Chapter 20 Tomas
TOMAS
After breakfast, Enrique, my cousin, arrived to talk to Zoe about who she is and what information she might be able to give to Interpol.
“I can’t believe I am meeting one of the famous Bratva Jewels,” he says, holding his hand out for Zoe.
She gives him a small frown before shaking his hand.
“Enrique,” I say, annoyed at my cousin’s lack of manners.
“Shit, sorry that was so inappropriate of me. I got excited. It’s just that no one from the jewels ever escapes alive. We’ve never been able to help one of their elite girls before.”
“Elite girls?” Mateo questions.
Enrique looks at Zoe then at me, wondering if he should continue.
I’m guessing what he’s about to explain isn’t good.
“A lot of what I know is fuzzy still,” Zoe explains to him.
Enrique nods and begins explaining the jewels—code for Nikolai’s girls.
Girls he sends out to service people he needs things from.
Then there are his Precious Jewels. Nikolai’s elite ladies, the most beautiful women on his books.
He uses them as favors and bribes to officials, police chiefs, presidents, kings, and people of a higher caliber.
Enrique then pulls out surveillance images of Nikolai and his crew with some girls to show us.
Zoe visibly recoils when she sees the photos before reaching out and grabbing one of the images to bring it closer to her to get a better look at it.
I can see it on her face, the way her brows pull together, the way her top teeth are sinking into her bottom lip as she concentrates on the photos, trying to bring forth long-forgotten memories.
Staring down at the close-up images of Nikolai Petrov, I can see why Zoe fell for the guy, he’s gorgeous.
Has the whole bad boy image pulled together, brown hair that has been shaved.
Tattoo’s up and down his arms. T-shirt, tight jeans, he works out as you can tell by the muscles hiding under his clinging shirt.
I hate that this motherfucker tricked Zoe into this depraved way of life.
If or when I find him, I’m going to kill him.
Enrique then explains how Nikolai and his friends spend their summers frequenting the hottest places all over Europe looking for the most beautiful women he can find.
The group usually picks girls up at nightclubs, takes them home, drugs them, then they shuffle them across borders, and have them in Russia before the girls even know what’s happening.
“That’s not what happened to me? We dated for a couple of months before he took me to Russia,” Zoe says, shaking her head as she stares at Nikolai’s picture.
“See, that’s what’s strange, we’ve never seen him do that before.
Nikolai isn’t always the main perpetrator in these scenarios.
His cousin Dmitri, his second in charge is the one that mainly focusses on grabbing the girls.
But this time with you it was Nikolai,” Enrique states, pointing to the man in another picture.
I can see why Dmitri and Nikolai are tasked with grabbing the beautiful women because of their looks. Dmitri is as handsome as his cousin. It’s a shame their souls are as black as tar.
“I was with my sister Gracie. She had just arrived in from ...” Zoe shakes her head unable to pinpoint the location.
“… somewhere I don’t quite remember. We went out to my favorite place for drinks to catch up as I hadn’t seen her in a long time.
Dmitri and Nikolai came up to us. They then took us to a party and then we went home with them.
My sister and I both spent the weekend together with them.
When my sister left that was the last she heard from Dmitri.
But Nikolai, he stayed, he courted me. He wanted more.
Why would he do that to just feed me to the wolves? ”
“Not sure. But this is really good information you’ve given our investigation.
There was something different about you and your sister, but I don’t know why it changed months later.
I can’t imagine he was playing a long game with you.
As horrible as it sounds, there are plenty of other beautiful women around Barcelona that he wouldn’t have to make a connection with,” Enrique explains.
“You think he fell for Zoe?” I ask.
“Maybe. It doesn’t fit his normal steps. Who knows, as far as I am concerned, these men do not have hearts. So not sure if they could fall in love.” Enrique scoffs. “Do you notice anyone else in these photos?”
Zoe shakes her head as she places the photo of Nikolai back down on the pile.
“The guys were saying you have been getting back bits of your memory. Do you think you can remember who any of your clients were?”
“Enrique,” Mateo warns.
“I have to ask these questions, even if they are uncomfortable.” Enrique looks between Mateo and me.
“I don’t remember anyone. The only person who made themselves known was that man from the other night with one of the girls.”
Enrique nods. We’ve already given him those details from the other night.
I don’t think I gave Zoe enough credit for what she is going through knowing that she was kidnapped, and sex trafficked by her ex-boyfriend.
The same guy who put a hit out on you and assumes you are dead but thankfully through the sheer incompetence of the hitman you’re alive.
That would break anyone mentally. I’m grateful now that her memory has only now started to come back when she is much stronger and has Mateo and me beside her.
It makes me feel sick to my core that our beautiful angel was touched by the devil.
She’s never going to have to live in fear ever again.
Mateo and I will never ever let any harm come to her.
Nikolai will have to take our last breath before we ever let her go again.
“We’ve been tracking Nikolai for years. That part of the Bratva’s operations is hard to track because moving humans is a little easier than drugs because they have legs.
” Enrique chuckles, but no one else does.
My cousin composes himself realizing the room is not about jokes.
“Nikolai is high up in the Bratva especially here in Spain. We know that he has a lot of corrupt police and politicians in his pockets. Any time we get close to him, he is tipped off. Tomas knows what we’ve been dealing with, regarding this case, they are always one step ahead of us.
That’s why our meeting here today is off the books, no one knows about it.
I took leave for family reasons so I could do this without someone in our office tipping them off. ”
“Ruby warned me that they didn’t know I was alive. That’s why she was so insistent on me disappearing again. That if they found out I was alive they would hunt me down,” Zoe explains.
“She’d be right. No jewel has ever been found alive. That’s why you are the key to putting these assholes behind bars.”
“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.
“You won’t.”
It’s late by the time Enrique finishes going over everything Zoe remembers.
Mateo and I decided it was best to let her talk to Enrique by herself.
Each time we came in, I could tell she was skirting around the issues, and this is so much bigger than me wanting to be near her.
If I’m honest, I don’t think I could handle hearing all the things that had happened to her while kidnapped.
Just knowing what she has come from and the small snippets she’s told us is enough for me to light this motherfucking world on fire for her.
I can only imagine the depths of their depravity, and I don’t need my worst thoughts to be confirmed.
“Thanks for today, Zoe. You’ve given us so much invaluable intel you have no idea. I’ll be in touch. Tomas knows how to contact me if you remember anything else,” Enrique explains to her.
“I’ve organized for an extra security firm to look after us. We will be protected 24/7 until this man is disposed of,” I tell my cousin.
“I’m going to choose to ignore your choice of words, cousin,” Enrique warns me.
“Best you do that,” I tell him as I walk my cousin to the front door.
“Is she going to be okay?” I ask him when we are far enough away.
He gives me a grin. “That woman is amazing—she is strong, intelligent, and funny. I can see why something is happening between the three of you.”
My cousin’s words surprise me. I didn’t think we were overly affectionate with Zoe all night. How did he know?
Enrique chuckles at me. “You do know it’s my job to pick up on the unspoken signs between people. I can see it in your eyes, the way the two of you look at her. It’s something a little more than fun.”
“You’ve met her, it’s hard to not fall for her.”
Enrique slaps me on the shoulder. “I’m happy for you both. It’s unconventional, but if the three of you are happy that’s all that matters. She is going to need you both to heal from this.”
“Is it that bad?”
“I’m not going to sugarcoat it, yes. It’s good in some ways that her mind still hasn’t given her all her memories.
I’ve seen what these men do to these women.
They show no mercy. Please be careful. If Nikolai finds out she is alive, then none of you are safe.
As you know they are dangerous people, Tomas.
He knows many more powerful than your father.
I’ve been after this bastard for five years, and I’ve never been this close before. ”
Message received loud and clear. “What about her family? They must be worried sick about her. These fuckers were able to make her disappear. They were able to convince her family she is safe and well.”
“Like I said, they are very powerful, and if they can make hundreds if not thousands of women disappear from the streets without a trace, they can make one girl disappear easily. I will find her family and keep an eye on them. My main concern is her sister Gracie. They have probably stopped watching her now that they think Zoe is dead, but we can’t be too careful. ”
“Do you think we should bring Gracie here? Keep them safe together. That might help Zoe.”
Enrique thinks my request over. “Leave it with me. I’ll look into her a little more and see if we can maybe extract her off the books without alerting Nikolai’s men.”
Thanking him, I send him on his way.
I walk back into the lounge room and find Zoe asleep in Mateo’s arms. The image of the two of them together thaws my heart. I love them more than life itself, and I will do everything in my power to protect them.