Page 123 of Ripped Lace (Ripped Bratva)

“Why are you in jail, Violet?” I cut in. “How’d you get here?”

“I was brought to the Garden weeks ago. To… to serve the powers that be. But I… I broke the rules,” she explains. “I did something they told me not to.”

“Which was?” I ask impatiently, glancing back towards the broken window. It’ll definitely give us away if one of those soldiers decide to make a detour down this hallway. We need to move quickly.

“There’s a building here that’s off-limits,” she replies. “It’s filled with records. Records of the women and children who’ve passed through here. I went looking.”

“You broke in?” Elyssa gapes at her. “Why?”

“My sister came to work here before I did,” Violet explains. “That’s what they told us, at least. She never came home. I just wanted to find her…”

“Do you know what they’re going to do with you?” Elyssa asks.

“They told me they’re waiting for my bruises to heal,” Violet replies. “Then they’ll transfer me to a place where I can be healed, where they can fix my brain and take my pain away.”

Elyssa frowns. “What place is that?”

“Wild Night Blossom,” Violet whispers reverently, like it’s some holy place.

Elyssa eyes latch onto mine immediately.Wild Night Blossom.The nightclub where we met. Ozol’s den.

Not a holy place in the slightest.

Fuck.

“Have… have you heard of it?” Violet asks, taking note of our expressions.

“Yes,” Elyssa mumbles. “And it’s not a place you want to go.”

Violet’s eyes seem to shiver. Only then do I realize she’s close to tears.

“Oh, Violet,” Elyssa says sympathetically, reaching between the bars to put her hand on the young woman’s shoulder.

“Time’s up. We have to get going,” I tell Elyssa urgently. “We didn’t prepare for so many guards.”

I walk to the door of the cell and aim my gun at the lock. I shoot twice, then kick the door open.

“Come on,” I tell Violet. “If you want to get out of here, you’ll have to help us.”

“How?”

“Take us to the records building.”

She pales instantly. “We’ll definitely get caught.”

“No, we won’t,” I say. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“But—”

Elyssa grabs a hold of Violet’s hand, effectively cutting her off. “Please, Violet,” she begs. “We need your help. And your only way out of this compound is with us. Please.”

Taking a deep breath, Violet nods. “Okay.”

“Good,” I say curtly as we head back towards the door. “I’ll get down first and make sure the coast is clear.”

I let us out the door as silently as possible. Violet is glancing around nervously like a frightened doe. When I look at her, she points a trembling finger to the far side of the compound.

“Over there,” she says.

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