Page 105 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
“Nikolai has demanded that you stop looking for her, that you go home, otherwise …” Gracie chokes up, but we all understand what she means.
“Come on, let’s get you out of here and work out what the hell we are going to do to save our goddamn stupid sister,” Sophie says, putting her arm around Gracie and helping her out of the room and into our waiting car.
Gracie jumps into the shower the moment we arrive back at the villa.
“What the hell are we going to do?” Mateo asks.
“They are going to have eyes on you both to make sure you go back to Ibiza,” Enrique says.
“But we can’t leave her here,” Mateo says, sounding frustrated.
“I know, but we have to come up with a way to make it look like you gave up,” Enrique suggests.
Mateo sits down on the couch. “She would never believe we gave up.”
“I know, but Zoe’s not who we have to convince,” I tell him.
“Doubles! You should find your doppelgangers and use them to make Nikolai think you have gone back to Ibiza,” Sophie says.
We all turn and look at her. It’s a brilliantly stupid idea, but it might work.
“Do you think we could find people?” I ask, not feeling convinced.
“Yeah, there’s an Instagram account dedicated to people who look like me.” Mateo laughs. “We could start there?” He opens his phone and brings up the Instagram account. “I have a stunt double on the TV show as well. There are heaps of paparazzi so we can easily fool them into taking photos, and there will be evidence that we have gone home.” Mateo smiles, happy with his idea.
“Do you think it will work?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“Okay, then let’s work this out.”
It’s taken a good couple of hours for Gracie to venture out of the bathroom and start answering Enrique’s questions. What happened to her sends chills over my body, especially when she tells us that Zoe and the girls protected her from most of it. Which means Zoe has gone through way worse.
Later, I catch Gracie sitting in the garden looking up at the stars.
“Hey,” I say which makes her jump. “Shit, sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” I take a seat beside her.
“Sorry, I’m a bit jumpy.”
Which is totally understandable—she just got kidnapped.
“She loves you both, you know that right?” Gracie’s blue eyes are so much like Zoe’s it’s unnerving.
I’m silent on the matter as I don’t know how I feel about anything, my emotions are all over the place.
“Tomas, you don’t doubt her, do you?”
“No, it’s just …” I don’t know. I really don’t know, and that scares the shit out of me. What happens if there’s some truth to what was posted in that video? What happens if she has fallen for him again?
“No, don’t you fucking dare doubt her, Tomas.” Gracie looks at me angrily. “You have no fucking idea what she went through, what she has done to protect you, to protect Mateo, to protect her family. She has sacrificed herself to the devil to save me. I will not let that man win. He doesn’t get to take my sister away again. Please, Tomas, don’t give up on her.” Gracie starts crying and I pull her to my side.
“I’m sorry, Gracie, I’m sorry that I thought … that I thought there was a chance that she might not want us.”
Those tear-soaked blue eyes look up at me. “She loves you and Mateo with all her heart. Before we were kidnapped, she wasthinking about the future with you both. She knew that being with the two of you would be controversial for most people, but she didn’t care because she knew her love for you was bigger than what anyone could say. She was looking forward to the day you could get married and have children. My sister’s focus has always been on working for the United Nations, but her thoughts have shifted to making a life with you and Mateo. She jokes about being a housewife. She was happy, and she just wanted you both so much.”
Tears are running down my face. Fuck, how could I have ever doubted her? I hate myself for thinking like that.
“You want that, don’t you? Is that the kind of future you want? With her?”
