Page 47 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

The body remembers even when the mind wants so desperately to forget.

When Aurora and Yuri had first disappeared… The helplessness, the uncertainty…

I vowed to never feel so out of control ever again. The ironic part is that it isn’t the kind of promise that any man has the control to make in the first place.

Not even a man like me.

I force myself to slow down just a little, though I still make sure to stay ahead of them. I don’t want to talk to Elyssa or to even look at the boy right now.

Murray is getting heavier against my shoulder, but I don’t want to drop the pace. If I slow down, then all my mistakes will catch up to me.

“Jesus, hold the hell up!” the brunette calls. “Elyssa, you okay?”

I glance around to see Elyssa panting softly, her cheeks flushed with color. She’s cradling the baby to her chest, trying to soothe him, but he’s starting to cry anyway.

“You okay?” the brunette asks her again gently.

Her tone takes a different edge when she talks to Elyssa. It’s kind. Maternal. Her hand flickers over Elyssa’s shoulder and then to the baby.

The dark hair throws me for a fucking loop.

It’s just like mine.

Yuri favored his mother. He was born with Aurora’s teal blue eyes and strawberry blonde curls. I said again and again that his hair would darken with age.

We never got the chance to find out.

My gut twists uncomfortably and I feel the gasping need for alcohol. Anything to numb the steel-edged pain of old memories.

“You’re tired,” the brunette says. “Let me carry him the rest of the way.”

“I can manage,” Elyssa replies.

She looks at me and I see the soft determination in her eyes. She doesn’t want to look weak in front of me. She doesn’t want to look like she’s not capable.

“Don’t be silly. You’ve been carrying him for ages. Let me take him.”

Before Elyssa can protest, the brunette plucks the baby out of her arms and cradles him against her chest like he’s her own.

“Hey, handsome,” she coos to the baby as she starts to walk again. “We’re going on a little adventure.”

As she moves closer, my eyes can’t help but go straight to the baby’s face. His eyes are shaped like mine. Their color is more complex, though. Not too light. Not too dark.

Instinctively, I look at Elyssa, only to find she’s looking right back at me. She blushes hard and averts her gaze, but not before I make a mental note of her eye color. Caramel brown with subtle flecks of green, like toasted hazel. Mine are a dark, inky brown that might as well be black.

The baby’s eyes are a perfect blend of the two.

“If you’re done gawking, we can keep going,” the brunette chides.

I throw her an annoyed look and resume hustling through the night.

“There’s no reason to look at me like that. Especially when the person you’re really mad at is yourself.”

I stop, pivot, and stare at her with irritated disbelief. “You met me five minutes ago. What makes you think you know me?”

She shrugs. “I know men.”

I bark out a harsh laugh. “I bet you do.”

---