Page 87 of Sapphire

He pushes open the door and pulls me into a grand bedroom, locking the door behind me. He lets my wrist go and I rub it.

“I thought you would like this room; it reminds me of you.”

I look around the room. It’s excessive, rich Persian rugs in different shades of blue all over the floor, an enormous hand-carved four-poster bed in the middle.

“It’s called the Sapphire room.”

That name pulls me back to a time my mind had locked away. Flashes of my former life flick through my mind and I stumble on my feet.

Nikolai’s hands steady me, but I shake out of his embrace, which makes him chuckle. I notice the rich velvet curtains hanging, and I need to see where we are, I need to find the closest exits. I pull the curtains back and all I can see is the ocean in all its blueness, palm trees scattered everywhere, and grand ornate gardens.

“Where are we?” The question falls from my lips in a whisper.

“Morocco.” Nikolai moves closer to me.

I can feel his warmth against my back, and I want to be sick.

“I’ve missed you, Zoe.” He only uses my name when he is the old Nikolai, the soft, gentle man I met all those months ago, but when he switches to Sapphire, I know what is coming, I know he wants me to perform. I flinch as his breath hits the back of my neck. “I hate that you are scared of me.”

I ignore my body’s reaction. I want to lash out, but where did that get me last time? Nowhere. It got me isolation, it got me beatings, it got me raped. I need to play it differently this time—my life is hanging by a thread, and at any moment, Nikolai could snuff it out without a second thought.

He brushes my hair away from my neck.

I want to be sick at his touch, but I stand still.Look out at the beautiful gardens, Zoe, concentrate on something beautiful. This time I need to be smart and fight dirty.

“I have something of yours.” His lips touch my skin, and it feels like a thousand needles prickling me.

I hate it. I don’t want him touching me. I’m not his.

I don’t move a muscle. I feel the cold metal against my skin.

“Remember when I gave this to you?” Nikolai asks.

I chose to forget that night, the night he put a sapphire collar around my neck like some prized dog. “The night I made you mine.” He sucks harder on my skin as his hands run up my side, brushing the underside of my breasts. He is waiting for me to stop him, and I want to. Every instinct in my body is telling me to reach out and push his hand away, but that is going to get me thrown into some cell, away from Gracie, away from freedom.

“I have missed you so fucking much. I hated watching you with those men. You are mine, Zoe,mine. No one else’s, do you understand?” His hands find my breasts, giving them a squeeze.

I try to swallow the bile that is rising in my throat.

“How? How did you see me?” My question is timid; I don’t want him to revert to his boss persona.

“I have my ways. I told you last time if you ever escaped, I would find you, I would come for you. I am a powerful man, Zoe, remember that.” He kicks my legs out, and I close my eyes and try to think of good things. “Put your hands on the glass, Zoe,” he commands.

Tears threaten, but I push them back, now is the time to be strong, he will be testing me. He wants a fight, he wants me to push him away, but I won’t give it to him. He pulls down my sleep shorts and throws them to the side. My heartrate accelerates, and I bite my bottom lip as I try not to think about what he’s going to do to me. His hand grabs my fleshy ass and gives it a squeeze. His hardness is pressed against my back.

“You are still so beautiful.” His hand cups me through my underwear. “No one, no one has compared to you. Why can’t I get you out of my head? Why do you occupy my thoughts? Why do I still fucking care about you?”

I don’t answer his questions because I have no answers for him. I hear the sound of foil behind me, and I pray that I can get through this.

29

TOMAS

Zoe and Gracie have been missing for a week, and we are no closer to finding them. We have rented a new home on the other side of the island, far away from the horrors of what happened at our old home. Mateo has been suffering from nightmares, so there’s no way in the world I would subject him to staying there.

Zoe and Grace’s family have now joined us. I wish we were meeting Zoe’s family for the first time under better circumstances. We asked them to stay with us so we could all be together. It’s our base in the search for the girls. Her parents have been amazing, her dad has been on the phone nonstop since he arrived, pulling favors everywhere he can, thanks to him being an ambassador.

Enrique has exhausted every contact he has in Morocco and is no closer to finding their location, it’s as if once they touched down in Casablanca, they all simply vanished.

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