Bratva Jewels Duet (Books 1-2), page 36
I look into his evil eyes.
‘What, you don’t think I know you, Grace? Remember, I have been 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 actually 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 am 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, 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 I 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 towards 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.’
‘I can’t believe you’re asking me to do this.’ I glare at Maxim, who looks at his feet.
‘It will be all over, soon,’ Elena says.
‘Elena promises you will be okay, plus you have, you know …’ He taps his ear.
Yeah, what good is a man in my ear going to be when I’m locked in some bedroom with a scary-arse Bratva head honcho.
‘Suck it up, Grace, it’s go time,’ Dmitri snarls at me.
God, I hope Maxim puts a bullet in his head.
‘Uncle.’ Dmitri grabs Ivan’s attention as he walks past. Maxim is hidden. ‘I need to talk to you.’
Ivan looks at Dmitri and there is hatred flashing in his eyes. Then he looks over his shoulder and notices Elena and I standing behind him.
‘And what do we have here?’
‘I have two gifts for you, two of the jewels.’
Ivan’s eyes widen. ‘But I saw you with Maxim earlier, he never said.’
‘That’s because I asked him not to,’ Dmitri says, saving Maxim from his uncle’s fury. ‘I wanted it to be a surprise.’
‘And it is, a very good surprise, two jewels just for me.’ I can see the filthy things that are running through his mind, and I shiver with repulsion.
‘I’ve organised a room above for you for tonight.’
‘I hope that you can accommodate us,’ Elena purrs, and I give him a weak smile. Being here is all they are going to get from me.
Ivan looks over at his guards and then back to us. ‘I think I have time. Lucky you caught me on my way out, but now I have two good reasons to stay.’
We follow the men down a back corridor, up a staircase and down another corridor.
‘You okay?’ Elena whispers to me. I nod, even though I’m not. ‘I promise you won’t have to do a thing.’
‘Maxim is following but keeping his distance,’ Mac says into my ear. At least knowing he is there helps me to continue down the corridor. ‘Grace, there are exits at either end of the hall. If you escape you need to run for them, they’ll take you to the next level and back to the gardens. When you make it to the gardens, we’ll be able to collect you. Okay?’
I nod, hoping he can detect the movement, hoping I don’t have to run at all.
Dmitri and his uncle are chatting in Russian, but I am so nervous that I’m not concentrating on what they are saying.
Elena grabs my hand. ‘Grace. Do you remember the plan?’
I nod. The plan where I pretend to be happy about flirting with this old man, whose family has tried to destroy mine, who has destroyed so many lives. Oh yes, I remember the plan, where Elena starts off the seduction, where she asks me to pour Ivan a drink and I put in the drug and hand it to him. He will pass out before he wants us to do anything physical, and Elena will use her famous heart-attack formula, injecting it into his heart. He should be dead a minute later. That plan—oh yes, I remember it.
‘Ladies, welcome.’ Ivan smiles at us both. The door closing behind us makes my heart thump through my chest. Elena gives me a reassuring smile.
Dmitri is standing guard outside. Ivan’s two bodyguards have been dismissed but as an added precaution, Maxim will be taking care of them. I know exactly what that means and while I’d thought knowing my fiancé was going to murder those two people would upset me, here, now, the knowledge doesn’t bother me in the least.
‘Grace, why don’t you get Ivan a drink so he can relax, while I warm him up?’ Elena reaches for Ivan. I suppose he isn’t the ugliest man in the world, he’s okay looking for an old guy.
I walk over to the bar area and pour him a vodka. I can hear Elena giggling and Ivan’s murmur accompanying it. I take the small vial from my bra and pour the contents into his glass, using my finger to stir it. The powder dissolves quickly until the liquid is clear again. I turn around, and there’s Elena on her knees, giving Ivan a blow job—not at all what I was expecting.
‘Stay calm, Grace,’ Mac says through my earpiece. I keep forgetting they can see what I see. Ivan looks at me and his hand reaches for the glass so I give it to him. His other hand pulls me to his side.
‘You are so beautiful, Diamond.’
I smile shyly, hoping he thinks this is part of my act. ‘Thank you.’ I try to block out the noises coming from Elena on her knees beside me.
Ivan throws back the glass’s contents. Yes! He reaches out and grabs my breast, making me squeal, but I stand still.
‘You have lovely breasts.’ As he gropes them, I watch his eyes start to become unfocussed, and his legs sway. ‘Suck hard, Emerald,’ he says, his hand falling away from me to grab the chair, trying to hold himself up.
‘Emerald is doing a good job there,’ I say, hoping he thinks it’s Elena’s wicked blow job skills that are making him woozy. ‘Why don’t we move this to the bed? You might be more comfortable.’
He nods and Elena moves away from his hard dick. That is something I didn’t want to ever see: Dmitri’s uncle’s dick. We shuffle him onto the bed, he is almost a dead weight, but he manages to get on to it.
‘You always take me to heaven, Emerald.’ He smiles as she crawls up the bed and straddles him.
‘That’s because I love your dick, Ivan.’ She leans over him and kisses his cheeks. He lets out a happy sigh, then closes his eyes.
I watch as Elena pulls a small needle from her bra. She pumps it once and then injects it into his heart. Wiping off her fingerprints, she places the syringe into her bag.
Suddenly Ivan sits up, clutching his heart.
I scream. I watch as his eyes widen and realisation sets in, then he slumps back and doesn’t move again.
Elena tests his pulse.
‘He’s dead.’
Holy shit, that was quick!
She picks up her phone, types something into it and places it back in her bag. ‘We need to go.’ Grabbing my arm, she hauls me out of the room.
Dmitri is waiting with the biggest smile on his face. ‘Have fun, ladies?’
‘Always.’ Elena pulls him in for a heated kiss. Dmitri pushes her up against the wall. It’s as if they’re on an adrenaline high. The situation becomes kind of awkward.
‘Maxim is on his way up the stairs,’ Mac tells me, as if he can read my thoughts. Moments later I see his black hair, then his handsome face. I run to him and he picks me up in his arms, holding me tight.
‘I’m so sorry, baby. It’s time to go now.’ Maxim stills when he sees the make-out session between Elena and Dmitri.
‘It’s time to go!’ he calls to them.
Elena disentangles herself. She fixes her hair and pulls her dress back into place.
‘You guys go and get a headstart. I’ll meet you by the car,’ Dmitri says and smiles at Elena, kissing her cheeks.
It’s not until we get halfway through the garden that we hear the commotion behind us.
‘There they are!’ Dmitri’s voice yells. ‘Maxim Vasiliev just killed my uncle and is stealing my jewels.’
79
Maxim
‘Run!’ I scream.
‘Sergei will meet you at the gate to your west about one hundred feet from your location,’ Mac says into my earpiece.
I pull my handgun from its holster and fire at Dmitri and his guards. Fucking double-crossing scum. What the hell kind of shit is he playing at? Elena pulls a small handgun from under her dress and starts firing too.
They’re gaining on us. All I can hear is Grace screaming as the bullets fly past her. When Grace stumbles and twists her ankle, I grab her just as she starts to fall and hold her with one arm. Then I see Sergei through the clearing, waiting with a town car, thank fuck—a limousine would never get us out of here in time. The door is open and I throw Grace into it with Elena, I dive in and slam the door shut. Sergei pushes his foot to the floor and gets us out of there as bullets hit the side of the car.
‘What the fuck just happened?’ I say through laboured breaths.
‘Dmitri fucking double-crossed us,’ Elena says.
‘No shit,’ Grace says angrily, ‘I could have told that he would, but no one would listen to me.’
‘He’s pinning this on you, Max.’ Elena looks at me, worried.
‘I know. We made it too easy for him.’ I punch the seat in front of me.
‘The entire Bratva is going to be after you,’ Elena says as she leans back against the leather seats, her chest heaving. I click our seatbelts in and try to calm down.
‘You need to kill him,’ Grace says
‘He has protection now,’ Elena says.
‘No, no, I want that man dead! We were supposed to be safe if we helped him, my family was supposed to be safe.’ She bursts into tears and I pull her against my chest, trying to soothe her.
‘The jet is on standby, we are leaving now, rendezvous in thirty minutes,’ Mac says into my earpiece. We’ll be in the dark now until we make it to that plane.
‘Sergei, is the car fully stocked?’
‘Of course, like you asked.’
I pull open the drawer underneath the seat, which houses an array of guns.
‘Holy shit!’ Grace gasps.
‘Yes.’ Elena smiles, picking up my SIG handgun and cocking it. I hand my Beretta to Grace, who looks horrified.
She shakes her head. ‘I can’t shoot this.’ She points to the gun, not touching it.
‘We trained at my range, remember? You were a good shot with it.’
‘And then we fucked. That’s what I remember about the day.’
Elena and Sergei try to stifle their laughter, but Grace is still freaking out.
‘You’ve got this, Grace. I need you to be armed.’ I’m trying not to freak her out, but a shit storm is about to come down on us and I need her to be ready.
‘Okay,’ she says hesitantly, taking the gun from me.
I remind her to take the safety off and I see her get into kick-arse mode. I pull out my M24, and have my trusty Glock sitting in its holster. I take off my jacket so it doesn’t get in the way.
Sergei looks into his rear-view mirror. ‘We have company.’
‘Grace, move into the middle. Take your heels off in case we have to run.’
She crawls over me. I reach over and rip her evening dress.
‘Oh my god, what did you do? That was couture,’ she squeals.
‘That means shit when you have to run.’
I watch as Elena does the same, kicking off her heels.
‘You seriously think we’re going to have to run?’ Grace says.
‘Be prepared.’
‘Incoming!’ Sergei shouts as we hear the rumble of something behind us.
I turn and look through the back windscreen and see three Hummers barrelling towards us.
‘Shit.’ I aim my sniper rifle at them.
‘Elena, shoot out the window for me, I need a clear shot.’
She nods and does just that. Grace screams beside her as we’re showered with glass. I get to my knees, resting my gun on the headrests, and take my time lining up the shot. A boom fills the night air and one of the Hummers wobbles as it deals with having a front tyre blown out. I watch as the windows wind down and hands come out, holding guns. I turn around and drop over the top of Grace as the bullets hit the back of the car. Elena returns fire.
I sit up and steady myself as best I can, lining up the face of the driver in my scope and pulling the trigger.
His head slumps to the side, his hands turning the wheel, and the Hummer takes a sharp turn and rolls a couple of times.
‘Yes!’ Elena gives me a high five, as we congratulate each other.
‘Two more coming up,’ Sergei says.
I line them up again and take a shot, putting a hole in the first Hummer’s engine, and another tyre blows out. The second car speeds closer to us, but Elena returns fire and takes out a couple of guards.
‘ETA to airport is twenty minutes,’ Sergei says as he weaves in and out of late-night Moscow traffic.
‘Shit, shit, shit.’ My eyes catching movement in the distance.
‘Fuck, Max. That’s a helicopter,’ Sergei says. ‘We’re stuck on the fucking freeway—I can’t get off. We’re sitting ducks.’
The whoop whoop of a military-grade helicopter gets closer as the tiny black object in the distance moves towards us.
‘Max.’ Grace sounds fearful. I look over at Elena and she’s pale. We both turn around and buckle up.
‘Sergei, you need to run this car off the bridge,’ I tell my right-hand man.
‘What the fuck, Max?’ Grace screams at me. The fear in her eyes breaks my heart.
‘Babe, I promise we’ll be safe. It’s not far, put your seatbelt on tight.’ She’s shaking her head, so I do it for her. ‘You’d better message whoever you report to and let them know the situation has turned south. That you are starting you exist strategy,’ I tell Elena.
She nods and pulls out her phone.
‘This is Agent Vasiliev, I am compromised, deploying exit strategy A, going dark.’
I hear a voice on the other end of the line and then she hangs up.
Sergei relays the situation to Mac or Logan on the phone, and I can hear shouting before he hangs up. ‘ETA to the bridge, five minutes.’
The car is quiet, except for Grace’s sobbing. I wrap my arms around her, whispering to her, letting her know everything is going to be okay.
‘ETA two minutes.’
I look up. The helicopter isn’t far now, then I hear it—the machine guns sound like a freight train. The back end of the car crumples as the bullets hit it, and Sergei turns the wheel as we reach the start of the bridge. We crash through the barrier and then we are flying.
Everything happens in slow motion. My arms stay tight around Grace while her screams fill the car. We freefall for what feels like minutes, but is only seconds. The murky water of the Moskva River comes into view, and we hit it with a thud. The car slowly sinks, pulling us under, then everything goes black.
80
Grace
Darkness. All I can see is darkness and it’s cold, I am freezing, my body is shivering. I think I have turned to ice. Maxim, Maxim! I call but my ears feel like they’re full of water, I can’t hear anything.
Then: ‘Grace, Grace.’ A voice in the distance. ‘You’re safe now.’ Where are they? They sound so close. I force my eyes open, but see only blurs. I shake my head, trying to get the water out of my ears.
‘Don’t move,’ the voice commands.
I’m exhausted, my limbs are like jelly. Bit by bit my eyes open, but it’s still dark.
‘Grace.’
‘Sergei?’ I look up into his blurry face. He has blood dripping from his face, a cut along his forehead. He uses his forearm to wipe off the blood, but it just keeps coming back.
‘Oh, thank god you survived.’
‘You’re bleeding.’
‘I’m fine,’ he says. ‘How are you?’
‘Cold.’ My teeth beginning to chatter.
‘I know, I know. Look, help will be here soon. We need to stay out of sight, it’s still dangerous out there.’
‘Maxim.’ I suck in a breath, looking around for him.
‘Grace, relax, you might have injuries.’
