Page 235 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
“If you don’t find the jewels, he’ll have you killed,” Elena explains to him.
He’s shaking his head in disbelief.
“He wouldn’t. I’m like a son to him.”
“No, babe, Nikolai was. He blames you for getting him killed.”
I see the realization on Dmitri’s face—he knows what Elena is saying is true.
“How do you know this?” he asks.
She reaches out and runs her hand over his cheek. “Because I’m his mistress, too.”
If Dmitri had a heart, I think it would be breaking in this moment. “You’ve been sleeping with my uncle?”
“I had to. It was the only way to keep you alive.”
“What do you mean?”
Elena steps closer to him, cupping his face. “I would do anything to
protect you, Dmitri. He made me an offer, my body for your life.” She leans forward and kisses him on the lips, trying to calm him.
My trigger finger isn’t happy, and neither am I.
Elena sounds so convincing, telling Dmitri that she cares for him, and it’s confusing.
“When did he ask you?”
“Just after Morocco.”
“And he told you that if you slept with him, he wouldn’t kill me?”
She nods.
“Is that why he sent Maxim to Morocco to rough me up?”
She turns and looks at me.
“It’s true,” I say.
“I’m so sorry, baby, I had no idea,” Elena tells Dmitri.
“Thank you for trying to look out for me, babe, but my uncle
played you. Maxim’s mission is to kill me in six months if I don’t find the jewels. That’s right, isn’t it, Maxim?”
“That is correct.”
“At least he gave you six months,” Elena says. “You know what your uncle is like, especially after losing Nikolai. He was training him to take over. He was devastated when he was killed. He would have killed you then, but the jewels are worth more to him. Having them in his pocket means he can control almost anyone.”
“You’re right. He must die and, Maxim, I’m going to need your help to do it,” Dmitri says.
Walking back to the table after the revelation in the garden was hard to do. I had Brooks and Sergei screaming in my earpiece about what Dmitri had just suggested, telling me to get out of there, that we’re putting ourselves in more danger, but I’m not going to leave my sister.
“Sorry about that.” Dmitri smooths his tuxedo jacket as we sit at the table. “It was such a beautiful night, we just had to enjoy it.”
Elena flirtatiously slaps his arm, pretending to be embarrassed.
