Page 91 of Ripped Veil (Ripped Bratva)

“Did you ever find your children again?”

She sighs. “No. They are lost to me. I’ve made my peace with that.”

I can’t help but glance at Theo. He gives me a big toothless smile, and my heart aches with the injustice of it all. “I’m sorry for everything you went through.”

Anna shrugs. “Why? You had nothing to do with it.”

“I’m sorry all the same.”

I’m on the verge of telling her that I relate to her more than she knows. I may not have had the horrific life she had lived through. But I’ve lived some of the same moments. I know what it’s like to stand over a body and realize you’ve ended a man’s life. Justified or not, that stays with you.

But at the last moment, I hold my tongue. I remember what Charity has always told me:Don’t let people in too deep. It gives them power over you.

I like Anna, but I only just met her. I need to keep my distance.

“You’re not eating,” Anna remarks, pushing the plate closer to me. “Come on now, don’t be shy. You look like you need the strength.”

I almost laugh. She has no idea how much strength I need.

I still don’t have much of an appetite, but I pick up the fork and skewer a piece of sausage anyway. I eat almost entirely for her benefit, though after a while, I do start to register the taste.

“Wow,” I moan. “This is delicious.”

“Thank you, darling. There’s more in the pan.”

She feeds me like I’m a prodigal child who’s come home after a long absence. When I’m stuffed to the brim, I finally push my plate away.

“Everything’s been so delicious, but I can’t eat another bite.”

Anna laughs. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. But I would like to take some food up for Charity, if that’s okay?”

“Of course, dear, I’ll make a plate for her right now.”

I watch Anna move around the kitchen. Her limp seems less pronounced at the moment, but I assume that’s because she’s distracted.

After a few minutes, she turns around with a plate packed to the brim with sausages, bacon, eggs, and biscuits. It smells heavenly.

“You’ll need help carrying everything up,” Anna says. “I’ll come with you.”

“You sure?”

“Of course.”

Grateful for her help, I grab Theo’s baby carrier. Anna takes the loaded plate. We walk in silence most of the way up to the bedroom.

That is, until I turn to her with an afterthought kind of a question that’s not really an afterthought at all.

“Was it hard for you?” I ask. “Adjusting to the outside world when you moved in here?”

I examine her face as she thinks about her answer. There’s strength in her eyes. A certain hardness that’s bred out of a life that hasn’t ever given you room to breathe.

“No, actually,” she replies. “It was easy to adjust. Especially because of the staff here. They’re all women like me.”

“Women like you?” I ask in confusion.

“Women who’ve been rescued from the sex trade,” Anna explains. “Women who’ve been given second chances to find happiness.”

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