“I don’t understand.”
“I bought you a rare emerald in Turkey. I wanted the best for you. But I ran into a spot of trouble, and I had to pawn it temporarily. I’ll get it back.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“I lost big at gambling.”
“Theo. You said you’d stopped.”
“I know, I know. It was one last time. At Rhodes. I was doing well. Until ...” He rakes both hands through his hair.
“Until your luck turned?”
“Yeah.”
She closes her eyes, despair curdling with anger inside her.
“It was a sure thing, Rosh. I—”
“It’s never a sure thing,” she snaps. “Don’t you see? You’re an addict. How much this time?”
He exhales hard. “It’s not just the loss. I borrowed. A loan shark. Moldovan. Connected. I had a plan to pay him back quickly. Unfortunately the plan backfired. Now they want their money back.”
“They?”
“Like I said, the Moldovan is connected, Rosh. To an organized crime ring out of Moldova but with a base in Athens. They run an operation out of a bodybuilding gym. And now they’re after me. They’re threatening me.”
“How?”
“It’s bad. And this is why we need the spy cams. I swear, I wouldn’t have asked you otherwise.”
She stares at him in disbelief. “You told me they were just for your act.”
He doesn’t reply.
Anxiety claws her. “Theo, what exactly are you planning to do with the surveillance footage?”
“If I don’t pay up by the end of next month, they will go after my sister in Athens, Rosh. They’ll hurt her. Send me her fingers. Next, they’ll go after my mother. It’s what they do. They torture. Rape. They lop off fingers. They kill.”
Roshaan has never seen Theo like this. So ashen. So visibly shaken. Her anxiety tilts toward raw fear.
Please, Allah, give me strength. This man is a roller-coaster ride.
“You’ve got to help me, Rosh. You can’t abandon me—not now. Please.”
They both fall silent as the food arrives. Theo apparently ordered ahead—a seafood platter for two. The most expensive item on the menu.
When the server leaves, Theo says, “Once this trip is over, we’ll have the funds. I’ll settle the debt, get your ring back. We’ll get married. Have babies. Whatever you want.” He smiles.
“How is spying on my elites going to bring you money? What exactly do you mean?”
He exhales again, this time with an air of frustration. “There’s some incredibly valuable dirt coming in. I can’t even begin to tell you what else I’ve seen on those cams. I witnessed something early this morning in Avi Galev’s suite that is fucking insane—mind-blowing.”
“Like what?”
“It’s probably safer I don’t tell you. These guys—the Moldovans—I don’t want them coming after you, too.”
Her pulse quickens. “Theo? Tell me what you’re doing with the footage you’re recording, or I’m out. I swear. I—”
