Page 14 of Emerald

“You really want to hear how messed up in the head I am?” I ask, turning to look over at her.

“I’m a health professional. I can handle it,” she says.

“It might make you look at me differently,” I add.

She shakes her head. “You’re family.”

I tell her about Dimitri. How we met, how our relationship grew. All the fucked-up things I did. Of course, I censor it for her because of operational details. Then I tell her about my feelings toward Dimitri and that even though he double-crossed me, he still has a hold over me. That I hate hearing that Grace and Dimitri had a thing together before it turned dark. I explain to her how fucked up it is being jealous of Grace because of it. That I knew Dimitri was a bad guy, but he wasn’t to me, he never showed me that side of him until Moscow, when he left me there for dead.

“That’s a lot to unpack,” Mackenzie says, nodding.

“I told you. You would look at me differently,” I tell her, standing up to pace the room.

“That’s not it at all,” Mackenzie tells me. “All I’m thinking about is even in the underworld, smart, independent, beautiful, strong-ass women get fucked over by fuck boys just like us in the above-ground world.”

A smile quirks against my lips. This is why I like this girl so much, you never know what the hell is going to come out of her mouth.

“Dimitri promised you the world, but it was all a lie. Now, yes, there is some other fucked up shit in there, but if you strip away all that stuff it’s no different to what men have been doingto women for centuries. It’s a tale as old as time. Men having their cake.”

If you take out the messed-up stuff, what happened between Dimitri and me is normal.

“He gaslit the fuck out of you. Love bombed you. All classic narcissist traits. Believe me, I have dated a couple of assholes like that,” Mackenzie says, rolling her eyes. Which makes me smile. “You didn’t deserve it. Don’t blame yourself for him being who you wanted him to be. He was playing a character to get what he needed from you. He probably did that to distract you from the jewels.”

My stomach sinks as the realization hits me. “Fuck.” I curse out loudly.

“What?” Mackenzie asks, those blue eyes wide, her dark lashes blinking slowly.

“You’re right. That fucking asshole played with me so that I was distracted enough to not do anything about the jewels. He knew that if I was truly aware of what he and his cousin were doing, I would have stopped them. I would have put a bullet through each of them without hesitation. I can’t believe I never realized. How could I have been so stupid?” I ask, thumping my chest.

“Sometimes good dick blinds you to things,” she adds.

This makes me laugh.

Mackenzie scrunches up her face. “Dimitri is a disgusting pervert, and thinking about his dick makes me want to hurl. But I get it, he was a handsome monster.”

She doesn’t need the gory details of how well he fucked me and how good his dick was. And if I ever run into Dimitri Petrov again, there’s a bullet with his name on it.

5

ELENA

“I’m sorry about that. I needed a moment,” I tell everyone as I walk back into the living room.

“Are you okay?” my brother asks.

I nod. “I am.” I look over at Mackenzie, who gives me a wave of encouragement. “Grace, I had no idea what Dimitri put you through. And you, too, Zoe,” I say, looking between the two sisters. “What he showed me was another side and I can never forgive myself for falling for that man’s bullshit. If I’d known he was hurting you both, I would have killed him right then and there, and I don’t know how you both can ever forgive me. I can’t forgive myself.”

Sophie huffs in the corner at my comment, while Mackenzie sends daggers at her. The room is silent, everyone processing my revelation.

“He fooled me at the beginning, too. That man can be charming when he wants to be. I understand how you didn’t see the other side of him. That wasn’t what he wanted to show you, he had other plans for you,” Grace says, speaking up.

“How do you not know what a man like him is capable of?” Sophie asks, interjecting herself into the conversation.

“Hey, unless you walked in her shoes you can’t understand things,” Mackenzie states, coming to my defense.

Sophie’s eyes narrow on her older sister as she tries to work out why the hell she is sticking up for me.

“If I could go back in time and see things through a different set of eyes I would. I can promise you that I will hunt that man down and make him pay for what he has done to this family. What he has done with those girls,” I tell them coldly. The character of Persephone is seeping through, the one that doesn’t hesitate to kill someone.

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