Page 17 of Sapphire

“Well, I haven’t gotten that far yet, so don’t make it harder for me.”

“Tomas is a pussycat underneath those suits. You’ll be fine.” Mateo chuckles.

“I’m still invading his personal space.”

“But you’re cute, so he’ll forgive you.” Mateo smirks.

He thinks I’m cute.That shouldn’t make me giddy, but it does.

“Maybe a long time ago I was cute but with these bruises not so much.”

Mateo looks over at me, and those chocolate-colored eyes run down my face assessing each and every bruise. He then reaches out and cups my chin.

“One day I’m going to find out who did this to you and make them pay.”

Oh wow. He means it.

A throat clears, and Mateo drops his hand from me as we both turn around and see a very unimpressed Tomas standing there with our drinks.

* * *

“I will break you, lyubimaya. This is your life now, you cannot escape. There is no escape, no one ever escapes me. The sooner you realize that, the easier this life will be. Stop fighting me.”

“Zoe, Zoe.” I hear someone calling my name.

“Don’t touch me,” I scream, pushing the person away from me as I kick out in self-defense.

“Fuck,” the male voice yells.

I must get away from them. I jump up from where I am and bolt. Unfortunately, I stumble over my feet in my haste to escape and end up rolling on the floor taking someone with me. Strong arms are holding me against them.

“Please, don’t hurt me,” I plead.

“Zoe, it’s Tomas. Zoe, open your eyes and look at me, it’s Tomas. You’re safe. No one here is going to hurt you.”

Strong fingers grab my face, steadying me. His concise words clear the fog that clouds my mind. When I come too, I realize I am laying on top of him, my soft body pressed against his hard body.

Shit. I jump up and fix myself.

“I’m sorry,” I mumble, feeling completely humiliated.

“It’s okay, you’ve been through a lot, and it sounds like you were having a nightmare.” He looks at me, his hazel eyes imploring me to give him details.

“It was dark, and I couldn’t escape.”

A tsunami of tears catches me off-guard as I try and contain them.

Tomas wraps his large arms around me, pulling me to his chest.

“You’re safe now,” he tells me as he strokes my hair.

It’s calming as I let out everything I’ve been holding in. I feel myself moving—he’s picked me up, and we’re crossing the pool deck back to the day bed I was on. He sets me down in between himself and Mateo.

“You’re safe now.”

Two sets of arms wrap around me, cocooning me between them.

“We’ll protect you.”

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