Page 41 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

I glance at Charity, and I see the message blaring in her eyes.

Go for the gun.

11

Phoenix

Murray never sees me coming.

I cross the darkness from my car to the front stairs of the shelter at a full sprint. He draws the gun and takes one step inward.

That’s when I hit him. A hard blow in the center of the back that sends the wind rushing from his lungs. He stumbles into the shelter and his jaw clacks hard on the tile floor.

I take stock of the two women standing a few feet away, but I don’t focus on either one. First, I need to make sure Murray isn’t a threat. Then I can deal with them.

But before I can move towards the prone Murray, both women make a grab for the gun in the cop’s hands. He’s just flustered enough that the dark-haired woman is able to tear the weapon from his fingers.

He gets a grip at the last moment and sweeps at her ankle. She’s badly injured, enough that she stumbles back despite his lack of strength, dropping the weapon in the process. It gives him enough room to bounce up to his feet—just in time for the blonde to charge forward and claws at his face.

Something about her is strangely familiar, but I’m too distracted by what’s happening to puzzle it out.

This shit needs to end. Now.

The blonde retreats backwards and manages to scoop up Murray’s gun from the floor. But he’s on the offensive now as he closes the distance to her while unholstering the Taser from his belt.

He’s milliseconds away from unleashing it on her…

When I crack the back of the head with a crisp elbow. Immediately, he slumps to the ground. His face hits the floor hard enough to break something. I hope he’s still conscious enough for that shit to hurt.

It’s only the beginning of the pain he’ll face tonight, though.

I look up, satisfied with my handiwork—to see the blonde brandishing the gun in my face.

“Don’t move,” she orders.

Her voice wobbles.

The gun doesn’t.

I freeze in place. My eyes track slowly from the gun to her trembling hands, down those skinny arms and up to her face.

A face I thought I’d never see again.

She sucks in her breath at the same moment cold realization floods through my body.Chto za khuynya? It can’t be…

Her eyes go wide. I know she recognizes me, too. But we don’t even have names for one another. Just the memory of one hot, hazy night over a year ago.

“Oh my God…” she breathes.

Her huge, amber eyes are just as mesmerizing as I remember. Her chest rises and falls, but she doesn’t drop her hands. The gun trembles in my direction. It’s obvious that she’s never even held a gun before, much less fired one. One wrong twitch would leave me with a hole in my chest.

“Why don’t you put that down?” I suggest coolly.

“No.”

Her brunette friend stares between us from the floor, suddenly aware of the recognition that’s burning between the blonde and me. “Elyssa, what’s going on?”

Elyssa.I feel as though a year-long mystery I’ve been chasing has finally been fucking solved. It suits her. Feminine. Pretty.

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