Page 44 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“You… I know you.”

“Do you?” I ask calmly. “How flattering.”

I can feel Elyssa and her friend watching me. Waiting for an answer as to who I am. Murray’s going to give me away, but I don’t care. I don’t even know if my name is going to mean anything to either one of them anyway.

“Kovalyov,” he whispers. “You’re the son.”

I try not to let my anger show. It’s an immature reaction I’d picked up as a teenager, but even after a decade as the lone Kovalyov don in Las Vegas, it’s stuck.

My father’s name has always come first, then mine.

To an extent, I understand it. He is the top don of the Kovalyov Bratva. That is an honor he deserves. But living in his shadow robbed me of the ability to stand on my own, away from his legacy, his reputation.

“I’m the only one who matters to you,” I reply icily. “Because I’m the one who decides what happens next.”

“Phoenix Kovalyov,” Murray murmurs.

I’m watching the two women out of the corner of my eyes. Elyssa doesn’t react to my name at all. But her friend does. She reaches out and grabs Elyssa’s arm. They exchange a look, but I can’t tell what it holds.

“You’ve been interfering with Astra Tyrannis operations for the last several years,” he snarls.

I smirk. “And now we get to chat about it. Just the two of us. Lucky night.”

Murray bares his teeth at me. “You don’t know what you’re getting involved with. You don’t fuck around with Astra Tyrannis.”

I smile. “Why don’t you let me worry about that? How about, for right now, you worry about yourself? And believe me, my friend—you should be worried.”

“What do you want?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” I ask impatiently. “I want answers.”

“All you’ll get is a painful death,” he snarls. “I’m not alone, you know. I’ve got backup.”

“Where are they now?”

“On the way,” Murray replies. “I called them in before knocking on the door.”

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

I know he’s trying to scare me off. But all he’s done is warn me about the impending danger. If it is in fact true.

“Wait,” Elyssa’s friend says, stepping forward. “Do you mean that the cops are coming here? Now?”

“Yeah,” Murray snarls, answering her even though his eyes are still fastened on me. “They’re coming. Two squad cars with more on the way.”

“And none of them know you’re working with Astra Tyrannis?” I ask conversationally.

He snorts. “Is that your way of threatening me?” he asks. “I’ve been on the force for a long fucking time. Those men on their way here are my friends. Whereas you are a crime lord with a bad fucking reputation. I can pin all kinds of shit on you. I can make your life really fucking difficult.”

“Are you threatening me now?” I ask with faux amusement. “Because from where I’m standing, it doesn’t look like you have much in the way of bargaining power.”

“All I want is the whore,” he says, jerking his chin towards Elyssa’s friend. “Let me take her and you won’t have anything to worry about.”

Elyssa moves in front of the brunette instantly, her body stiffening. I can tell she’s terrified to intervene, but she does it anyway.

“No one is touching her,” she says proudly.

Murray looks at her with complete disdain. “Careful, little bitch,” he snaps. “You might be next.”

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