Page 215 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
As soon as Grace hears his name, the smile falls from her face, and an invisible tension slide across her skin. Sergei’s eyes find me in the rearview mirror, and I can see the fury written across his.
“I’ve obviously caught you at a bad time by your tone, but I won’t be long. Do you still have my Gracie?” he questions me.
Grace gasps beside me, and I hold up my finger to my lips indicating for her to stay quiet which I know will be hard.
“Yes, I still have her.”
“Good. I wanted to let you know I’ll be coming to collect her at the Russian Ball in Moscow next week.”
“I wasn’t planning on attending.”
“And now you are. Make sure Gracie is wearing something nice for me, will you? I like seeing her in red, my scarlet woman.Because I’m coming to collect what’s mine, Maxim. I don’t want to be delayed anymore. My patience is running out.” With that, he hangs up on me.
That motherfucking asshole. Thankfully Grace can’t understand Russian, but she heard his voice, and that was enough for her to start to shut down.
“Max?” Her voice wobbles.
Reaching out, I cup her face. “It’s going to be okay. I’m here, and I’ve got you.”
I tell Sergei in Russian to head back to her apartment.
“You’re safe with me, Grace. He will never touch you again.”
She nods, but the tears welling in her eyes tell me that she’s not okay.
Reaching out, I grab and pull her into my arms so I can cradle her to my chest as I stroke her hair, telling her that she is safe until we make it back to her apartment. Picking her up in my arms, I carry her inside and up the stairs.
The entire room falls silent.
“What the hell is going on?” Tomas roars.
“Dmitri called Max and Grace heard,” Sergei explains.
“Let me take her to her room and I’ll explain.”
“I’m coming,” Zoe says as she follows me down the corridor. “I’ll stay with her while you tell the others what’s going on.”
I place Grace down on the bed, and Zoe wraps herself around her as Grace sobs into her chest.
Reluctantly, I leave Grace’s room, and I’m met with a hostile room.
“What the fuck happened?” Brooks questions me.
“He’s requested Grace’s attendance at the Russian Ball in Moscow.”
“Fuck,” Brooks curses.
“What does that mean?” Sophie questions him.
“It’s a ball the Bratva organized so that they could do business while appearing to be legitimate businessmen to the outside world,” he explains as he looks to me for confirmation.
“He’s right. It’s where you go when you want to do an arms deal, buy drugs, hire a hitman.”
“This is something you go to every year?” Tomas asks.
“No. I don’t need to advertise my services.” Not to sound cocky.
“But you could go, and no one would notice,” Mateo adds.
