Page 66 of Sapphire

“I’ll do anything, anything, to stop these people,” she says strongly.

That’s our girl.

“But there’s one thing,” she says, looking at my cousin seriously.

“Name it,” he says.

“I need you to protect my sister and family. Especially Gracie as they have gotten to her before, and they will get to her again easily. As far as they know, I’ve been living happily with Nikolai in Russia. That I’ve given up my degree to be with him. I need you to protect them, please.”

Enrique smiles and tells Zoe he will, he promises he’ll keep her family safe.

“And by family, I mean Mateo and Tomas too,” she adds.

Enrique looks between the two of us and nods.

“Do you think we can protect her?” Mateo asks.

I can see the worry on his face. He’s stayed relatively quiet this entire time.

“Tomas has the resources but getting extra security wouldn’t hurt. I’ll do a deep dive into all your staff again and see if there are any links to this guy from the party. He is our only link between Nikolai, the Bratva, and the jewels.”

“Tell me what I need to do, and I’ll do it,” I say to my cousin.

He gives me a nod. “Zoe, if you don’t mind, I have a lot of surveillance that I would like to run through with you, if you have the time?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Please excuse me for a moment,” Mateo says, getting up off the sofa and heading down the corridor toward our bedroom.

I follow him as he seems too quiet for the normal Mateo. “Babe, wait. Are you okay?” I call out to him.

He ignores me and walks into our bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

Guessing he’s not okay. I open the door and slam it behind me.

Mateo is sitting on the bed slumped over, his fingers pulling at his hair.

“My love, what is the matter?” I ask, stopping in front of him.

“I can’t stop thinking about what Enrique said about what those men did to her. They kidnapped and sold her as a party favor to their friends. Our Zoe.”

“I promise we will hunt these bastards down and eliminate every single one of them.”

“You heard what Enrique said. They have friends in high places. Even if they do capture them, they will call in a favor and be out on the streets again stealing innocent women for their sick games. I don’t want them to go to jail, Tomas. I want them fucking dead,” he curses angrily.

Falling to my knees in front of him, I grab his fists and hold them in my hands. “I promise you. We will deal with them the way we need to, and they may not always be legal,” I say, staring into his eyes.

Mateo gives me a curt nod in understanding. “Last night … last night when she said she was leaving us. My heart broke open, Tomas. It was as if I couldn’t breathe, the thought that we would never see her beautiful face again, hear her gorgeous laugh or touch her soft skin.”

I can see the anguish on Mateo’s face.

“Zoe’s not going anywhere, okay. She proved that this morning when she made us breakfast.”

“The thought of someone coming and taking her from us makes my heart want to crack in two.”

“No one is taking Zoe ever again. I promise you, my love, she is safe with us. You and I will protect her from the devil.”

“I can’t lose her. I can’t lose you,” he says, looking up at me.

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