, her body betraying her despite her hatred. Mortified, she flees into the night, taking pills to stave off the migraine that follows their encounters. Now Alexei knows she still responds to him, confirming the dangerous hold he maintains over her.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-19

### Chapter 20

Alina shares a tense dinner aboard a yacht with Alexei, the man who abducted her two years after their traumatic encounter at Risha's premiere. Over caviar and champagne, they circle the silence between them: she demands to know why he abandoned her during her darkest period, and he explains that her severe trauma rendered her unready for his attention—a patience he claims has now expired. Their verbal sparring crackles with biting chemistry as Alina struggles to maintain her 'Ice Princess' facade against the man who alone can unravel her composure. When Alexei promises to 'finish what we started' immediately after the meal, the chapter ends on a knife-edge of anticipation, leaving Alina trapped between resentment and involuntary arousal.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-20

### Chapter 21

Alina Molotov returns to Moscow for a rare family meeting called by her brother Nikolai, only to witness a devastating revelation: Nikolai fathered a child with Ksenia Leonova—Alexei's recently deceased sister—five years ago. The four-year-old boy, Miroslav, now lives with the cruel Boris Leonov, prompting the Molotov brothers to plot a covert kidnapping to spirit the child away to a remote Idaho estate. Torn between family loyalty and her lingering bond with her betrothed enemy Alexei, Alina attends a charity gala where she cannot resist confronting him. Their charged reunion softens into shared grief over lost parents, culminating in a stolen moment of connection that ends abruptly when discovered—and drags her into a closet where passion ignites, leaving the chapter on a breathless cliffhanger as Alina's guilt over the kidnapping plan collides with her dangerous attraction.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-21

### Chapter 22

The narrator confronts Alexei in a charged present-day moment, their exchange crackling with unspoken history. Nine months ago, a fragile connection bloomed between them, but it shattered when the narrator and their brothers orchestrated the theft of Alexei's nephew—a betrayal that cost lives and left blood on the narrator's hands. Now, as Alexei challenges the narrator's false sympathy toward his sister that night, the narrator insists the act was genuine, though privately they cling to the lie that hatred alone defines their current enmity. The chapter closes on the weight of accumulated deaths and the unresolved tension of where they stand today, leaving the confrontation hanging like a blade between them.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-22

### Chapter 23

Alina Vladimirovna attends a Moscow event where she encounters Alexei, the man she desperately tries to resist yet cannot stop wanting. In a coat closet, their violent reunion escalates from furious kisses to him claiming her virginity, leaving her bleeding and overwhelmed. When he attempts to take her fully against the wall, her bodyguard Vankov intervenes with a drawn weapon, forcing Alexei to stop. Before fleeing, Alexei threatens to send a car for her the next night, warning she will regret refusal. Traumatized and fearing for her safety, Alina resolves to escape Alexei's orbit by joining her brother Nikolai's move to a remote Idaho compound, determined to disappear from his radar despite the unresolved threat.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-23

### Chapter 24

Alinyonok shares a tense dinner with her captor Alexei aboard a yacht as a violent storm churns the ocean around them. Their conversation turns to his obsessive claim on her, with Alinyonok theorizing that she represents the ultimate status symbol—a wealthy Molotov heiress who cannot be bought, making her arm candy with generational power. When the meal ends and lightning cracks overhead, Alexei invites her below deck to the bedroom he intends for them to share, ending her brief reprieve. Fear grips her as she realizes she knows nothing of her captor's weaknesses while he knows everything about her private life, leaving her trapped with a man who views her as a prize to be claimed.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-24

### Chapter 25

Five months into hiding at her brother Nikolai's remote Idaho mountain estate, Alina finds the refuge more suffocating than safe. Plagued by mysterious headaches she numbs with marijuana, she fixates on Alexei and the encounter in the coat closet that drove her to flee. While Pavel cooks and Lyudmila tends to Slava, Alina watches her nephew—abducted from the rival Leonovs—struggle to bond with his father, who insists on speaking only English to him. Proposing a live-in tutor to break the language barrier, Alina secures Nikolai's reluctant approval to post a local ad. She lures the wary child into play with a warm smile, but as Slava grasps her hand, a sharp ache reminds her of the dangerous man she left behind. The chapter closes on her unresolved longing, the mountain air no longer a shield against the past.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-25

### Chapter 26

Alina finds herself cornered aboard a rocking yacht, escorted by Alexei into a private cabin where escape seems impossible. His grip on her elbow is firm and restraining, while his dark eyes read her panic like an open book. When thunder cracks overhead, he mocks her fear, asking if she regrets their bargain. She insists she does not—trading herself was the only way to protect Nikolai’s son and the lives of Chloe, Pavel, and Lyudmila from the violent fallout. Yet a bitter regret lingers: she wishes she had made the exchange sooner, before the bloodbath that claimed so many of her brother’s men. Now, as the storm rages outside and Alexei blocks the cabin door, she waits to learn what price this bargain will truly extract.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-26

### Chapter 27

Alina hides in Nikolai's Idaho estate, coding a video game to distract herself from the approaching threat of Alexei Leonov. When an EMP disables all electronics and gunfire erupts, she shelters with Lyudmila, Chloe, and young Slava in the underground safe room. An explosion forces them out, revealing a deadly standoff in the smoke-filled garage: Nikolai and Alexei aim weapons at each other with Slava caught between them. Chloe shields the boy, but Alexei demands both Slava and Alina, threatening lethal force. To prevent bloodshed, Alina volunteers to honor the betrothal contract made when she was fifteen, walking into Alexei's arms as he drags her toward the forest. She leaves her brother's family behind, accepting captivity as her inevitable fate while hoping to spare their lives.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-27

### Chapter 28

Alina and Alexei reach a remote cabin aboard a yacht as a violent storm closes in, ending more than a decade of running. In the claustrophobic shelter, Alexei drops a devastating revelation: he secretly orchestrated their betrothal contract when she was barely a child, murdering her tutor to ensure no other man could claim her. As lightning fractures the sky, he pins her to the bed, confessing his obsessive desire while she fights back tears of rage and hatred. When she declares she will always hate him, he smiles cruelly and promises she will love him by nightfall, sealing the moment with a possessive, unwelcome kiss that leaves her trapped both by the tempest and his relentless grip.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-28

### Chapter 29

Trapped aboard a yacht during a violent storm, Alina finds herself at the mercy of Alexei, the man who captured her yet claims her heart. What begins as a brutal struggle for dominance ignites into a torrent of sensual intensity, blurring the line between captor and lover. As the tempest rages outside, the battle between them escalates inside the cabin, Alina torn between her desire to resist and her body's treacherous response. Alexei's possessive grip and raw determination to claim her push her to the edge, forcing a confrontation with her own complicity. In the aftermath, she confronts the uncomfortable truth that she may be losing not just the fight, but herself to him. The chapter ends with the storm still raging and Alina surrendering to the knowledge that Alexei has won this round, leaving their tumultuous future uncertain.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-29

### Chapter 30

After a violent storm subsides on their isolated yacht, Alexei carries an exhausted Alina into the bathroom, where he showers her clean while revealing the true extent of his control. He confesses he has remained celibate for a decade since their betrothal contract was signed, then declares his ultimate demand: he will not return to Moscow until Alina bears his child to replace one he claims was stolen from them. Alina realizes with horror that he has deliberately avoided contraception during their three encounters, engineering her pregnancy as a permanent bond. Though she clings to the fragile hope that her brothers might rescue her if he takes her to Russia, Alexei's tender kiss only underscores the trap closing around her. The chapter ends with her desperate refusal unanswered and the threat of forced pregnancy looming as the chapter's darkest unresolved pressure.

Cite: https://books.mozaikallc.com/en/works/anna-zaires/terrible-beauty#chapter-30