Page 153 of Bratva Jewels Box Set

“I’m telling you the truth. This woman here is Emerald. She works closely with Dmitri and Nikolai,” I explain again. I know I’m right.

Sergei pauses then the next thing I know he is pulling out a gun and positioning it on me.

Oh shit. He’s going to kill me. I instantly drop the photo frame and hold my hands up.

“Who the fuck do you think you are to play jokes on us like this.”

“I’m not. I promise you. I’m telling you the truth.” I sob, waiting for his finger to slip and a bullet to pierce my skull. There’s no way in hell Sergei would miss.

Sergei puts his gun down and then slides it away. “I needed to know if you were telling the truth. I’m sorry I had to do that.”

He’s what? As my body collapses and falls back into Maxim’s office chair, I clutch my chest as my heart is ready to explode. I probably need a change of underwear too.

“You seriously know this woman? You’re not mistaking her for someone else?” Sergei questions me.

“Why would I make this up?”

“People say and do anything to save themselves,” Sergei adds.

“You think I’m making this up to save myself. There are a million and one other stories I could have come up with to save myself. I could have just slept with Maxim last night. So many things I could do and this is not one of them,” I scream at him.

Sergei is quiet as tension swirls between the two of us. “I believe you,” he says quietly.

He believes me. After putting me through hell he believes me. Picking up a bronzed globe on Maxim’s desk, I throw it at the wall beside Sergei’s head.

He doesn’t even flinch.

“You fucking believe me now? After pulling a gun on me?” I yell at this man.

“Had to be sure,” he states as if it’s no big deal.

Maybe in his world, it isn’t, but in mine it is. That is not how you communicate with people.

“Why don’t you call your friend, Dmitri. He would confirm the existence of Emerald.”

“That man is not my friend,” Sergei says, pointing his finger at me.

“She is certainly his friend,” I bite back.

Sergei then reaches for his pocket again, and I flinch, waiting for a gun to be pulled on me again. When I look back, he has pulled out his wallet and shows me a photo of him with a beautiful blonde woman with ice-blue eyes on his arm.

“This is my daughter Anna. She was Elena’s best friend. They did everything together. Was she there? Did you see her?” he asks, shoving the crumpled photo in my face.

Taking it, I examine the photo, but she doesn’t ring a bell. “I never saw her.”

Sergei’s shoulders slump. “Are you sure?”

“I don’t know her, but Zoe might. She was there a lot longer than I was. You need to take me home so we can find your daughter.”

Sergei’s eyes narrow on me before snatching the photo from my hand. “Do not use my daughter as an escape plan,” he warns.

“I wasn’t,” I protest, but I know it’s no good as Sergei doesn’t trust me anymore. Finding me in Maxim’s office hasn’t landed me any favors with the old man. “Are you going to tell Maxim?”

Sergei shakes his head. “Not yet. He must concentrate on his job. Then when he comes home, I will tell him.”

“What about Dmitri? He knows who Emerald is. She’s very close to him. She’s not like the other girls.”

“In what way?”