Page 121 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
This makes me laugh. Is this fool serious? “And why would I do that?”
He reaches around to his back pocket and pulls out his phone. He
swipes it a couple of times and shows it to me. “This, this is them.” He points to two beautiful blonde girls, one with sapphire eyes and the other with jade-green eyes.
“Cute. And?”
“This one.” He points to the second blonde. “Grace. She loves being dominated. Kinky as. Great fuck.”
“Not interested. I don’t need to kidnap some woman for a fuck. That may be how you get women, but it’s not how I get mine.” My lip curls up at him as I look him up and down in disgust.
“I’ll pay you.”
Now he’s got my attention. I’ll bite. “Not sure if you can afford me.” I cross my arms over my chest.
“Name your price.”
“One million dollars.”
His face pales. “One ... million ...”
“My services don’t come cheap. They’re paying me half that just to rough you up. Don’t forget you have to find all the jewels. Do you seriously want to waste your time on those two when you could be finding the others?”
“If I can get them at least one or two it bides me some time. You can’t kill them.”
This guy is an amateur. I roll my eyes. I know how precious these jewels are from the chatter over the years, but I’ve never seen one before. They are always under lock and key, only pulled out when favors are needed. The fact that this idiot and his cousin sold them, I understand why they want them back and him dead. I still don’t understand the effort the Bratva is making to find these women. Are their pussies lined with gold or something? Can’t they train more gorgeous women to do their bidding?
“You’ll have to give me time to get the money to you.”
I shrug. “It’s not my neck on the line, Dmitri.”
“I know, I know. I promise I’ll get the money to you.”
“Good. Now that that’s all sorted. I need to finish this job.”
Dmitri’s eyes widen, and I let out an evil chuckle. Did this fucker
think he was just going to get a little pistol-whipped after the stunt he pulled?
Fuck, no.
Sergei and I descend on him as his screams fill the abandoned warehouse.
2
GRACE
“I’m so happy for you all.” I give my sister and her two fiancés a hug. We are celebrating their engagement before Mum and Dad must head home to Kiribati to finish off Dad’s time as ambassador. It’s been nice having them and my entire family here since this nightmare happened.I’ve needed them.Whereas Zoe, she has her gorgeous fiancés to help her through the nightmares. To be fair though, she was coping with this nightmare before she was kidnapped a second time. I don’t know if this time is worse or not as Zoe doesn’t speak of it much with me, but it doesn’t matter, she sacrificed herself for me. She was willing to dance with the devil until the end of time to save me. That’s a lot of responsibility to deal with. That you’re the reason she went through more trauma. My therapist is helping me through these issues, issues that I keep to myself. I’m not going to spoil this incredible life Zoe has created for herself in Spain. She deserves all the happiness in the world. Whereas I … I don’t know what I deserve. All I know is I wouldn’t be functioning if it weren’t for my magic pillscalled Xanax. They make everything better.
“Thank you, I’m so happy.” Zoe smiles, then her voice lowers to a whisper. “How are you doing?”
Today is her day, so she doesn’t need to know that I’m not coping, that I wish I had died instead of having to relive the things Dmitri and those men did to me. She doesn’t need to know that I need these white pills the therapist gives me to just get through the day. Or that I’m supplementing my ‘official’ supply with the help of a local dealer—not that I know what it is he’s selling me. I put on a good front, smile, laugh, and talk it out with professionals, and yet, still I can’t escape the images of Dmitri as I sleep.
Brooks, one of the Mercenaries who saved Zoe in Morocco, and his security crew have been teaching us self-defense, commando style: how to kill a man with your bare hands. How to disarm a man with a knife or a gun. Survival skills, negotiating skills. Every day we’re at the gym getting stronger because Dmitri is still out there, and I know he will be seeking revenge for us killing his cousin. And yet I still can’t function without medicated help. It’s my dirty little secret, one I’m ashamed of, but I need to get through this for the interim, and then I’ll be okay. I’m not as strong as Zoe, I’m not as street-wise as Sophie, and I’m not as smart as Mackenzie. All my sisters are extraordinary and it’s hard to live in their shadows.
I’ve given up my work in The Hague. I love the law, but after seeing how easily the law is flouted, I’ve lost my faith in it. The law should have been able to protect the women kidnapped and sold into sex slavery. The law should be able to put these terrible men in jail for their crimes, yet all they have to do is pay off the right people, and they’re out again to continue destroying people’s lives.
“I’m doing fine,” I tell Zoe, plastering on the fake smile that seems permanently stuck to my face.
