Page 62 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

When I turn to the side, I hear a hammering noise. It’s Aurora. She’s on the other side of a strange glass wall, begging to be set free. She stares at me, her eyes wide, blood dripping from them like tears. She bangs her hands against the glass until the skin of her knuckles splits and starts bleeding. Even then, she doesn’t stop. Just keeps hammering and hammering until the glass is smeared with blood and I can barely see her past it.

I try and get through to her, but I can’t. I can’t even get close enough to touch the glass. Something keeps me tethered in place, stretching and striving to reach my wife so I can save her.

But there will be no saving her tonight. Just like there was no saving her five years ago.

There’s just the pounding of fists against the barrier and a silent, endless scream.

My eyes fly open as I register that the knocking sound is real. It’s coming from the door of my office.

Casting off my grogginess in a moment, I spring to my feet and fly over to the door. When I throw it open, Elyssa’s small fist collides with my chest mid-knock.

“What the fuck?” I snarl.

She flinches immediately. “I… my… Theo,” she stammers, clearly panicked. “He’s gone.”

“Gone?”

She nods desperately. “I was sleeping. He was right next to me on bed. And when I woke up, he was gone. The door was unlocked, so I ran out and started looking for him. But this house is too big. And-and-and m-my son… he’s missing!”

I doubt she even knows what she’s saying at the moment. “Calm down,” I tell her.

She gulps back her tears, but her entire body is trembling. A jolt of nostalgia hits me between the eyes. She had been shivering the night we’d met, too.

“Come with me. I’ll search with you.”

I start moving through the house. She follows behind without a word.

“You didn’t hear anything?” I ask.

“No…”

“You just woke up and he was gone?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t even hear him cry?”

I’m not looking at her, so I’m not aware of the effect my questions are having. Not until I glance back over my shoulder and see her eyes sparking with hurt.

“You had locked us in!” she cries. She doesn’t exactly raise her voice, but given her soft-spoken nature, it feels like she’s yelling. “I had no idea someone would sneak in while we were sleeping and steal my child.”

I roll my eyes. “No one stole him.”

“Then where is he?” she demands. “What’ve you done with him?”

I’m already on the edge, so when she flings that last statement at me, I can’t hold back any longer.

Or maybe I’m just looking for an excuse to touch her.

Either way, I snatch up her arm and use it to shove her back against the nearest wall. She gasps, her eyes going wide with fear as she’s confronted with my black stare.

“You are the one that wanted to come here with me,” I growl. “And I don’t know why. But know this—I don’t fucking trust you.”

I can practically feel her heartbeat against my own. They seem to be beating in synchronicity. Her breasts are pressed up against my chest and it’s impossible not to be aware of that. Or of the heat coming off her.

The fear in her eyes is still there, still evident. But she speaks through it. “Yeah?” she asks, her voice tremoring softly. “Well, I don’t trust you either. Why would I?”

I frown. “Why not?”

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