Page 54 of Sapphire

Images of this Nikolai begin filtering through my subconscious. I remember him holding me, kissing me; we are laughing and having fun. He took me on a picnic at the beach, he looked dangerous with all his tattoos, but he never felt dangerous to me; he told me he loved me. He wanted a future with me. He made love to me slowly.

I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe.

“Saffy, lean over, deep breaths,” Ruby says as she helps me through my anxiety attack.

“I’m remembering things,” I whisper through the hiccups.

“I’m sorry, Saffy. I wish those memories stayed locked away in your mind forever. You shouldn’t have to relive what they did to you.” Tears fall down Ruby’s cheeks. “You need to run and never look back. Please disappear, Saffy. If they find you, they will kill you and anyone caught hiding you. Whoever Nikolai got to do the hit on you is dead—they didn’t do their job properly. You should have been dead, like all the other women.”

I wrap my arms around her. We hold each other, and a feeling of kinship settles over me, then I get a flashback of us like this in some dark room.

“How did they make me disappear? There’s no trace of me anywhere,” I ask her.

“They are powerful—so powerful, they can make anyone disappear. They control so many things. The fact they can transport hundreds of women across the world as part of their sex trade means they have friends in powerful places. They bribe men with these girls.”

I feel sick.

“I can’t believe I’m a prostitute. Why would I do something like this?”

“Hey, hey.” Ruby clicks her fingers at me. “You were stolen, Saffy, betrayed by a man you loved. A man you thought you were going to have a future with. None of this is your fault.”

I nod as the tears fall.

“I will try my damnedest to make sure Pierre doesn’t say anything. I’ll give you enough time to escape again.”

I look at her, confused.

“That man from earlier, he was one of your clients. I’ll make sure I get him to keep your secret safe, and then you run and never look back. You hear me?”

“But what about you and the other girls?”

She makes a sad face. “I pray one day you are safe, and someone will save us. It’s just a matter of time.”

“Come with me now. I can get you out tonight. Please, don’t go back.”

Ruby shakes her head.

“I’m not as strong as you, Saffy. I won’t survive. You need to get someone with power to save us. Someone who is more powerful than the Bratva.”

My heart is breaking for Ruby; I need to do something. “What about my family? Are they looking for me?”

Ruby shrugs her shoulders. “I’m not sure. I think Nikolai told them some story about you wanting to stay in Russia with him. All I know is you are Zoe Clark and you’re originally from Australia. You were studying languages in Barcelona. That’s how you were able to work out what was going on. You picked up Russian so quickly, nobody else understood it.”

“Please, Ruby, please don’t go back to that man. I promise you Tomas and Mateo can help you.”

She shakes her head again sadly. “They will kill my family if I escape. I can’t do that to them.”

I can’t let her leave. I can’t let her go back to these monsters.

“Forget about me. Promise me you will go. You are our only hope, Saffy. If anyone can save us, it’s you,” she says seriously.

“I can’t leave you, Ruby. I can’t send you back to those men.” I sob, wrapping her in my arms.

Ruby pulls herself from my arms and stands up out of my reach. “Don’t look back. Saffy, you can’t take on the Russian mafia by yourself. They know where your sister is, they know your family, they will hurt you in ways you cannot even begin to understand.” Ruby sobs. “They killed my sister. I watched them rape her, then slit her throat, all because I escaped once before. They warned me, and I thought they were bluffing, they weren’t. They killed her right before my eyes, and I couldn’t stop them, I couldn’t stop any of it and they laughed, they laughed as she lay on the ground, choking on her own blood.”

No. No. No.

“I must go. Do not make a scene inside, I beg of you. I will be in danger if you do. Once I’m gone forget about me until it’s time. Until it’s safe for you to come get us,” she warns me.

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