Page 161 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
“What the hell are you two bickering about this morning?” Maxim asks, walking into the kitchen dressed in just his gray sweats that hang low exposing the deep v of his hips.
“Nothing,” I answer.
“Something,” Sergei adds.
Maxim looks between the two of us. “Spit it out.”
“Pancakes?” I ask, raising the plate of the fluffy creations toward him.
Maxim grunts and grabs a couple from the stack I made while I push a glass of espresso in front of him. “Are you buttering me up, Grace?”
“Good to see you made it through the night, Max. I have things to do,” Sergei says before shooting me a glare as he walks out of the room.
“That’s the second time he has left the room and pressured you to talk to me about something. What happened between the two of you?”
How do I explain that entire mess with Sergei?
“Last week, I came downstairs in the morning looking for you. I wanted to apologize because I knew my rejection had hurt you.”
“I told you that you didn’t need to,” he states, shoving a pancake into his wide mouth.
“Hold that thought. I’ll be back in a sec,” I tell him as I rush out of the kitchen and down the hall to his office. I need to explain with the photo, that is the only way it will make sense. I open the drawer on Maxim’s desk and find the photo frame.
“What the hell are you doing in my office?” Maxim asks his voice as deep as thunder.
“Shit, I told you to wait,” I say, dropping the photo frame on the desk.
“Where the hell did you find that?” he asks, snatching the frame from the desk and holding it close to his chest.
“I came looking for you that morning after everything, but I couldn’t find you.”
“And you think I would fit into a fucking drawer? “His lip curls up in a snarl.
“Of course not, I just thought?—”
“Thought what? I don’t understand why you needed to go through my personal items to find me. This is why Sergei is upset with you. He found you in here, didn’t he?”
My shoulders sink, this conversation is taking a huge left turn. I didn’t think he would get that upset about it. Guess I was wrong.
“Were you hoping to find something to use against me so I would let you go?”
I shake my head. “No, no! Of course not.”
“Were you trying to find information about Dmitri? Seeing as he was the one that hired me to kidnap you.”
That was low. I can feel the panic beginning to rise through my body just at the mention of his name. Then everything stills. “Have you spoken to Dmitri since I’ve been here?”
“Don’t change the subject, Grace.”
“Answer me, Maxim,” I shout at him as my hands shake beside me.
“Once.”
“Once?” My insides begin to crumble. He’s spoken to the man who ruined my life. He’s kept him on as a client. How fucking stupid am I? To think that someone like Maxim would fall for a girl like me. I’m just a commodity, something to be used to bargain over. “Fuck you, Maxim!”
“I don’t think so. I repulse you, remember?”
“You’re a fucking asshole for throwing that in my face.”
