Page 159 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

She notices something in my demeanor. “Phoenix?” she balks. “Phoenix, what are you—”

I grab her by the forearm and shove her back into one of the stalls.

For a moment, she grips my arms as though she thinks I’m taking her in there to fuck the life out of her—and then she realizes what I’m going to do.

“No…!”

She crashes into the stall. The toilet strikes her in the back of the knees and she plops down into a seat on the closed lid.

I stand in the stall threshold blocking her. She stares up at me, the betrayal clear in her eyes. “You said I could come with you!”

“I lied.”

Then I slam the door in her face and grab her discarded t-shirt from the bathroom counter.

I hook it around the door and tie a firm knot.

“Phoenix, please!” she cries, hitting the stall hard. “Please don’t do this. It’s too dangerous.”

“I know. Which is exactly why you’re not coming with me.”

“Phoenix—”

“I let you distract me once before. It’s not happening again.”

I pull out my phone as I exit the bathroom. I make sure the Out of Order sign is still hanging off the front as I screw the earpiece back into place and switch it on.

“Phoenix, what the fuck? Where are you? Konstantin and Alexi are inside. They have eyes on Sakamoto, but not you.”

“It’s all good,” I say. “Walking into the ballroom right now.”

“What happened?”

I sigh, but I can’t avoid it any longer. “Elyssa,” I explain.

“Seriously? You’re thinking about her now?”

“No—I mean, yes—What I mean is, she followed us here.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“We had a stowaway in the trunk,” I tell him. “She’s currently in the bathroom just outside the gala ballroom, northwest corner of the floor. Get someone to her and get her out of here.”

“Fucking hell, Phoenix!”

If he says anything else, I ignore it.

The gala is in full swing. Men and women glide around the room, sipping champagne and discussing shit that only rich people care about. Everyone is in their finest, their glitziest and glammiest. Trying to impress one another with how much they spend and how little they care.

I spot Sakamoto immediately. He’s the only one with a full security detail surrounding him. I have to resist the urge not to roll my eyes. The surest way to make yourself a target is to arrive with a fucking entourage.

I then catch sight of Konstantin and Alexi on one side of the ballroom. I give them a nod. The two of them will have to run interference if my impromptu meeting with Sakamoto is disturbed.

As I adjust to my surroundings, I become vaguely aware of Matvei in my ear again. “…ty khudshiy grebanyy slushatel'!”

“I know, I know,” I interrupt. “It’s inconvenient.”

“Inconvenient?” Matvei repeats. “Or fucking suspicious?”

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