Page 210 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
“Thank you, everyone, for coming to this meeting. I know this is strange, but we are doing this for Grace and all the jewels that need to be found. We wanted to meet you, Maxim and Sergei, because you both mean so much to Grace. And because of that you get us. We wanted to formally welcome you to the crazy house,” Zoe says, raising her glass.
I think this means everything is okay? I’m still unsure.
“Welcome,” everyone mumbles as they raise their glasses at Sergei and me. We do the same back before Grace breaks away and hugs her sister.
“They don’t look happy to see us,” Sergei says in Russian.
“Do you think you’d welcome your sister’s kidnappers with open arms?”
Sergei shrugs. “Probably shouldn’t have gone for the kiss straight away, they seem overprotective.” He tries to keep a straight face as he teases.
Grace comes back and wraps her arm around my side. “Sorry, this turned into something bigger than you were expecting.”
“I don’t care. You are in my arms, that is all that matters,” I tell her as I kiss the top of her head which makes her sigh.
“If everyone could take their seats, we can begin the meeting,” Sophie says.
“Meeting?” Sergei asks in Russian.
Not sure what’s going on, but I follow Grace’s lead and take a seat on the sofa with her, and Sergei takes a seat beside me.
Once everyone has stopped fussing about, Sophie begins again. “Thank you both for meeting us today. I know it wasn’tthe warmest of welcomes, but I can assure you both, nothing untoward is going on.”
“Firstly, thank you for the intel you provided,” Brooks says sharply. “It’s helped us immensely in our investigations. Regarding this information, Grace has brought to our attention that a jewel named Emerald is your sister. Is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“He thought she was dead. It wasn’t until I was snooping that I found an old photo of Max and his two sisters, that I realized I knew her. But I knew from our conversations that he had lost both of his sisters,” Grace adds.
Brooks nods as if checking the information was correct.
“Sergei’s daughter, Anna, disappeared that day, too,” Grace explains.
I feel Sergei tense beside me.
“There’s no mention of an Anna in the information you’ve provided?” Brooks questions me.
“We haven’t been able to find anything on her,” I answer.
Brooks nods. “We wanted to meet with you today to discuss
working together to help find the jewels, your sister, and Anna.”
Sergei and I turn and look at each other, surprised by the turn of events.
“You want to work with us? Why?”
“Because of Grace,” Sophie adds.
I turn to Grace in confusion.
She smiles at me. “I thought it would be better if we joined forces,
since we’re all after the same outcome.”
“And everyone is okay with me?”
Grace stands up and stares down at her family. “You all better get over how we met because I love this man. He’s mine, and I’m not giving him up.”
