Page 239 of Bratva Jewels Box Set
inside of you.”
I stiffen at his words. “Only by force.”
“You don’t remember the night in Barcelona when we met?”
“My mind seems to have wiped that traumatic experience.”
This makes him laugh again. “I have missed your fiery temperament, Gracie.” He curls my hair around his finger. “Emerald is, well ... too accommodating. I miss the fight, the spirit of you.”
“What, because you found a woman who loves you and wants to fuck you, she isn’t good enough?”I will not be intimidated. I will not be intimidated.
“No, the difference is she isn’t you, Grace.”
I shake my head; I’m not listening to these things.
“Things were great between us until ...”
“Until you raped me,” I say.
“I know what I did was wrong, but I had no choice.”
“We all have choices. You chose to degrade women.”
Dmitri sucks in an angry breath, but calms himself down before he
speaks again. “I remember seeing you across that bar in Barcelona. Nikolai and I were taken from the moment we saw you and Zoe, and not because we thought you would make the perfect jewels, but because you were the most beautiful women in the place. You were laughing and having fun. There was no pretentiousness surrounding you. It was nice.”
I will not get sucked into walking down memory lane. “Fleeting moments of humanity do not erase what you have done to me, Dmitri.” I dare to look at him and see that I have hit the tiny spot of humanity left in him. “You destroyed me once, but it wasn’t enough, you had to bring me back here, to this world again, and watch it destroy me a second time.”
“Yet, among the chaos, you seem to have fallen in love. I mustn’t have broken you enough.” His fingers dig into me, his tone menacing. That scrap of humanity has vanished.
“No, Maxim put me back together again, but this time, I’m stronger.”
“Then I look forward to breaking you harder next time.”
Before I know it, I’m being ripped from Dmitri’s arms and pulled back into Maxim’s.
“He won’t always be able to save you, Grace,” Dmitri says, grabbing Elena’s hand and pulling her onto the dancefloor.
“I need a drink.”
Maxim takes my hand and heads toward the bar where he orders a glass of champagne and a whiskey.
“Are you okay? What did he say to you?”
I can see the concern on his face, but I wave him away. “I’m fine, I can handle him now.” I take my glass of champagne and finish it quickly.
Maxim doesn’t look convinced.
“Please, one day, can you kill that fucking bastard for me? Maybe even as a wedding gift?”
This makes Maxim roar with laughter. He pulls me into his arms and kisses me. “You are an extraordinary girl, Grace.”
“Are you okay?” Elena asks, meeting us at the bar.
“Not a fan of your boyfriend, that’s all.”
“I know,” Elena says quietly. “And I hope you will forgive me for what I am about to ask you to do for him.”
