Page 140 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“I don’t know what you want from me, Charity,” I say. “You were the one who wanted to come here. Then you wanted me to talk to him and ask for money.”

“Yes—because we need a means to survive.”

“And I have a bag of money upstairs in our room that’ll hold us over for a while.”

“This is Las Vegas, Elyssa,” Charity snaps impatiently. “That money won’t last us more than a couple of months.”

I’m not used to anger. Back in the Sanctuary, only men were permitted to feel it. To express it. Women like me were taught that giving into rage was giving into sin: utterly unforgivable.

So even now, free of all those rules, I’m still unsure of how to process my anger which is probably why it turns to tears. They swim across my eyes, but I blink them back.

“So you’re implying I should get more money from him, right? But every time I spend time with him, you treat me like I’m some… some… somecriminalyou don’t trust.”

Seeing my raw emotion, Charity’s face slowly transforms from indignation to regret. “Jesus, babe, I’m sorry,” she sighs, reaching out to pat the back of my hand. “I know I’m being a bitch right now. I’m just worried.”

“Why?” I demand.

And that’s when I realize—she knows something I don’t.

“What aren’t you telling me, Char?”

“Nothing! Nothing. I just… I’m worried about you, Lys. Back before we knew Phoenix was Phoenix, the way you spoke about him…”

“What?” I ask self-consciously.

“I don’t know. Sometimes, I think you caught feelings that night… when you two cooked up this little tyke.” She pokes Theo’s jelly rolls affectionately.

“That’s ridiculous. It was one night. Not even a night—just an hour or two. He was a stranger. Still is.”

“But the way you used to talk about him—”

“I constructed a fantasy for myself,” I admit. “But mostly, for my son. I wanted to be able to tell him something about his father one day. And honestly, I never expected to see Phoenix again.”

“Okay. But—”

“I don’t have feelings for him,” I interrupt. “End of story.”

“Okay, because if you did… Elyssa, that would be bad,” Charity warns. “He might be a powerful don but knowing what I know now about his involvement in Astra Tyrannis—”

“His involvement?” I interrupt immediately. “What involvement? You said he was trying to bring them down.”

“He is,” she says. “But that’s exactly why that makes him more dangerous for us.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve worked the nightlife long enough to know about these things, Elyssa,” she says, lowering her voice. “Astra Tyrannis… they’re bad. Really fucking bad. And if Phoenix is trying to bring them down, you can bet your ass they’ll hit back. I don’t want us to be caught in the crossfire when that happens.”

My heart is beating fast now. Panic is slowly clamping down on my throat.

I don’t want my son in danger. But my protective instincts are warring hard against my desire to stay with Phoenix.

He does something to me. Something for me. Something I can’t explain or describe or even fully process.

When those dark eyes land on mine, it’s like my soul shivers.

Charity reaches out and puts her hand on mine again. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to worry you. I didn’t even want to bring this up unless I absolutely had to. But we’ve got to look out for ourselves, babe. More importantly, we’ve got to look out for each other.”

“We’re family,” I whisper, repeating the very same words Charity had said to me what felt like a lifetime ago now.

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