Page 65 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“Shh,” she croons delicately. “He just fell back to sleep.”

She’s got Theo wrapped in a thick cotton blanket. His eyelashes are fluttering slightly, a sure indication that he’s only just fallen asleep.

I lower my voice. “Who are you?” I demand, not bothering to sound polite. “And why did you take my son?”

The woman looks like she’s in no hurry to answer. But when I feel Phoenix come up behind me, she pushes herself off the sofa with a pained groan and gives him a subservient nod. “Master Phoenix.”

“Anna,” he says, “what happened?”

Again, he’s so calm that I feel like a basket case in comparison. I decide the best way to get a hold of my emotions is to take Theo. I reach out for him and the older woman parts with him reluctantly.

The moment his weight settles into the crook of my arm, I feel my body relax. As though I’ve spent the last hour separated from a vital organ.

“I’m sorry, Master Phoenix,” she says. “I didn’t mean to cause any alarm. I was just doing the rounds and I heard the baby cry. The key was in the lock, so I opened it and went inside to check. The girls were sleeping so soundly that they didn’t hear the boy, and he just kept crying and crying. So I picked him up and took him out here so they could sleep.”

I cringe, realizing that I’d slept through his night feeding. He’d probably needed a diaper change, too.

I check immediately. She notices.

“Don’t worry, Miss,” she says politely. “I changed him. I fed him, too. He had a bottle about half an hour ago. Six ounces.”

I stare at her, trapped between annoyance and gratitude. “You… you could have woken me.”

Her eyes are a light, filmy blue. But they’re half-hidden behind thick, round spectacles that look decades out of style. “I didn’t want to disturb you,” she explains. “You looked like you needed the rest.”

I take a deep breath as I try to get my bearings. So much has happened in the last few hours.

“Theo!” someone calls. “Where are you?” I jerk to the side the moment I recognize Charity’s raised voice.

“Charity!” I shout back. “We’re in here.”

She runs into the room as though she’s trying to put out a fire. But the moment she sees Theo in my arms, she visibly relaxes.

“There he is,” she sighs, her eyes flitting to Phoenix and then Anna. “What the fuck happened?”

“It turned out to be just a… misunderstanding,” I say, struggling to find the right word.

“This is Anna, my housekeeper,” Phoenix says, though he addresses me, not Charity. “She’s been with me for years.”

I’m surprised by that. The woman certainly has a kindly grandmother vibe about her. But she doesn’t strike me as a very capable housekeeper.

For one, she moves slow. The cane in her hand is evidence of that. For another, she looks like she’s a few years past retirement age.

“The housekeeper took Theo?” Charity pants in disbelief as she looks between all three of us.

“She heard Theo crying and both of us were dead asleep,” I explain.

“Oh,” she says. “Well, okay then. He’s fine, right? Not hurt or anything?”

“No,” I say. “He’s fine.”

“Great. Then I’m heading back to bed. You coming?”

My heart is still beating a mile a minute. I know I won’t be able to sleep anymore. “Actually, I think I’ll just walk around a bit with Theo.”

Then it strikes me that I might not have the freedom to do that. I turn to Phoenix immediately and he seems to know exactly what I’m thinking.

“You have freedom of the house,” he says. “Just… stay clear of the basement.”

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