Page 86 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“I would be surprised if they didn’t.”

“They’ll get you before you get them.”

“You forget,” I reply. “They may have many heads. But I’m Phoenix fucking Kovalyov. Now, why were you at the shelter?”

“I told you already: I went for the hooker.”

“Charity.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

“And what about the other one?” I ask, reluctant to mention Elyssa’s name.

“The blonde with the perky tits?” Murray asks.

It’s a throwaway comment—and yet, I react. I punch him in the face so fast that he doesn’t even have time to duck or move his face.

Because of that, the impact is strong. His nose cracks under my knuckles and blood starts pouring from both nostrils like a faucet.

“Fuck…!”

Matvei moves forward to help, but I hold up my hand and he stops.

“Fuck, what was that for?” Murray moans.

“Just answer the fucking questions straight.”

“I did! What… Does she mean something to you… the blonde…?”

It’s my own damn fault. I’ve made shit worse for myself by reacting like an overprotective boyfriend.

“She means about as much to me as you do right now,” I reply harshly. “Which is nothing at all. What were you going to do with Charity?”

“Drop her off at a location.”

“Which was?”

“A club downtown,” Murray replies. “Some seedy joint called Lady V’s.”

I roll my eyes at the salacious name. No one in this fucking town is half as clever as they think they are. “And then?”

“And then who the fuck knows? Those were my instructions. I don’t ask questions.”

I frown. “Who gave you those instructions?”

I clench my fists. Murray definitely notices. The combination of violence and the truth serum is doing wonders to loosen his tongue.

“I don’t fucking know.”

I frown. “What?”

He shrugs. “Look, Tyrannis knows how to cover its tracks okay? When orders come in, I’m left a burner phone. I pick up the phone and call the one number on it. I get the instructions. Then I chuck the shit down the drain.”

“And the voice? Who answers?”

“It’s one of those electronically altered voices,” he tells me. “It sounds like a fucking robot telling me what to do.”

“Where do they send the money?”

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