Page 181 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

I force a smile and nod. “No, thank you, Anna. Where’s Theo, by the way?”

“He’s inside with Charity.”

She gives me another smile and heads back inside.

The sinking feeling is only getting worse. I don’t want to open it but I feel as though the longer I wait, the more painful this will be.

I sit down on one of the pool chairs and untie the gold ribbon. It falls away easily. The only thing left for me to do is lift the lid. Or maybe I should just throw this away. Don’t look at it, don’t fret over it. Just put it out of sight and out of mind.

But I knew even before Anna handed it to me that that wasn’t an option. This is destiny in a box. I have no choice but to open it.

My hands tremble as I pop open the top. I’m praying to God that whatever’s inside will be innocent. I’m hoping that there’ll be a simple explanation for the package as well as its’ sender.

But I’m wrong about that.

I’m so, so wrong.

Because what’s sitting in the box is the physical reminder of the crime I committed to steal my new life and disappear from my old one.

Even more than that, it’s the terrifying reality that I haven’t succeeded in disappearing.

I’m not free.

I never was.

They haven’t forgotten me.

And this is their way of letting me know.

You can run, but you can’t hide. We’re coming for you. No one ever truly leaves.

I stare down at my gift, fighting back terrified tears. I don’t want it to be true, but there’s no escaping it: my past has finally caught up to me.

Because nestled amidst decorative tissue paper is a cast iron paperweight.

Shaped like a swan…

And covered in blood.

37

Phoenix

I pause at the edge of the pool and look over at Elyssa. She hasn’t moved since she opened whatever box Anna handed her. And maybe it’s just a trick of the eye but I could swear her fingers are trembling.

“Someone sent you a gift?” I ask, sounding casual as I pull myself out of the pool.

She nods slowly. “Sort of. It’s just… I don’t know how they knew I was here.”

My mind jumps to the photos Matvei mentioned. The pictures of Elyssa and me at the gala. The evidence linking us to the crime. Someone has it—the cops. The media. My enemies.

And they want us to know that.

Matvei sounded confident that my face was unrecognizable but whoever saw it clearly knew where to send the package.

The question remains… what else do they know?

“What is it?”

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