Page 230 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
She looks at me, confused.
Then the wives from our table walk into the bathroom and glare at us.
“Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk about this?”
“Whores,” one of the women says in Russian.
“We’re no different from you,” Elena says. “At least we aren’t stuck
with those men like you all are. Did you not see the two handsome men we have on our arms? I think we whores did good with them.”
The wives’ eyes flare with hatred.
“Come on.” Elena grabs my arm and pulls me out of the bathroom before the wives can retaliate.
“Well, that was kind of intense,” I say as I follow Elena down a corridor, not sure where we’re going.
“They’re just jealous, they settled for the first rich guy they met and now they’re stuck with bald jumbos for husbands.”She giggles, and it feels genuine like I’m hanging out with a girlfriend. “Come, let’s talk out here where we won’t be interrupted.” She opens the French doors to the gardens.
I have an uneasy feeling about this like I should be going back to the table, but I follow her, hoping the boys will look after me if anything happens.
Elena points to a stone bench nestled in the manicured gardens, and we take a seat. Silence swirling around us.
“The man you are with …” she starts, staring out into the darkness. “Does he treat you well?”
If I didn’t know who she was, I’d think she was a friend concerned for me. But maybe she does know exactly who Maxim is.
“Maxim is a good man.”
“Even though he kidnapped you?”
“Yes. After everything that happened with Nikolai and Zoe, sorry?—
Sapphire. I went and saw someone, you know, to deal with everything that happened to me, to us. I was having nightmares every night, thinking Dmitri would come and take me again, bring me back into this nightmare.”
“And he did, didn’t he?”
“He sent Maxim because we would know Dmitri’s face. I—” I take a deep breath. “I was addicted to Xanax, and when Maxim took me, I went into withdrawal. This stranger, he sat with me for a week while I detoxed from the drug. He may have stolen me, but he saved me as well.”
Elena’s eyes widen, and I can see pain cross her face. A single tear falls down her cheek.
“Are you okay?”
She nods. “I’m glad he didn’t hurt you.”
“He would never hurt me.”
“You care about him.”
“I love him.”
“Youlovehim?”
“Shut up, Grace!” Brooks screams in my ear, but I ignore him.
I lift my hand and show her my ring.
She grabs it and stares, taken aback, but I need her to understand that … I don’t know, that she can trust me and tell me who she really is. It’s right there on the tip of her tongue.
